In wild soil, predatory bacteria grow faster than their prey

NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

Predatory bacteria--bacteria that eat other bacteria--grow faster and consume more resources than non-predators in the same soil, according to a new study out this week from Northern Arizona University. These active predators, which use wolfpack-like behavior, enzymes, and cytoskeletal 'fangs' to hunt and feast on other bacteria, wield important power in determining where soil nutrients go. The results of the study, published in the journal mBio this week, show predation is an important dynamic in the wild microbial realm, and suggest that these predators play an outsized role in how elements are stored in or released from soil.

Like every other life form on earth, bacteria belong to intricate food webs in which organisms are connected to one another by whom they consume and how. In macro webs, ecologists have long understood that when resources like grass and shrubs are added to lower levels of the web, predators at the top, such as wolves, often benefit. The research team, led by Bruce Hungate and researchers from Northern Arizona University and Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, wanted to test whether the same was true in the microbial food webs found in wild soil.

"We've known predation plays a role in maintaining soil health, but we didn't appreciate how significant predator bacteria are to these ecosystems before now," said Hungate, who directs the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society at Northern Arizona University.

To understand who and how much predator bacteria were consuming, the research team assembled a big picture using dozens of smaller data "snapshots": 82 sets of data from 15 sites in a range of ecosystems. The team used information about how bacteria behave in culture to categorize bacteria as obligate or facultative predators. About seven percent of all bacteria in the meta-analysis were identified as predators, and the majority of those were facultative, or omnivorous.

Obligate predator bacteria like Bdellovibrionales and Vampirovibrionales grew 36 percent faster and took up carbon 211 percent faster than non-predators did. When the soil received a boost of carbon, predator bacteria used it to grow faster than other types. Researchers saw these effects in the omnivorous bacteria, as well, though the differences were less profound.

All the experiments were conducted using a state-of-the-art technique called quantitative Stable Isotope Probing, or qSIP. Researchers used labeled isotopes, which act a little like molecular hashtags, to track who is active and taking up nutrients in the soil. By sequencing the DNA in a soil sample and looking for these labels, the team could see who was growing and eating whom at the level of bacterial taxa.

"While analyzing my data, I noticed that Vampirovibrio was super enriched. Since we know Vampirovibrio is a predator, I became interested in looking for other potential predators in my other data," said Brianna Finley, a postdoctoral research at University of California-Irvine and co-author on the study. "That we could pick up on these signals really validates qSIP as a tool."

Soil ecosystems contain more carbon than is stored in all the plants on Earth, so understanding how carbon and other elements move among soil organisms is crucial to predicting future climate change. And because bacteria are so abundant in soil, they have an enormous role in how nutrients are stored there or lost. And learning more about how predator bacteria act as 'antibiotics' could have therapeutic implications, down the road.

"Until now, predatory bacteria have not been a part of that soil story," said Hungate. "But this study suggests that they are important characters who have a significant role determining the fate of carbon and other elements. These findings motivate us to take a deeper look at predation as a process."

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The research was supported by the Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research Genomic Sciences Program, and a Lawrence Fellow award from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

 

Soil bacteria evolve with climate change

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - IRVINE

Research News

 

While evolution is normally thought of as occurring over millions of years, researchers at the University of California, Irvine have discovered that bacteria can evolve in response to climate change in 18 months. In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, biologists from UCI found that evolution is one way that soil microbes might deal with global warming.

Soil microbiomes - the collection of bacteria and other microbes in soil - are a critical engine of the global carbon cycle; microbes decompose the dead plant material to recycle nutrients back into the ecosystem and release carbon back into the atmosphere. Multiple environmental factors influence the composition and functioning of soil microbiomes, but these responses are usually studied from an ecological perspective, asking which microbial species increase or decrease in abundance as environmental conditions change. In the current study, the UCI team investigated if bacterial species in the soil also evolve when their environment changes.

"We know that evolution can occur very fast in bacteria, as in response to antibiotics, but we do not know how important evolution might be for bacteria in the environment with ongoing climate change," said Dr. Alex Chase, the lead author of the study and a former graduate student at UCI.

Several inherent characteristics should enable soil microbes to adapt rapidly to new climate conditions. Microbes are abundant and can reproduce in only hours, so a rare genetic mutation that allows for adaptation to new climate conditions might occur by chance over a short time frame. However, most of what is known about bacterial evolution is from controlled laboratory experiments, where bacteria are grown in flasks with artificial food. It was unclear whether evolution happens fast enough in soils to be relevant to the effects of current rates of climate change.

"Current predictions about how climate change will affect microbiomes make the assumption that microbial species are static. We therefore wanted to test whether bacteria can evolve rapidly in natural settings such as soil," explained Dr. Chase.

To measure evolution in a natural environment, the researchers deployed a first-ever bacterial evolution experiment in the field, using a soil bacterium called Curtobacterium. The researchers used 125 "microbial cages" filled with microbial food made up of dead plant material. (The cages allow the transport of water, but not other microbes.) The cages then exposed the bacteria to a range of climate conditions across an elevation gradient in Southern California. The team conducted two parallel experiments over 18 months measuring both the ecological and evolutionary responses in the bacteria.

"The microbial cages allowed us to control the types of bacteria that were present, while exposing them to different environmental conditions in different sites. We could then test, for instance, how the warm and arid conditions of the desert site affected the genetic diversity of a single Curtobacterium species," said Dr. Chase.

