World’s only bonobo sanctuary helps orphaned apes overcome trauma to develop social skills and empathy

Durham University

 

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Two bonobos in friendly social contact.

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Credit: Stephanie Kordon/Lola ya Bonobo Sanctuary

Apes orphaned by the illegal trade in bushmeat and pets can overcome trauma and develop social abilities like those of their mother-reared peers.

A new study led by Durham University, UK, looked at the effects of rehabilitation by the world’s only bonobo sanctuary on the social and emotional development of orphaned bonobo apes across a 10-year period.

Bonobos are our closest living relatives, along with chimpanzees, and are only found in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The early life trauma of maternal loss and the deprivation from being captured by humans can have long lasting negative effects on bonobos’ social abilities.

Researchers wanted to see what impact rehabilitation in the Congolese sanctuary of Lola ya Bonobo had on the social and emotional skills of orphaned bonobos, compared to those who were raised by their mothers, at different points in time across the animals’ lifespans.

In particular, the researchers investigated how the bonobos’ empathy, social skills and aggression behaviours developed across their lifespan, as well as between the sexes.

Although the orphaned bonobos studied showed reduced social skills, they still demonstrated a degree of the species-typical social behaviours seen in the mother-reared apes.

The researchers say this underscores the orphans’ ability to overcome challenges as well as the important role that rehabilitation centres like this can play in their recovery before the apes are released back into the wild.

The findings are published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

Lead author Stephanie Kordon, a PhD researcher in the Department of Psychology, Durham University, said: “Bonobos are one of our closest ape cousins, but they are in danger of extinction due to logging and the illegal trade in bushmeat and pets.

“The Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary does vital work in protecting this vulnerable species. While the orphans’ social development is not equivalent to that of their mother-reared counterparts, they overlap in the development and behaviours they display.

“By better understanding the healthy social development of bonobos, we aim to help the important rehabilitation and conservation efforts of this unique species.”

In total researchers observed 83 bonobos at different points in their lives across 10 years at Lola ya Bonobo.

The researchers saw that social skills increased in female bonobos and decreased in males with age, which is consistent with how bonobos interact in the wild, as bonobos are a female-led society. However, these skills were lower in orphans compared to those who were mother-reared.

While orphaned bonobos were consistently less likely to show empathy – such as comforting another bonobo – this ability was not completely absent. This suggests that orphans continue to demonstrate care towards other bonobos, even if it is at a lower end of the scale.

The fact that orphans’ tendency to console others was still within the range of mother-reared bonobos – although at a lower level – also suggests they may have sufficient skills to cope within social groups. This is important as some of these apes go on to be reintroduced back into the wild, where social skills are critical for survival.

Mother-reared and older females were more likely to be aggressive to other group members, while young and male bonobos were more likely to be the victims of aggression. However, how bonobos were reared did not predict their risk of being a victim of aggression.

Research senior-author Professor Zanna Clay, Department of Psychology, Durham University, said: “While we cannot say the orphaned bonobos are absolutely rehabilitated, our findings do show a good direction to their social function as we are seeing them demonstrate species-typical behaviours within low but normal ranges.

“Comparing orphans with mother-reared bonobos also gives us a fascinating insight into how early life experiences can influence the development of social and emotional skills in our closest cousins and the importance of sanctuaries in supporting that development.”

The research also included researchers from Harvard University and Emory University, both USA.

It was funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation: Diverse Intelligences initiative and a European Research Council Horizon 2020 Starting Grant.

ENDS

A young bonobo carries another on her back- offering comfort and reassurance.

Social play behaviour between an orphaned and a mother-reared juvenile bonobo.

An orphan bonobo offers comforting contact, a sign of empathy, to a mother-reared bonobo after a conflict.

 

A young bonobo offers comforting contact to another after a conflict.

Credit

Zanna Clay/ Lola ya Bonobo Sanctuary.

Journal

Royal Society Open Science

DOI

10.1098/rsos.240435 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Factors shaping socioemotional trajectories in sanctuary-living bonobos: a longitudinal approach.

Article Publication Date

18-Dec-2024

 

How to print a car: High-performance multi-material 3D printing techniques

Tohoku University

 

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Full-scale prototype of a topologically optimized automotive suspension tower manufactured via L-PBF. 

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Credit: ©Kenta Yamanaka et al.

Researchers at Tohoku University's Institute for Materials Research and New Industry Creation Hatchery Center have made a breakthrough in a multi-material 3D printing technique, demonstrating the process for creating a lightweight yet durable automobile part.

