Link found between parenthood and social conservatism

Line plots showing effects of condition on social conservatism, moderated by emotional engagement with manipulation in Study 1 (left, n = 376) and Study 2 (right, n = 1924). 

Credit: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.0978

An international team of researchers has found a possible link between having children and degrees of social conservatism in people. In their paper published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the group describes the research they conducted through surveys and interviews and what they learned.

Social conservatism in the modern era has come to be defined as a set of beliefs held in common by socially conservative groups, such as the Republicans in the United States. Beliefs that define membership in these groups tend to include things like a pro-life stance on abortion, support of the death penalty as a reasonable punishment for some crimes and opposition to gay marriage, premarital sex and immigration. In this new effort, the researchers theorized that having children or being entrusted with the care of children might make people more socially conservative. To find out if that is the case, they carried out several studies that involved asking volunteers about their values.

The first study involved asking 376 university student volunteers to look at pictures of children or at imagined activities and then asking them to fill out a survey designed to grade their degree of social conservatism. The second study involved sending out 2,610 surveys to adults across the country asking them about their circumstances, whether they had children and their political beliefs. Other studies involved sending out similar surveys to people in multiple countries.

The researchers found what they describe as an association between having children and an increase in social conservatism. They also found that the more children people had, the more conservative they became, and that those involved in childcare also became more conservative. The researchers note that they did not find any association between having children and economic conservatism, and in fact, many parents tended to see government spending as less of an issue. They also found that some of the views held by parents changed after their kids grew up and left home—like reduced support for subsidized daycare.

The researchers conclude by suggesting that their study challenges the notion that aging is one of the prime drivers to conservatism—parenthood, they suggest, plays a bigger role.

Explore furtherStudy suggests larger families have more conservative views

More information: Nicholas Kerry et al, Experimental and cross-cultural evidence that parenthood and parental care motives increase social conservatism, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.0978

Journal information: Proceedings of the Royal Society B

© 2022 Science X Network

 

Machine learning model can evaluate the effectiveness of management strategies for wildfire prevention

by Aalto University

Satellite image of Borneo in 2006 covered by smoke from fires (marked by red dots). 

Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team / NASA

Wildfires are a growing threat in a world shaped by climate change. Now, researchers at Aalto University have developed a neural network model that can accurately predict the occurrence of fires in peatlands. They used the new model to assess the effect of different strategies for managing fire risk and identified a suite of interventions that would reduce fire incidence by 50–76%.

The study focused on the Central Kalimantan province of Borneo in Indonesia, which has the highest density of peatland fires in Southeast Asia. Drainage to support agriculture or residential expansion has made peatlands increasingly vulnerable to recurring fires. In addition to threatening lives and livelihoods, peatland fires release significant amounts of carbon dioxide. However, prevention strategies have faced difficulties because of the lack of clear, quantified links between proposed interventions and fire risk.

The new model uses measurements taken before each fire season in 2002–2019 to predict the distribution of peatland fires. While the findings can be broadly applied to peatlands elsewhere, a new analysis would have to be done for other contexts. "Our methodology could be used for other contexts, but this specific model would have to be re-trained on the new data," says Alexander Horton, the postdoctoral researcher who carried out study.

The researchers used a convolutional neural network to analyze 31 variables, such as the type of land cover and pre-fire indices of vegetation and drought. Once trained, the network predicted the likelihood of a peatland fire at each spot on the map, producing an expected distribution of fires for the year.

Overall, the neural network's predictions were correct 80–95% of the time. However, while the model was usually right in predicting a fire, it also missed many fires that actually occurred. About half of the observed fires weren't predicted by the model, meaning that it isn't suitable as an early-warning predictive system. Larger groupings of fires tended to be predicted well, while isolated fires were often missed by the network. With further work, the researchers hope to improve the network's performance so it can also serve as an early-warning system.

The team took advantage of the fact that fire predictions were usually correct to test the effect of different land management strategies. By simulating different interventions, they found that the most effective plausible strategy would be to convert shrubland and scrubland into swamp forests, which would reduce fire incidence by 50%. If this were combined with blocking all of the drainage canals except the major ones, fires would decrease by 70% in total.

However, such a strategy would have clear economic drawbacks. "The local community is in desperate need of long-term, stable cultivation to booster the local economy," says Horton.

An alternative strategy would be to establish more plantations, since well-managed dramatically reduce the likelihood of fire. However, the plantations are among the key drivers of forest loss, and Horton points out 'the plantations are mostly owned by larger corporations, often based outside Borneo, which means the profits aren't directly fed back into the local economy beyond the provision of labor for the local workforce."

Ultimately, fire prevention strategies have to balance risks, benefits, and costs, and this research provides the information to do that, explains Professor Matti Kummu, who led the study team. "We tried to quantify how the different strategies would work. It's more about informing policy-makers than providing direct solutions."