After 18 months, the scientists sequenced bacterial DNA from the microbial cages of the experiments. In the first experiment containing a diverse soil microbiome, different Curtobacterium species changed in abundance, an expected ecological response. In the second experiment over the same time frame, the genetic diversity of a single Curtobacterium bacterium changed, revealing an evolutionary response to the same environmental conditions. The authors conclude that both ecological and evolutionary processes have the potential to contribute to how a soil microbiome responds to changing climate conditions.

"The study shows that we can observe rapid evolution in soil microbes, and this is an exciting achievement. Our next goal is to understand the importance of evolutionary adaptation for soil ecosystems under future climate change," said co-author Jennifer Martiny, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology who co-directs the UCI Microbiome Initiative.

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Researchers who contributed to this work were: Alexander Chase, Claudia Weihe, and Jennifer Martiny.

The study was supported by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Postdoctoral Scholar Fellowship, the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research.

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation's top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. 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 224 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 $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide. 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.

Socially just population policies can mitigate climate change and advance global equity

OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Socially just policies aimed at limiting the Earth's human population hold tremendous potential for advancing equity while simultaneously helping to mitigate the effects of climate change, Oregon State University researchers say.

In a paper published this week in Sustainability Science, William Ripple and Christopher Wolf of the OSU College of Forestry also note that fertility rates are a dramatically understudied and overlooked aspect of the climate emergency. That's especially true relative to the attention devoted to other climate-related topics including energy, short-lived pollutants and nature-based solutions, they say.

"More than 11,000 scientists from 153 countries have come together to warn that if we continue with business as usual, the result will be untold human suffering from climate change," Ripple said. "We have listed six areas, including curbing population growth in the context of social justice, as a framework for action.

"Since 1997, there have been more than 200 articles published in Nature and Science on climate mitigation, but just four of those discussed social justice, and only two considered population," he added. "Clearly social justice and population policy are not getting the attention they deserve in the struggle against the climate emergency."

The Earth's 7.7 billion people contribute to climate change in a variety of ways, primarily through the consumption of natural resources, including non-renewable energy sources, and the greenhouse gas emissions that result from industrial processes and transportation. The more people there are on the planet, the more potential they have for affecting climate.

Partly due to forced sterilization campaigns and China's one-child policy, population policies have long been viewed as a taboo topic and detrimental to social justice, Wolf says, but they can be just the opposite when developed and implemented appropriately with the goal of promoting human rights, equity and social justice.

"There are strong links between high rates of population growth and ecosystem impacts in developing countries connected to water and food security," he said. "Given the challenges of food and water security, effective population policies can support achieving both social justice and climate adaptation, particularly when you consider the current and projected uneven geographical distribution of the impacts of climate change. Policies that address health and education can greatly reduce fertility rates."

Examples of badly needed population policy measures include improving education for girls and young women, ending child marriage and increasing the availability of voluntary, rights-based family planning services that empower all people and particularly poor women, the researchers say.

"Three examples of countries in which improved education for girls and young women may have contributed to significant fertility rate declines are Ethiopia, Indonesia and Kenya," Ripple says. "Among those nations, specific education reforms included instituting classes in local languages, increasing budgets for education and removing fees for attending school. Ethiopia also implemented a school lunch program, large-scale school construction took place in Indonesia, and primary school was lengthened by one year in Kenya."

As part of an overall climate justice initiative, the scientists say, rich countries should do more to help fund voluntary family planning and educational opportunities for girls and young women in developing nations.

"It's not a balanced approach to focus on fertility rates without remembering that wealthy governments, corporations and individuals have been the primary contributors to carbon dioxide emissions and the main beneficiaries of fossil fuel consumption," Wolf said, noting the richest half of the world's population is responsible for 90% of the CO2 emissions.

"From both climate and social justice perspectives, affluent overconsumption by the wealthy must be addressed immediately, for example through policies like eco-taxes such as carbon pricing," Ripple added. "Reducing fertility rates alone is clearly not enough. The middle class and rich must be responsible for most of the needed reduction in emissions."

Taking steps to stabilize and then gradually reduce total human numbers within a socially just framework enhances human rights and reduces the further ordeals of migration, displacement and conflict expected in this century, Wolf and Ripple say. One potential framework is contraction and convergence, which calls for simultaneously reducing net emissions (contraction) while equalizing per capita emissions (convergence). This is equitable in the sense that it entails equalizing per capita emissions globally, a stark contrast to current patterns.

"Social justice and the climate emergency demand that equitable population policies be prioritized in parallel with strategies involving energy, food, nature, short-lived pollutants and the economy," Ripple said. "With feedback loops, tipping points and potential climate catastrophe looming, we have to be taking steps in all of those areas and not ignoring any of them."

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Eileen Crist of Virginia Tech joined Ripple and Wolf in authoring the paper.

Uncertainty of future Southern Ocean CO2 uptake cut in half

UNIVERSITY OF BERN

Research News

 

IMAGE: SALINITY MEASUREMENTS IN THE SOUTHERN OCEAN ARE KEY TO REDUCE UNCERTAINTY IN MODEL PROJECTIONS OF ANTHROPOGENIC CO2 UPTAKE. view more 

CREDIT: © OSCAR SCHOFIELD, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

Anyone researching the global carbon cycle has to deal with unimaginably large numbers. The Southern Ocean - the world's largest ocean sink region for human-made CO2 - is projected to absorb a total of about 244 billion tons of human-made carbon from the atmosphere over the period from 1850 to 2100 under a high CO2 emissions scenario. But the uptake could possibly be only 204 or up to 309 billion tons. That's how much the projections of the current generation of climate models vary. The reason for this large uncertainty is the complex circulation of the Southern Ocean, which is difficult to correctly represent in climate models.