The process of metal 3D printing involves building objects by depositing metals layer by layer, using heat to bind them together. The precision of 3D printing allows for the production of unique, highly customizable shapes that often create less wasteful byproducts than traditional manufacturing methods. "Multi-material structures" which strategically combine different materials for optimal performance of a component can also be created via 3D printing. For example, steel automobile parts can be made more lightweight by combining them with aluminum. Due to these benefits, mastering such 3D printing techniques is garnering considerable attention from researchers.

However, this technique does come with some challenges.

"Multi-materials are a hot topic in the field of additive manufacturing due to its process flexibility," explains Associate Professor Kenta Yamanaka (Tohoku University), "However, a major challenge in practical implementation is that for certain metal combinations, such as steel and aluminum, brittle intermetallic compounds can be formed at the dissimilar metal interfaces. So, while the material is now lighter, it ends up being more brittle."

The goal of this study was to produce a steel-aluminum alloy that was lightweight but did not compromise on strength. To do so, the research team used Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF), one of the primary metal 3D printing technologies that employs a laser to selectively melt metal powders. They discovered that increasing the scan speed of the laser significantly suppresses the formation of brittle intermetallic compounds (such as Al5Fe2 and Al13Fe4). They proposed that this higher scanning speed leads to something called non-equilibrium solidification, which minimizes solute partitioning that result in weak points in the material. The resulting product they created consequently demonstrated strong bonding interfaces.

"In other words, you can't just slap two metals together and expect them to stick without a plan," says Specially Appointed Assistant Professor Seungkyun Yim (Tohoku University),"We had to fully understand the in-situ alloying mechanism first."

Based on this achievement, they successfully prototyped the world's first full-scale automotive multi-material component (suspension tower) with a tailored geometry. The research group intends to apply these findings to other metal combinations where similar issues with bonding need improvement, which will allow for more broad applications.

The results were published in Additive Manufacturing on November 19, 2024.

Steel/Al alloy interfaces obtained using L-PBF at different scan speeds. 

Credit

©Kenta Yamanaka et al.

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Journal

Additive Manufacturing

DOI

10.1016/j.addma.2024.104529 

Article Title

Multi-material additive manufacturing of steel/Al alloy by controlling the liquid/solid interface in laser beam powder bed fusion

 

Mind’s ear: Investigating the sounds in your head

Some people can't imagine sounds

Meeting Announcement

University of Auckland

 

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Professor Tony Lambert

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Credit: No credit

Some people can’t imagine a dog barking or a police siren. Songs can’t get stuck in their heads. They have no inner voices.

‘Anauralia’ was proposed in 2021 by scientists from Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland to describe the little-known condition of a silent mind.

Now, as their investigations into the phenomenon continue, the University will host a global conference on sounds imagined in the mind, an event intended not just for scientists but also philosophers, musicians, poets and writers. ‘Mind’s Ear and Inner Voice’ will run from 14-16 April in Auckland.

“Scientists are fascinated by how the brain makes – or doesn’t make – imaginary sounds such as the inner voice,” says Professor Tony Lambert, of the School of Psychology. “But for writers, musicians and poets, it can be a key part of the creative process, so they have insights to share, too.”

Charles Dickens said he heard his characters’ voices; Alice Walker, too. Some readers conjure up characters’ voices in their minds.

For University of Auckland student Sang Hyun Kim, who has a silent mind, the idea that other people are hearing imaginary voices can seem “freaky”, and he’ll be fascinated to see what research turns up about auditory imagery.

The conference hopes to include personal accounts from individuals who experience anauralia and hyperauralia, the experience of extremely vivid auditory imagery.

Some people say they can recreate a symphony in great detail in their minds. Others report weaker auditory imagery, and a small number report none. In New Zealand, it’s estimated close to 1 percent of people experience anauralia, which is often accompanied by aphantasia, a lack of visual imagination. It seems there’s no downside to a silent mind; on the contrary, recent work suggests there may be an upside, involving improved attention.

The notion of a musician experiencing anauralia seems perplexing – how could you perform that role without being able to summon up sounds in your head?

“I don’t understand this either,” says Lambert. He surmises that the minds of such musicians may contain representations of music without the sensory qualities, akin to the difference between hearing music and music represented as a score.

“Overall, auditory imagery has attracted far less research attention than visual imagery,” says Lambert. “Our conference is unique in focusing on these issues from a strongly inter-disciplinary perspective.”

Lambert’s heightened interest in the area came after meeting Adam Zeman, the scientist who coined the term aphantasia, and after graduate students in the University’s PSYCH 721 Consciousness & Cognition paper noticed that scientific literature focused on visual imagery and largely ignored auditory imagery.  