The findings were published in Communications Earth & Environment.Efforts to restore Indonesian peatlands could save billions in wildfire costs

More information: Alexander J. Horton et al, Targeted land management strategies could halve peatland fire occurrences in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, Communications Earth & Environment (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s43247-022-00534-2

Journal information: Communications Earth & Environment 

Provided by Aalto University 

Exploring an ancestral Maya neighborhood

by Rachel Gill and Yifan Wang, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Aerial view of the elite platform and the 15 stemmed macroblades found in a cache.

 Credit: ©2022 VOPA and Belize Institute of Archaeology, NICH.

We stand in the open fields of Spanish Lookout, a modernized Mennonite farming community in Central Belize, looking at what remains of ancestral Maya homes. White mounds, the remnants of these houses, pock the landscape as far as the eye can see, a stark reminder of what existed more than 1,000 years ago. The collapsed buildings look like smudges on an aerial photograph, but as archaeologists, we get to see them up close. With enough excavation and interpretation, we can eventually make sense of how these dwellings functioned in the deep human past.

Archaeologists usually try to take a representative sample of a site like this, but we are limited on how and where we can excavate. We have been forced to select households and other structures near existing roads—and close to one another. This, then, presents a unique opportunity: the ability to study an ancestral Maya neighborhood.

Our neighborhood paints an interesting portrait of life in the Early Classic period, which dates from A.D. 250-600. By looking at the styles, forms and decoration of broken pieces of pottery, called sherds, we can determine how old these structures are. Standard residences have walls, plaster floors and a collection of domestic vessels that were used for cooking, serving and storage. We also find agricultural tools made of chert, a type of crystalline rock that resembles flint, and manos and metates, which were used to grind maize into flour.

Families lived and worked here, interacted with their neighbors and with the surrounding landscape of fields and forests. We know the Maya left forests in place because the animal bones we find here are of species that can only breed in the forest.

Aerial photograph of what researchers believe is a community

 structure, like a church or recreation center. 

Credit: ©2022 VOPA and Belize Institute of Archaeology, NICH.

One of the buildings here is a particular puzzle. The ancestral Maya constructed it using uniform stones and white limestone plaster, something quite different from your average Maya farmstead. We found few artifacts and pristine construction fills, the latter usually stock full of artifacts in a typical Maya household. We think we found some type of community building, perhaps for community events or ceremonies, similar to a modern church or recreation center where everyone was welcome.

We also partially exposed a substantial platform mound that had four structures at its summit. The structures surrounded a plaza or courtyard. It is clear that an elite family lived here. This mound would have been secluded, sectioned off from the rest of the neighborhood, like the large house at the end of a cul-de-sac where, if you were lucky, you got invited for a pool party, much different from the community building.

Both the elite and nonelite families that lived in this neighborhood together may have invested in the construction of the community building amid the surrounding residences. The artifacts recovered from the community center were of better quality than those found in dwellings. We even found a cache of 15 stemmed points made of chert. These items required great skill to make as they were carved from the highest quality nonlocal chert. And the Maya made them only to offer them unused as a dedicatory cache to enliven or endow the residence with a soul.

Grinding tools typical of ancestral Maya farmsteads include, from

 left, a metate fragment, a round stone and a mano fragment. 

Metates and manos were used to grind maize. 

Credit: © 2022 VOPA and Belize Institute of Archaeology, NICH.

Incised ceramic sherds excavated from an ancestral Maya building. 

Credit: ©2022 VOPA and Belize Institute of Archaeology, NICH.

As we look around us, we are struck by the simple fact that people lived here.

When we think about the structures and artifacts associated with neighborhoods and community centers, we too often reduce the ancestral Maya to the materials they left behind. We sometimes focus too much on the context name, the mound number, the artifact count. As we stand at the crossroads of an ancient Maya neighborhood, if we close our eyes and let the present fade away, we can imagine the mundane realities of life in this exact spot nearly 2,000 years ago: the rustle of the leaves of the jungle above us, the scrape and clink of grinding maize, the smell of cooking maize and beans, or the chatter of a neighbor borrowing a tool or asking about the weather.

The authors on site in Belize.

 Credit: ©2022 VOPA and Belize Institute of Archaeology, NICH.

Aerial photo facing east – all the white smudges are ancestral Maya mounds. 

Credit: ©2022 VOPA and Belize Institute of Archaeology, NICH.

We are discouraged by the damage wrought by modern agriculture to the archaeological record and Maya cultural heritage. But how do you explain to a farmer that what they are plowing away is not a nuisance stone or useless piece of pottery but rather the fragments of hundreds of lives. The ghosts of those who lived on the land before walk between us, using what remains of their homes to whisper, "Remember me."