"Research has been trying to solve this problem for a long time. Now we have succeeded in reducing the great uncertainty by about 50 percent," says Jens Terhaar of the Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Bern.

Together with Thomas Frölicher and Fortunat Joos, who are also researchers at the Oeschger Centre, Terhaar has just presented in the scientific journal "Sciences Advances" a new method for constraining the Southern Ocean's CO2 sink. The link between the uptake of human-made CO2 and the salinity of the surface waters is key to this. "The discovery that these two factors are closely related helped us to better constrain the future Southern Ocean CO2 sink " explains Thomas Frölicher.

Towards achieving the Paris climate target

A better constraint Southern Ocean carbon sink is a prerequisite to understand future climate change. The ocean absorbs at least one fifth of human-made CO2 emissions, and as such slows down global warming. By far the largest part of this uptake, about 40 percent, occurs in the Southern Ocean.

The new calculations from Bern not only reduce uncertainties in CO2 uptake and thus allow more accurate projections, but also show that by the end of the 21st century the Southern Ocean will absorb around 15 percent more CO2 than previously thought. This is only a tiny bit of help on the extremely challenging path to achieving the Paris temperature goal of 1.5 degree. "The reduction of human-made CO2 emissions resulting from the combustion of fossil fuels remains extremely urgent if we are to achieve the goals of the Paris climate agreement," clarifies Fortunat Joos.

Better model predictions possible

In their study, the three climate scientists show why the salinity content of the ocean surface waters is a good indicator of how much human-made CO2 is transported into the ocean interior. Models that simulate low salinity in the Southern Ocean surface waters have too light waters and therefore transport less water and CO2 into the ocean interior. As a result, they also absorb less CO2 from the atmosphere. Models with higher salinity, on the other hand, show higher absorption of CO2 from the atmosphere. The salinity of the Southern Ocean surface waters, determined through observations, allowed the researchers from Bern to narrow down the uncertainty in the various model projections.

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Publication details:

J. Terhaar, T. L. Frölicher, F. Joos: Southern Ocean anthropogenic carbon sink constrained by sea surface salinity. Sci. Adv. 7, eabd5964 (2021), April 28, 2021, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abd5964 https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/18/eabd5964

Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research

The Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR) is one of the strategic centers of the University of Bern. It brings together researchers from 14 institutes and four faculties. The OCCR conducts interdisciplinary research right on the frontline of climate change research. The Oeschger Centre was founded in 2007 and bears the name of Hans Oeschger (1927-1998), a pioneer of modern climate research, who worked in Bern. http://www.oeschger.unibe.ch

Improving the way vets care for animals and people

UArizona veterinary medicine associate professor Ryane Englar says that improving human interactions can also improve animal care

UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

Research News

 

Veterinarians, pet owners and breeders often have preconceived notions about each other, but by investigating these biases, experts at the University of Arizona College of Veterinary Medicine hope to improve both human communication and animal care.

"Veterinary medicine may require us to treat the patient, but we are unable to improve pet patient outcomes without human client consent and trust. Communication is an essential component of veterinary practice," said Ryane Englar, an associate professor and the director of veterinary skills development for the college. "As an anecdotal example, vets and breeders don't always get along, but there was no research on these subjects. I wondered, what do the groups want and need? If they are aligned in any way, how can we work with one another better?"

Englar's most recent study, published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, explores biases and communication between vets and breeders. She found that dog and cat breeders often feel that veterinarians lack training and knowledge about birth and breeding. At the same time, vets may not acknowledge breeders' expertise on the subject, and may disapprove of breeding and make assumptions about breeders.

Englar hopes that addressing such biases will help people take better care of animals and each other. She proposes solutions to the tension between pet owners, breeders and vets in her research and in her classes, which focus not only on veterinary skills but on communication skills such as genuine listening, putting judgments on hold, being aware of assumptions and asking questions.

During National Pet Month, UArizona News spoke with Englar about her latest research and her philosophy on animal care and human communication.

Q: Why did you decide to study veterinary medicine communication, and why is it so important?

A: When I attended vet school, classes on communication and professionalism were not required. Historically, it's seen as a soft skill, and something that cannot be taught. In class, it was a sink-or-swim mentality; we were thrown into clinics and expected to just take (medical) history, talk to people, explain diagnoses. I did feel more equipped than peers, though. My mom is a hospice social worker, and my father is a high school teacher; I got my communications training from them. My mom taught me about death and dying and grief and bereavement, so I was well suited to end-of-life talks. But then, communication skills started to get flagged as something that was lacking in the field. It's now seen as a teachable skill, like suturing. Personally, I went from never being taught communication, to asking clients what they want and need to improve communication. At that point, I was proud of the progress, but this research has taught me that I'm still generalizing and approaching some clients with preconceived notions, and that hinders communication and care.

Q: What do pet owners want from their vets when it comes to communication?

A: We teach TONERR to students, which is a method we pieced together from a separate study. It stands for transparency, open-ended questions, nonverbal cues, empathy, reflective listening and unconditional positive regard.

For example, we found that clients want vets to be honest about what they don't know. They expect vets to say, "This is how I can find the information for you." And they expect transparency about diagnoses and prognoses. Don't skirt around things. Clients want to be seen as individuals worthy of respect. We teach students to try and leave their judgment at the door. For example, if a dog owner gives their pet painkillers for a high fever - which you shouldn't do - we'd hope the vet would realize that they likely did it from a good place; they just lacked the knowledge. We'd hope the vet would say, "I can see why you did what you did, but you're here now, so let's focus on that."