“This got me thinking about the absence of auditory imagery.  Are there people who don’t imagine voices, music or other sounds? If so, how common is this? What are the psychological implications of experiencing a silent inner world? 

“We now have good answers to the first two questions,” he says. “The last question is a much larger one, but I believe we have made strong progress.”

The research underway in the University’s Anauralia Lab, supported by a grant from the Marsden Fund, includes a neuroimaging study combining high-density EEG, functional magnetic resonance imaging and electromyography of activity in muscles used for speech.

The line-up of keynote speakers at the conference from around the world includes experts on hearing voices – auditory verbal hallucinations – and in a field called cognitive literary studies. 

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Method of Research

News article

Subject of Research

People

 

Air pollution linked to increased hospital admissions for mental/physical illness

Stricter environmental restrictions needed to curb impact in Scotland, conclude researchers

BMJ Group

Cumulative exposure to air pollution over several years is linked to a heightened risk of admission to hospital for mental/behavioural and physical illness, finds Scottish research published in the open access journal BMJ Open.

 

Stricter environmental restrictions are needed to curb the impact on secondary care, conclude the researchers.

Previously published research on the health effects of long term exposure to ambient air pollution has tended to emphasise deaths rather than hospital admissions, and physical, rather than mental, ill health, suggest the researchers.

In a bid to plug this knowledge gap, the researchers drew on individual level data from the Scottish Longitudinal Study, which represents 5% of the Scottish population and includes demographic information from linked censuses. 

In all, 202,237 people aged 17 and above were included in the analysis. Their health and hospital admissions for all causes; cardiovascular, respiratory, or infectious diseases; and mental illness/behaviour disorders were tracked from Public Health Scotland data and linked to levels of 4 key pollutants for each of the years between 2002 and 2017 inclusive.

The 4 pollutants from road traffic and industry comprised: nitrogen dioxide (NO2); sulphur dioxide (SO2); particulate matter diameter of at least 10 μm (PM10); and small particulate matter of 2.5 μm or less (PM2.5) per 1 km2 in each person’s residential postcode.

Fluctuations in pollutant levels were observed across the study period, with higher levels recorded in 2002–04. Over the entire period 2002–17 average levels of NO2, SO2, PM10 and PM2.5 were 12, 2, just over 11, and just over 7 μg/m3, respectively. 

The average annual levels for NO2, PM10 and PM2.5 were lower than the 2005 World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, but the levels of NO2 and PM2.5 were higher than the most recent 2021 WHO guidelines.

Average cumulative exposure to air pollution was strongly associated with higher rates of hospital admissions.

Higher cumulative exposure to NO2, PM10, and PM2.5 was associated with a higher incidence of hospital admissions for all causes, and for cardiovascular, respiratory, and infectious diseases before accounting for residential area.

When fully adjusted for cumulative exposure across time, the incidence rate for respiratory disease hospital admissions rose by just over 4% and just over 1%, respectively, for every 1 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 and NO2 pollutants. 

SO2 was mainly associated with hospital admissions for respiratory disease while NO2 was associated with a higher number of hospital admissions for mental illness/behavioural disorders.

This is an observational study, and as such, no firm conclusions about cause and effect can be drawn. 

And the researchers acknowledge that although they accounted for demographics, such as age, sex, ethnicity and education level, they weren’t able to account for other potentially influential factors, such as lifestyle, weight (BMI), noise pollution or the absence of green spaces. 

Exposure to ambient air pollution was assessed yearly rather than monthly or daily, so masking seasonal variations, while residential postcode had to serve as a proxy for personal exposure to air pollution.

Nevertheless, the findings echo those of previously published research, say the researchers, who suggest: “Policies and interventions on air pollution through stricter environmental regulations, long term planning, and the shifting towards renewable energy could eventually help ease the hospital care burden in Scotland in the long term.”

The continue: “Specifically, policies aimed at making the zero emission zones (ie small areas where only zero emission vehicles, pedestrians and bikes are permitted) more abundant in Scotland, especially in the central belt of Scotland where busy and more polluted cities such as Glasgow and Edinburgh are located, would improve the air quality and in turn lower the hospital care burden in those cities.”