Explore further Rescuing ancient Maya history from the plow

Provided by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Swapping meat for seafood could improve nutrition and reduce emissions

by Nature Publishing Group

Credit: Mike Bergmann/Unsplash

Sustainable seafood could provide more nutrition to people than beef, pork and chicken, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reports an article published online in Communications Earth & Environment. The findings suggest that policies to promote seafood in diets as a substitute for other animal protein could improve future food security and help address climate change.

Human diets around the world need to become more nutritious, while reducing their climate footprint, to keep up with growing population sizes. Seafood is known to be a good source of protein, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals, and previous research has demonstrated the potential environmental benefits of replacing meat with seafood in diets. However, strategies to reduce climate emissions of future diets typically promote plant-based "green" diets, and overlook the potential of seafood-based "blue" diets.

Peter Tyedmers, Elinor Hallström and colleagues analyzed the nutrient density and climate impacts of globally important wild-caught and farmed sources of seafood from a broad range of fishery and aquaculture sources in 2015. They found that wild-caught salmon, herring, mackerel, and anchovies, as well as farmed mussels and oysters, had the lowest climate impacts relative to their nutritional value. Half of the seafood species analyzed had a higher nutrient density, and emitted fewer greenhouse gases than beef, pork and chicken.

Differences in production and harvesting methods were found to create a large variability in the climate impacts of each species. To further reduce emissions, the fishing industry should adopt fuel-efficient fishing technologies and rebuild depleted stocks while aquaculture produces more unfed fish and shellfish and finds more climate-friendly sources of fish feed, the authors suggest.

While this research focuses on greenhouse emissions, and not the potential impacts on ecosystems, the findings highlight the possibility for seafood to provide a sustainable source of nutritious food that benefits the climate. The authors suggest that policies to help tackle climate change and poor diet should promote sustainable seafood consumption.Consuming small fish instead of farmed salmon could make seafood production more sustainable

More information: Marta Bianchi et al, Assessing seafood nutritional diversity together with climate impacts informs more comprehensive dietary advice, Communications Earth & Environment (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s43247-022-00516-4

Journal information: Communications Earth & Environment 

Provided by Nature Publishing Group 

Small nuke reactors emerge as energy option, but risks loom

by MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS   SEPTEMBER 10, 2022

A rendering of the entrance of a Small Modular Reactor facility that Rolls-Royce 

SMR hopes to have operational by the end of the decade is seen in this handout

 render provided by Rolls-Royce SMR on Friday, Sept. 9, 2022. A global search 

for alternative sources to Russian energy during the war in Ukraine has

 refocused attention on smaller, easier-to-build nuclear power stations that 

proponents say they could provide a cheaper, more efficient alternative to older 

model mega-plants but detractors warn of heightened risks including the 

disposal of highly radioactive wave and the specter of nuclear weapons 

proliferation.

A global search for alternative sources to Russian energy during the war in Ukraine has refocused attention on smaller, easier-to-build nuclear power stations, which proponents say could provide a cheaper, more efficient alternative to older model mega-plants.

U.K.-based Rolls-Royce SMR says its small modular reactors, or SMRs, are much cheaper and quicker to get running than standard plants, delivering the kind of energy security that many nations are seeking. France already relies on nuclear power for a majority of its electricity, and Germany kept the option of reactivating two nuclear plants it will shut down at the end of the year as Russia cuts natural gas supplies.

While Rolls-Royce SMR and its competitors have signed deals with countries from Britain to Poland to start building the stations, they are many years away from operating and cannot solve the energy crisis now hitting Europe. Nuclear power also poses risks, including disposing of highly radioactive waste and keeping that technology out of the hands of rogue countries or nefarious groups that may pursue a nuclear weapons program.

Those risks have been accentuated following the shelling around Europe's largest nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, which has raised fears of potential nuclear disaster.

In the wake of the war, however, "the reliance on gas imports and Russian energy sources has focused people's minds on energy security," Rolls-Royce SMR spokesman Dan Gould said.

An SMR's components can be built in a factory, moved to a site in tractor trailers and assembled there, making the technology more attractive to frugal buyers, he said.

"It's like building Lego," Gould said. "Building on a smaller scale reduces risks and makes it a more investible project."

Some SMRs are essentially pressurized water reactors identical to some 400 reactors worldwide, while other designs use sodium, lead, gas or salt as a coolant instead of water. The key advantages are their size—about one-tenth as big as a standard reactor—the ease of construction and the price tag.

A model of a Small Modular Reactor facility that Rolls-Royce SMR hopes to have

 operational by the end of the decade is seen in this handout render provided by 

Rolls-Royce SMR on Friday, Sept. 9, 2022. A global search for alternative source

s to Russian energy during the war in Ukraine has refocused attention on smaller,

 easier-to-build nuclear power stations that proponents say they could provide a

 cheaper, more efficient alternative to older model mega-plants but detractors 

warn of heightened risks including the disposal of highly radioactive wave and 

the specter of nuclear weapons proliferation.