Q: As a vet, how did you feel about your latest research findings about communication between vets and breeders?

A: This was one of the most eye-opening studies I've ever done. It taught me a lot about myself. When I read comments from breeders (who participated in the study), some made me feel defensive, but then there was so much that resonated. I hope it helps people think about bridging the divide. If we can understand each other, there's almost perfect alignment from what all parties want and expect. When I surveyed (participants) for solutions, both sides suggested the same things. We just need to get past these biases and actually hear each other.

Here are some examples: Most vets have never seen any dog or cat give birth. Our (pet patient) population is almost all spayed or neutered. It's the assumption that good owners will spay or neuter their pets, and when animals are born, they're born at home and we don't see them until they're eight weeks old. So, when we see an animal that is not spayed or neutered, we wonder why that owner hasn't fixed their pet yet. That makes us have preconceived notions. The reality is that, as vets, we want to be respected for our knowledge and experience; yet, breeders feel they are not being acknowledged for their own knowledge or experience. They've seen hundreds of births, while we've seen close to zero. There needs to be understanding that we each bring different skills to the table.

Q: How has your research affected what you teach in the classroom?

A: Here, at the University of Arizona College of Veterinary Medicine, it is important to me that communication skills have equal consideration in the classroom. My colleague Teresa Graham Brett (the college's associate dean of diversity and inclusion) and I script fictional cases for students. We ask students to consider their expectations before an encounter and compare it to how the encounter actually unfolded, as well as their assumptions about the case, the patient or the client, based on limited details provided upfront. We teach our students that assumptions are normal; it is how we process the world around us and make sense of it. However, we also need students to be aware of how preconceived notions influence their reactions and responses to clinical scenarios, patients and clients. To be successful at relationship-centered care, students need to learn how to move from reaction to response.

Beyond communication, Teresa and I want students to learn to develop their own professional identity, to tactfully practice bad news delivery with clients, to manage the financial and business side of clinical practice and to be resilient in the face of burnout. They might have to euthanize an animal, but we need to teach them how to process their emotions and emotionally reset so they can continue to face appointments after a poor patient outcome.

It's a long journey, but our hope is that we graduate day-one ready students with critical thinking skills, who are able to work with each other and support staff, who are better able to work with clients and really understand themselves in the same way I was open to learning that I have areas to work on after my breeder survey. Medicine is life-long learning and we're all learning together. None of us are perfect, but it's about being a person, first and foremost.

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WOMEN IN STEM

UC San Diego engineering professor solves deep earthquake mystery

A University of California San Diego engineering professor has solved one of the biggest mysteries in geophysics: What causes deep-focus earthquakes?

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - SAN DIEGO

Research News

 

IMAGE: XANTHIPPI MARKENSCOFF IS A DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR IN THE DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL AND AEROSPACE ENGINEERING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO JACOBS SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING. view more 

CREDIT: XANTHIPPI MARKENSCOFF

These mysterious earthquakes originate between 400 and 700 kilometers below the surface of the Earth and have been recorded with magnitudes up to 8.3 on the Richter scale.

Xanthippi Markenscoff, a distinguished professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, is the person who solved this mystery. Her paper "Volume collapse instabilities in deep earthquakes: a shear source nucleated and driven by pressure" appears in the Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids.

The term deep-focus earthquake refers to the fact that this type of earthquake originates deep within the Earth's mantle where pressure forces are very high. Since deep-focus earthquakes were first identified in 1929, researchers had been trying to understand what processes cause them. Researchers thought that the high pressures would produce an implosion which would intuitively produce pressure waves. However, they had not been able to connect the dots between the high pressure and the specific kind of seismic waves -- called shear (or distortional) seismic waves -- produced by deep-focus earthquakes. (You can feel distortional energy if you hold your forearm and then twist it.)

In her new paper, Markenscoff completes her explanation of this mystery that occurs under ultra-high pressures. She unraveled the mystery in a string of papers beginning in 2019. In addition, her solution gives insight into many other phenomena such as planetary impacts and planetary formation that share similar geophysical processes.

"This is a perfect example of how deep mathematical modeling rigorously rooted in mechanics and physics can help us solve mysteries in nature. Professor Markenscoff's work can have profound impact not only on how we understand deep-focus earthquakes, but also on how we might controllably use dynamic phase transformations in engineering materials to our benefit," said Huajian Gao, a Distinguished University Professor in Singapore's Nanyang Technological University and the Editor of the Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids where Markenscoff's paper appears.

From transforming rock to earthquake

It has been well recognized that the high pressures that exist between 400 and 700 kilometers below the surface of the earth can cause olivine rock to undergo a phase transformation into a denser type of rock called spinel. This is analogous to how coal can transform into diamond, which also happens deep in Earth's mantle.

Going from olivine to denser spinel leads to reductions in volume of rock as atoms move closer to each other under great pressure. This can be called "volume collapse." This volume collapse and the associated "transformational faulting" has been considered the predominant cause for deep-focus earthquakes. However, until now, there was no model based on volume collapse that predicted the shear (distortional) seismic waves that actually arrive at the earth's surface during deep-focus earthquakes. For this reason other models were also considered, and the state of affairs remained stagnant.

Markenscoff has now solved this mystery using fundamental mathematical physics and mechanics by discovering instabilities that occur at very high pressures. One instability concerns the shape of the expanding region of transforming rock and the other instability concerns its growth.