 

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Journal

BMJ Open

DOI

10.1136/bmjopen-2024-084032 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Long term exposure to ambient air pollution and hospital admission burden in Scotland: 16 year prospective population cohort study

Article Publication Date

17-Dec-2024

Wildfire surges in East, Southeast US fueled by new trees and shrubs

Woody vegetation has increased by 37% over the last 30 years in the eastern United States, fueling the rise in large wildfires. Texas and the Appalachian Mountains took the biggest hits

American Geophysical Union

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WASHINGTON — The eastern U.S. has more trees and shrubs than three decades ago. This growth, driven by processes such as tree and understory infilling in unmanaged forests, is helping fuel wildfires, contributing to changing fire regimes in the eastern half of the country, according to a new study.

Some parts of the eastern and southeastern United States have experienced a tenfold increase in the frequency of large wildfires over the last forty years, with Texas and the Appalachians seeing the largest increase. However, the Northeast lacked a tie between woody plant growth and large wildfires.

Wildfires thrive on woody vegetation such as trees and shrubs. The new analysis of wildfire and vegetation data shows that the eastern U.S. has seen a 37% increase in woody cover over the last 30 years. In some regions, high levels of woody cover are linked directly to a higher risk of large wildfires over the same period.

The research “is helping us narrow in on regional drivers and focus our efforts to preemptively get ahead of the growing wildfire problem here in the eastern U.S.,” said Victoria Donovan, a landscape ecologist at the University of Florida who was the senior author on the study.

The study was published in Geophysical Research Letters, an open-access AGU journal that publishes high-impact, short-format reports with immediate implications spanning all Earth and space sciences.

Research has shown that woody cover growing in new places or thickening within forests is directly linked to increased wildfire risk in western and central parts of the country. But whether this is true out East has yet to be explored.

To test this, Donovan and her graduate student Michaella Ivey collected data on all wildfires between 1991 and 2021 that were at least 200 hectares — around 500 football fields — or larger in eastern states. They then looked where trees and shrubs were growing in the eastern U.S over the same period. To determine if woody cover influenced wildfire risk, the researchers compared the amount of woody cover within wildfire perimeters to what would be expected if wildfires were distributed at random.

The analysis revealed a strong link between woody cover and large wildfire occurrence — but only in some parts of the country. Across the eastern temperate forest, a region that makes up nearly half of the United States, each 1% increase in woody cover led to an overall 3.9% increase in the odds of a wildfire the next year. The link between woody cover and wildfire risk was strongest in eastern Texas and in and around the Appalachian Mountains.

However, the researchers found no link between woody cover and wildfire risk in the Northeast and across some parts of the Mississippi River valley. This finding “prompts all sorts of questions about what other factors are influencing the system,” Ivey said.

Cooler and wetter conditions in the Northeast, and to some extent the Mississippi River valley, may create conditions less conducive to wildfire. However, many Northeastern ecoregions could not be included in the study due to a low number of wildfires that were large enough to meet the study’s size requirements. Wildfires in these areas may stay small because of agricultural fragmentation, the researchers said. 

Because woody vegetation wasn’t tied to wildfire increase consistently throughout the study area, climate change, human actions, or a combination of the two could be more important for wildfires than vegetation in some places. But overall, the research suggests that reducing fuels is a good tactic for reducing wildfire risk in the east, Donovan said.

More prescribed fires may be necessary in southern states as climate change is expected to make the southeast drier, and potentially more prone to wildfires, the researchers caution. This research shows a path forward for states and individuals to help reduce wildfire risk in the future.

 “Using fuel management to reduce wildfire risk is a lot more actionable than changing the climate pattern in the short term,” Donovan said, “though addressing climate change will likely be crucial for reducing wildfire risk in the east in the long term.”

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Notes for Journalists: 
This study was published in Geophysical Research Letters, an open-access AGU journal. Neither this press release nor the study is under embargo. View and download a pdf of the study.

Paper title:
Woody Cover Fuels Large Wildfire Risk in the Eastern US

Authors:

Michaella A. Ivey, Carissa L. Wonkka, Noah C. Weidig, and Victoria M. Donovan (corresponding author), West Florida Research and Education Center, School of Forest, Fisheries and Geomatic Sciences, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Milton, FL, USA

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AGU (www.agu.org) is a global community supporting more than half a million advocates and professionals in Earth and space sciences. Through broad and inclusive partnerships, AGU aims to advance discovery and solution science that accelerate knowledge and create solutions that are ethical, unbiased and respectful of communities and their values. Our programs include serving as a scholarly publisher, convening virtual and in-person events and providing career support. We live our values in everything we do, such as our net zero energy renovated building in Washington, D.C. and our Ethics and Equity Center, which fosters a diverse and inclusive geoscience community to ensure responsible conduct.

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Journal

Geophysical Research Letters

DOI

10.1029/2024GL110586 

Article Title

Woody Cover Fuels Large Wildfire Risk in the Eastern US

Article Publication Date

17-Dec-2024

Shrubs can help or hinder a forest’s recovery after wildfire

 

Research uncovers high extinction risk for many Amazonian tree species

Wiley

Among tree species in the Ecuadorian Amazon, investigators at the Universidad de las Américas, in Ecuador, found that 14% are critically endangered and 47% are endangered. The Plants, People, Planet study indicates that trees with smaller fruits face the greatest threats due to declines of specific animal species that disperse them.

The findings reveal that the extinction risk for endemic trees is associated not only with extrinsic factors such as deforestation but also with complex relationships with other living organisms in their environment.

“Thus, our results highlight the importance of incorporating meaningful ecological traits in extinction risk estimates, such as those related to reproduction and life history strategies,” said co–corresponding author María-José Endara, PhD.

Results of this research also call into question the effectiveness of conservation strategies in formally protected areas. "For example, we found that some endemic tree species populations are experiencing high levels of threat by deforestation inside the Yasuní National Park, the biggest and most iconic protected area in the Ecuadorian Amazon,” said lead author Juan Ernesto Guevara-Andino, PhD.

URL upon publication: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ppp3.10606

 

Additional Information
NOTE: The information contained in this release is protected by copyright. Please include journal attribution in all coverage. For more information or to obtain a PDF of any study, please contact: Sara Henning-Stout, newsroom@wiley.com.

About the Journal
Plants, People, Planet publishes innovative research at the interface between plants, society, and the planet. Owned by the New Phytologist Foundation, we aim to publish studies that generate societal impact and address global issues with plant-focused solutions.

About Wiley      
Wiley is one of the world’s largest publishers and a trusted leader in research and learning. Our industry-leading content, services, platforms, and knowledge networks are tailored to meet the evolving needs of our customers and partners, including researchers, students, instructors, professionals, institutions, and corporations. We empower knowledge-seekers to transform today’s biggest obstacles into tomorrow’s brightest opportunities. For more than two centuries, Wiley has been delivering on its timeless mission to unlock human potential. Visit us at Wiley.com. Follow us on Facebook, X, LinkedIn and Instagram.

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Journal

Plants People Planet

DOI

10.1002/ppp3.10606 

Article Title

High extinction risk of the endemic tree flora in a hyper-diverse region of the Amazon

Article Publication Date

18-Dec-2024

 

How did the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown affect the identity of trans and gender diverse youth?

Wiley

Research published in the British Journal of Developmental Psychology indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown had largely positive impacts on gender identity development in trans and gender diverse youth.

For the study, 295 transgender and gender diverse U.S. youth, ages 13–22 years, were asked the open-ended question “How has the COVID pandemic changed or affected your own understanding of your gender identity?”

Responses revealed several themes. The most prevalent was “time for identity development,” suggesting that the pandemic and lockdown created space and time to explore and resolve their gender identity.

“The lockdown period of the pandemic gave many people the space and time to figure out who they are and what is important to them, which for many of our participants, included their gender identity,” said corresponding author Sydney Hainsworth, who was a PhD student at the University of Arizona while conducting this research and is now a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota.

URL upon publication: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjdp.12536

 

Additional Information

NOTE: The information contained in this release is protected by copyright. Please include journal attribution in all coverage. For more information or to obtain a PDF of any study, please contact: Sara Henning-Stout, newsroom@wiley.com.

About the Journal
The British Journal of Developmental Psychology is an international journal covering all aspects of psychological development across the lifespan. We publish research in biological, social, motor, perceptual, cognitive, language, neural, clinical, personality, social, and emotional development as well as atypical development. We welcome original empirical research, novel theoretical reviews, methodological papers, and systematic reviews. The journal is committed to open science and encourages research and theory relevant to underrepresented populations.

About Wiley      
Wiley is one of the world’s largest publishers and a trusted leader in research and learning. Our industry-leading content, services, platforms, and knowledge networks are tailored to meet the evolving needs of our customers and partners, including researchers, students, instructors, professionals, institutions, and corporations. We empower knowledge-seekers to transform today’s biggest obstacles into tomorrow’s brightest opportunities. For more than two centuries, Wiley has been delivering on its timeless mission to unlock human potential. Visit us at Wiley.com. Follow us on Facebook, X, LinkedIn and Instagram.

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Journal

British Journal of Developmental Psychology

DOI

10.1111/bjdp.12536 

Article Title

Exploring the Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Identity of Trans and Gender Diverse Youth

Article Publication Date

18-Dec-2024