For the expanding regions of this phase transformation from olivine to spinel to grow large, these transforming regions with large densification will assume a flattened "pancake-like" shape that minimizes the energy required for the densified region to propagate in the untransformed medium as it grows large. This is a symmetry breaking mode which can occur under the very high pressures that exist where deep-focus earthquakes originate, and it is this symmetry breaking that creates the shear deformation responsible for the shear waves that reach Earth's surface. Previously, researchers assumed symmetry-preserving spherical expansion, which would not result in the shear seismic waves. They did not know that symmetry would be allowed to be broken.

"Breaking the spherical symmetry of the shape of the transforming rock minimizes the energy required for the propagating region of phase transformation to grow large," said Markenscoff. "You do not spend energy to move the surface of a large sphere, but only the perimeter."

In addition, Markenscoff explained that inside the expanding region of phase transformation of rock, there is no particle motion and no kinetic energy (it is a "lacuna"), and, thus, the energy that radiates out is maximized. This explains why the seismic waves can get to the surface, rather than much of the energy dissipating in the interior of the Earth.

Markenscoff's analytical model for the deformation fields of the expanding seismic source is based on the dynamic generalization of the seminal Eshelby (1957) inclusion which satisfies the lacuna theorem (Atiya et al, 1970). The energetics of the expanding region of phase transformation are governed by Noether's (1918) theorem of theoretical physics through which she obtained the instabilities that create a growing and fast moving avalanche of collapsing volume under pressure. This is the second discovered instability (regarding growth): once an arbitrarily small densified flattened region has been triggered, under a critical pressure it will continue to grow without needing further energy. (It just keeps collapsing "like a house of cards".) Thus, the mystery is resolved: although it is a shear source, what drives deep-focus earthquake propagation is the pressure acting on the change in volume.

When asked to reflect on her discovery that deep-focus earthquakes could be described with the theorems that are the bedrock of mathematical physics, she said, "I feel like I have bonded to nature. I have discovered the beauty of how nature works. It's the first time in my life. Before it was putting a little step on someone else's steps. I felt this immense joy."

Relevant discovery

The deep-focus earthquakes are only one of the phenomena in which these instabilities manifest themselves. They also occur in other phenomena of dynamic phase transformations under high pressures, such as planetary impacts and amorphization. Today, there are new experimental facilities such as the National Ignition Facility (NIF) managed by Lawrence Liver National Laboratory in which researchers are able to study materials under extremely high pressures that were impossible to test before.

The new work from Markenscoff provides an important demonstration and reminder that gaining deeper understanding of the mysteries of nature often requires the insights that can be gained by harnessing the fundamentals of mathematical physics together with experimental research done in extreme conditions.

In fact, Markenscoff co-organized two National Science Foundation (NSF) funded workshops at UC San Diego in 2016 and 2019 which brought together geophysicists and seismologists with mechanicians to ensure that these research communities remain aware of the methodologies and techniques developed in mechanics.

"Our education systems should continue to invest in the teaching of the fundamentals of science as the pillars for the advancement of knowledge, which can be achieved by interdisciplinary convergence of theory, experiments and data science," said Markenscoff.

She also noted the importance of the research support she has received over the years from the US National Science Foundation (NSF).

"Knowing that my NSF program manager believed that it was possible to solve this 'mystery' and funded me, bolstered both my confidence and my determination to persevere", said Markenscoff. "I point this out as a reminder for all of us. It's also critical that we give thoughtful and considered encouragement to our students and colleagues. Knowing that people whom you respect believe in you and your work can be very powerful."

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Skipping the second shot could prolong pandemic, study finds

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

ITHACA, N.Y. - Though more than 131 million Americans have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine to date, public confusion and uncertainty about the importance of second doses and continued public health precautions threaten to delay a U.S. return to normalcy, according to Cornell-led research published April 28 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

In a nationally representative survey of more than 1,000 American adults conducted in February, less than half of respondents said they believed the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines provided strong protection against COVID-19 a week or two after a second dose, consistent with guidance from the U.S. Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC), the researchers found. One-fifth believed the vaccines provided strong protection after only one dose, and another 36% were unsure.

Among vaccinated survey respondents (19% of the sample), barely half reported being told about the timing of vaccine protection, and only slim majorities said they'd been advised to continue wearing masks, social distancing and avoiding crowds.

"Many Americans, including many of those who have already received a first vaccine dose, remain confused about the timing of protection and the necessity of a second dose," the researchers concluded. "Moreover, a large proportion of vaccinees report being uninformed about CDC guidance regarding the need to continue to take prophylactic measures."

The findings by an interdisciplinary, cross-college team were reported in "Beyond the First Shot - Covid-19 Vaccine Follow-through and Continued Protective Measures [LINK]." The co-authors are Jillian Goldfarb, assistant professor in the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; Sarah Kreps, the John L. Wetherill Professor in the Department of Government in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S); Douglas Kriner, the Clinton Rossiter Professor in American Institutions in the Department of Government (A&S); and John Brownstein, professor at Harvard Medical School and chief innovation officer of Boston Children's Hospital.

Recent CDC data validates the authors' concerns about vaccine follow-through, showing that nearly 8% of Americans - more than 5 million people - who received a first Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech shot last month had missed their scheduled second dose.

The research team warned that the problem could be more acute for minority racial and ethnic groups that historically have had higher attrition rates for multidose vaccines. The survey found Black and Latinx respondents were significantly less likely than whites to believe the vaccines provided strong protection after the second dose, and significantly more likely to be unsure.

"Failure to combat second-dose attrition among members of minority groups," the scholars wrote, "risks magnifying existing racial disparities in the virus's human toll."

Regarding the need to continue wearing masks after being vaccinated - just updated by the CDC - the researchers found broad support. More than 80% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed, with support highest among those age 60 or over, those already vaccinated, and Black people. Reflecting a national partisan divide, Republicans were significantly less supportive than Democrats of postvaccination mask wearing.

Less than a third of vaccinated respondents said they were told that their risk of transmitting the virus to others is unknown, one of the key reasons for continuing to wear masks in many settings.

"These findings suggest that there is a real need - and opportunity - for the medical community to provide fuller guidance and greater contextual explanations to vaccinees," the authors wrote, "about how life can change after vaccination as we gradually return to normalcy."

In particular, they said, enhanced education at the time of the first dose holds "considerable promise" for combatting second-dose attrition.

Goldfarb said she became concerned about a lack of information transfer when she received a first shot at a county-run site that was highly efficient, but provided no information about the importance of second shots or continued protective measures.

"It really sunk in that there could be a problem with vaccine attrition even more so than overcoming hesitancy," Goldfarb said. "We could end up prolonging the pandemic because people don't follow through."

Kriner said the survey results reflected the fragmented, public-private nature of the nation's vaccine administration involving states, counties and pharmacies, each providing different levels of information in different ways.

"This is an opportunity to take this fragmented system we have and think about how we can ensure people get the information they need to protect themselves and public health," Kriner said, "until viral circulation is much lower than it still is."

Kreps said the research illustrated the need to think about more than just vaccine safety and effectiveness, and to treat public behavior as a medical issue.

"You can't understand how this this virus will continue to progress," Kreps said, "unless you understand the behavior of the public that is receiving this vaccine."

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FSU researchers develop tool to track marine litter polluting the ocean

FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

Research News

VIDEO: A BRIEF EXAMPLE OF A VIRTUAL TOOL DEVELOPED BY THE CENTER FOR OCEAN-ATMOSPHERIC PREDICTION STUDIES TO TRACK MARINE LITTER. THE COLORED LINES SHOW THE PATH OF DEBRIS IN THE OCEAN.... view more 

CREDIT: COURTESY OF THE CENTER FOR OCEAN-ATMOSPHERIC PREDICTION STUDIES

In an effort to fight the millions of tons of marine litter floating in the ocean, Florida State University researchers have developed a new virtual tool to track this debris.

Their work, which was published in Frontiers in Marine Science, will help provide answers to help monitor and deal with the problem of marine litter.

Eric Chassignet, director of the Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies and professor in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science.

"Marine litter is found around the world, and we do not fully understand its impact on the ocean ecosystem or human health," said Eric Chassignet, director of FSU's Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies (COAPS) and the paper's lead author. "That's why it's important to learn more about this problem and develop effective ways to mitigate it."

Marine litter is a big problem for the Earth's oceans. Animals can get entangled in debris. Scientists have found tiny pieces of plastic inside fish, turtles and birds -- litter that blocks digestive tracts and alters feeding behavior, altering growth and reproduction. Most of that marine litter is mismanaged plastic waste, which is of particular concern because plastics remain in the ocean for a long time.

Understanding where marine litter goes once it's in the ocean is a big part of understanding the issue and helping individual countries and the international community to develop plans to deal with the problem. The United Nations, which funded this work, is trying to mitigate the impact of mismanaged plastic waste, and this work can inform their policies and regulations.

Take the so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a cluster of marine debris in the Pacific Ocean, for example. Tracking marine litter will help answer questions about whether it is growing larger and questions about how much plastic is breaking down or sinking to the bottom of the ocean. The virtual tool also shows how countries around the world are connected.

"Knowing where the marine litter released into the ocean by a given country goes and the origin of the litter found on the coastline of a given country are important pieces of information for policymakers," Chassignet said. "For example, it can help policymakers determine where to focus their efforts for dealing with this problem."

The tracking tool uses worldwide mismanaged plastic waste data as inputs for its model. The model uses data about ocean and air currents to track marine debris starting from 2010. Fire up the website and you can watch as colorful lines swirl across the Earth's oceans. It looks pretty -- until you realize it is tracking litter.

COAPS -- an interdisciplinary research center focusing on air-sea interaction, the ocean-atmosphere-land-ice earth system and climate prediction -- is 25 years old this year. Researchers at the center uses sophisticated ocean models to map the ocean and predict ocean currents that help scientists understand where marine litter released in the ocean is likely to travel and end its journey.

"If you have data for the past 20 years, a lot can be done in terms of modeling and simulations," Chassignet said.

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COAPS researchers Xiaobiao Xu and Olmo Zavala-Romero were co-authors on this paper.

This work was supported by the United Nations Environment Programme.

GLACIER RACING

Glaciers getting smaller, faster — especially in North America, study finds

A new study is using millions of satellite images to generate a clearer picture of the fate of the world's glaciers than ever before.

© Provided by The Canadian Press 

THIS IS AN ICEBERG NOT A GLACIER

Study co-author Brian Menounos of the University of Northern British Columbia says those glaciers are getting smaller, faster — with those in western North America thinning more quickly than almost any others in the world.

The amount of ice that the study says is melting away each year is almost unimaginable.

Menounos says it's 267 billion tonnes a year.

Just one billion tonne is equal to the mass of 10,000 fully loaded aircraft carriers.

The pace is picking up, especially in North America, where glaciers are melting four times faster now than they were 20 years ago.

With glaciers being a crucial source of fresh water, Menounos says the findings have important lessons for water managers.

The Canadian Press

UK
Policing bill will have ‘chilling effect’ on right to protest, MPs told

Haroon Siddique Legal affairs editor THE GUARDIAN

4/28/2021

Anti-protest curbs contained in the new policing bill are disproportionate, hand subjective powers to officers and the home secretary and violate international human rights standards, MPs and peers have been told.

© Photograph: Guy Smallman/Getty Images The home secretary, Priti Patel, described the Black Lives Matter protests that swept the UK last year as ‘dreadful’.

Giving evidence to the joint committee of human rights on Wednesday, lawyers said that if the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill was passed as it stands it would have a “chilling effect” on the right to protest.

Jules Carey, the head of actions against the police and state team at Bindmans solicitors, said the provisions “clearly violate international human rights standards, and they constitute a savage attack on the right to peaceful assembly”.

He added: “This represents a clamping down on protest and this clamping down on protests isn’t just muting the voices of dissent, it’s also the government deliberately closing its ears to the warnings and the alarms that are raised by citizens on the street. And what I’d say is that it is a foolish landlord who removes the fire alarms from his property because he doesn’t like the noise.”

Related: This anti-protest bill risks making the UK like Putin's Russia | David Blunkett

The committee heard criticism that new grounds for clamping down on protests because of “noise” and “unease” were vague and subject to interpretation, while a potential 10-year sentence for public nuisance was described as “disproportionate”.

Additionally, Carey said that there was a conflict of interest in the bill, which passed its second reading in parliament last month, handing the home secretary, Priti Patel, power to define what serious disruption is, given her budget is affected by policing protests.

Concerns were also raised that it could have a discriminatory effect. Zehrah Hasan, the director of Black Protest Legal Support, said: “There’s a concern that protests about police violence, brutality against black people in the UK are exactly the types of protest that the state might want to stifle. And, you know, we’ve seen this reflected also in the comments of the home secretary, who branded last year’s Black Lives Matter protests dreadful.

“Chants which might highlight the plight of black communities may inevitably cause some white people to feel uneasy, but is it not important that protests by their very nature cause the state and cause the public to pause for thought and to be challenged?”

Kevin Blowe, coordinator at Netpol: the Network for Police Monitoring, said the bill, would have a “chilling effect”, and was less interested in upholding the right to protest than “in way finding ways of imposing restrictions”.

The committee also heard from BJ Harrington, from the National Police Chiefs Council, and Matt Parr from HM Inspectorate of Constabulary.

Harrington said current laws were insufficient and the new powers were “proper, and they do give us the ability within all the safeguards to balance or discharge our duties”.

However, Parr said: “We didn’t advocate use of the word ‘unease’, nor did we specifically look at whether noise should be included and whether it was covered elsewhere anyway. And I think if you were being charitable you might say that the advantage of it is that it at least offers clarity … but … that’s a matter for parliamentarians, not really us.”

Calm returns to Chad capital after deadly protests against military rule

By Mahamat Ramadane 4/27/2021

Reuters/ZOHRA BENSEMRA Tires burn at a barricade during protests demanding return to civilian rule in N'Djamena

N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - The capital of Chad appeared calm on Wednesday morning, with security forces deployed in large numbers and burning tyres still smouldering in the streets, a day after at least five people were killed in clashes between protesters and the army.

Civil society groups have called for more demonstrations against the military, which took power after long-serving president Idriss Deby was killed on April 19.

The government said five people were killed in clashes on Tuesday. A Chadian civil society group put the death toll at nine, with dozens more injured.

Although opposition and civil society groups called for demonstrations to continue on Wednesday, protesters appeared to be staying home in the capital N'Djamena, at least in the morning.

"We want to give a bit of time for the families of our comrades to mourn their loved ones. The fight continues," said Digri Parterre, one of the protest leaders, who said he had spent the morning visiting the wounded in hospitals.

Video: Chad in turmoil after Deby death as rebels, opposition challenge military (Reuters)

In an apparent sign that Western countries long supportive of Deby want to keep communications open with his opponents, opposition figure Succes Masra tweeted on Wednesday that he had been visited by U.S. Ambassador David Gilmour. The embassy could not immediately be reached for comment.

Deby was killed on April 19 as he visited troops fighting rebels opposed to his 30-year rule. His death came just a week after he was re-elected in a vote the opposition says was rigged. A military council headed by his son took control of the country after his death, a move which opposition politicians have condemned as a coup.

The government issued a statement on Monday saying all protests were banned, and security forces used tear gas to disperse hundreds of demonstrators. Reports on social media said live ammunition was used in certain places on Tuesday. Reuters was not able to verify those reports independently.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who initially backed the military takeover, appeared to shift his position on Tuesday, calling for a civilian-led unity government until elections to be held within 18 months.

France has a military presence in its former colony and was a long-term backer of Deby.

The Libya-based rebel group that claimed responsibility for Deby's death, known as the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), issued a statement condemning the use of force against protesters and said it would remain engaged in the fight for a democratic transition.

FACT rebels came as close as 200-300 km (125-185 miles) from N'Djamena last week before being pushed back by the army, which has refused to negotiate and called for them to be tracked down and arrested. [L8N2MI0LQ]

(Reporting by Mahamat Ramadane; Writing by Nellie Peyton; Editing by Bate Felix and

Protesters at South Korea THAAD site dispersed after attempting to block delivery


Police break up a sit-in by residents and activists opposing delivery of materials to the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense base in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, on Wednesday. Photo by Yonhap/EPA-EFE

April 28 (UPI) -- South Korea's military confronted dozens of protesters while attempting to deliver construction materials and power generators to a base for the U.S. missile defense system Terminal High Altitude Area Defense in Seongju.

The military was able to bring in the materials Wednesday. Seoul said the equipment was for the purposes of "improving accommodations" for soldiers. Protesters who claimed the materials were being used to upgrade THAAD batteries attempted to block the delivery, but were dispersed, News 1 reported.

Seoul began the delivery early Wednesday, at 7:30 a.m., but protesters already had begun to gather near the entrance of the THAAD site in central South Korea at 5:30 a.m., local newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported.

The protesters were residents of Seongju and a nearby town, Gimcheon. More than 70 local civilians claimed that "battery upgrades" were, "threatening peace on the Korean Peninsula," the report said.

South Korea's defense ministry has denied the equipment was being used for upgrades. The government said Tuesday that the materials had "nothing to do with THAAD battery capabilities," according to Yonhap.

Local groups including the Council for THAAD Withdrawal and Peace said they are skeptical of government claims.

"Deploying a large number of police in a small town with many elderly residents amid the coronavirus pandemic is dangerous," the coalition of groups said, according to the Chosun. "We will fight to the end to stop them

No major injuries were reported, but at least three protesters were transferred to a nearby hospital after they suffered cuts or abrasions, the report said.

THAAD is designed to intercept intermediate-range ballistic missiles. The South's military is on guard for additional North Korea provocations after Pyongyang tested two short-range ballistic missiles March 25.

The defense ministry said Wednesday that the missiles flew 370 miles. Last month, the military said the flight range was 280 miles, according to Yonhap.

US Air Force forms teams to address LGBTQ, Indigenous issues


Maj. Gen. Leah G. Lauderback is one of the founders of the Air Force's newly formed LGBTQ Initiative Team. Photo courtesy of Air Force


April 27 (UPI) -- The Air Force has formally established two teams to identify and address issues affecting LGBTQ people and Indigenous people in the service.

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer/Questioning Initiative Team and the Indigenous Nations Equality Teams were formed under the umbrella of the Air Force's Barrier Analysis Working Group, according to a press release from the service.

"Once again, our airmen and guardians are leading the way. With the addition of these two groups, we will have a better understanding of barriers to service which allows us to enhance our diversity and inclusion," said Gwendolyn DeFilippi, assistant deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services for the Air Force.

The release notes that the formation of the LGBTQ initiative team comes 10 years after the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, which prohibited lesbian, gay and bisexual service members from serving openly

"I expect our group will grow-our community and allies want to help," Maj. Gen. Leah Lauderback, one of the group's founders and its military officer champion, said in the Air Force's release.

The INET's acronym is a play on words for the term "Innit," a slang term among Native Americans meaning, "Yes, I agree," according to the release.

The group is tasked with reviewing and analyzing guidelines, programs, data and other information for barriers to employment, advancement and retention of Native American and Alaska Native employees and military members.

RELATED Pentagon reverses Trump-era policies to allow transgender people to serv

"We are looking forward to representing our Airmen and Guardians who are a part of the indigenous nation's community," said Col. Terrence Adams, INET champion. "We are hoping to identify changes that will eliminate barriers affecting members within these groups. We cannot be aware of things that need to change unless we are talking about them with an open mind."

Both teams could also serve as an initial member/employer resource group for their communities, the Air Force said.

The Air Force created the BAWG in 2008 to analyze data, trends and barriers to service for the civilian workforce, with the group's focus expanding to include personnel issues in subsequent years.

Aos f March 2021, the Air Force has also established the Black/African American Employment Strategy Team, the Disability Action Team, the Hispanic Empowerment and Action Team, the Pacific Islander/Asian American Community Team and the Women's Initiatives Team.

Earlier this month the Air Force began a survey for its second Inspector General's report on diversity and disparity in its ranks.

The review follows a 2020 report, which focused on racial disparity among Black members of the military branch, where the second survey expands the focus to other ethnicities and also examines the role of gender in the branch.

The first review found that Black men at every level of the service experience disproportionately negative outcomes at nearly every level, including increased likelihood of court-martials and less likely to be placed in fields that offer opportunities for advancement.
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Tesla rejects environmental accusations from U.S., German regulators



A Tesla Motors factory is seen in Fremont, Calif., on May 10, 2020. The plant is the subject of environmental rule violations, according to U.S. regulators. File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI | License Photo



April 28 (UPI) -- Tesla Motors is facing accusations from regulators in the United States and Germany that say the electric carmaker failed to provide information related to federal pollution laws and old batteries from its vehicles.

The accusations were outlined in a financial filing the company made Wednesday.

According to the document, the Environmental Protection Agency accused Tesla this month of failing to provide proof that it's complying with pollution rules regarding the surface coating of its vehicles.

California environmental authorities have previously filed reports of air quality violations at Tesla's plant in Fremont, near San Francisco.

The paint shop at the Fremont plant has reportedly had problems of improper cleaning and maintenance. Some re-touching has taken place in an open-air tent at the factory, employees told CNBC.

Tesla defended itself against the accusation and said in its filing that it's responded to all EPA requests and "refutes the allegations."

The company said in the filing that it does not anticipate any "material adverse impact" regarding the EPA issues.

The filing also shows that Tesla has been fined 12 million euros [$14.5 million] by German regulators for failing to take back old vehicle batteries from customers and making public notifications.

Under German law, electric carmakers must take back old batteries and dispose of them in an environmentally safe manner.

In its filing, Tesla said it has "continued to take back battery packs" and that it's filed an objection to the fine.

The company said it doesn't expect the battery issue to have a :material adverse impact on our business."