The estimated cost of a Rolls-Royce SMR is 2.2 billion to 2.8 billion pounds ($2.5 billion to $3.2 billion), with an estimated construction time of 5 1/2 years. That's two years faster than it took to build a standard nuclear plant between 2016 and 2021, according to International Atomic Energy Agency statistics. Some estimates put the cost of building a 1,100-megawatt nuclear plant at between $6 billion and $9 billion.

Rolls-Royce aims to build its first stations in the U.K. within 5 1/2 years, Gould said.

Similarly, Oregon-based NuScale Power signed agreements last year with two Polish companies—copper and silver producer KGHM and energy producer UNIMOT—to explore the possibility of building SMRs to power heavy industry. Poland wants to switch from polluting, coal-powered electricity generation.

Rolls-Royce SMR said last month that it signed a deal with Dutch development company ULC-Energy to look into setting up SMRs in the Netherlands.

Another partner is Turkey, where Russia is building the Akkuyu nuclear power plant on the southern coast. Environmentalists say the region is seismically active and could be a target for terrorists.

The introduction of "unproven" nuclear power technology in the form of SMRs doesn't sit well with environmentalists, who argue that proliferation of small reactors will exacerbate the problem of how to dispose of highly radioactive nuclear waste.

"Unfortunately, Turkey is governed by an incompetent administration that has turned it into a 'test bed' for corporations," said Koray Dogan Urbarli, a spokesman for Turkey's Green Party.

"It is giving up the sovereignty of a certain region for at least 100 years for Russia to build a nuclear power plant. This incompetence and lobbying power make Turkey an easy target for SMRs," said Koray, adding that his party eschews technology with an "uncertain future."

A model of a Small Modular Reactor facility that Rolls-Royce SMR hopes to have

 operational by the end of the decade is seen in this handout render provided by

 Rolls-Royce SMR on Friday, Sept. 9, 2022. A global search for alternative 

sources to Russian energy during the war in Ukraine has refocused attention

 on smaller, easier-to-build nuclear power stations that proponents say they

 could provide a cheaper, more efficient alternative to older model mega-plants

 but detractors warn of heightened risks including the disposal of highly

 radioactive wave and the specter of nuclear weapons proliferation.

Gould said one Rolls-Royce SMR would generate nuclear waste the size of a "tennis court piled 1-meter high" throughout the plant's 60-year lifetime. He said initially, waste would be stored on site at the U.K. plants and would eventually be transferred to a long-term disposal site selected by the British government.

M.V. Ramana, professor of public policy and global affairs at the University of British Columbia, cites research suggesting there's "no demonstrated way" to ensure nuclear waste stored in what authorities consider to be secure sites won't escape in the future.

The constant heat generated by the waste could alter rock formations where it's stored and allow water seepage, while future mining activities could compromise a nuclear waste site's integrity, said Ramana, who specializes in international security and nuclear energy.

Skeptics also raise the risks of possibly exporting such technology in politically tumultuous regions. Gould said Rolls-Royce is "completely compliant" with U.K. and international requirements in exporting its SMR technology "only in territories that are signatories to the necessary international treaties for the peaceful use of nuclear power for energy generation."

Ramana said, however, there's no guarantee nations will follow the rules.

"Any country acquiring nuclear reactors automatically enhances its capacity to make nuclear weapons," he said, adding that every SMR could produce "around 10 bombs worth of plutonium each year."

Rolls-Royce SMR could opt to stop supplying fuel and other services to anyone flouting the rules, but "should any country choose to do so, it can simply tell the International Atomic Energy Agency to stop inspections, as Iran has done, for example," Ramana said.

Although spent fuel normally undergoes chemical reprocessing to generate the kind of plutonium used in nuclear weapons, Ramana said such reprocessing technology is widely known and that a very sophisticated reprocessing plant isn't required to produce the amount of plutonium needed for weapons.

Study of NuScale Power data suggests small modular reactors likely to produce more waste than larger reactors

© 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

DART sets sights on asteroid target

by NASA

This image of the light from asteroid Didymos and its orbiting moonlet Dimorphos is a 

composite of 243 images taken by the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera

 for Optical navigation (DRACO) on July 27, 2022. Credit: NASA JPL DART Navigation 

Team

NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft recently got its first look at Didymos, the double-asteroid system that includes its target, Dimorphos. On Sept. 26, DART will intentionally crash into Dimorphos, the asteroid moonlet of Didymos. While the asteroid poses no threat to Earth, this is the world's first test of the kinetic impact technique, using a spacecraft to deflect an asteroid for planetary defense.

This image of the light from asteroid Didymos and its orbiting moonlet Dimorphos is a composite of 243 images taken by the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation (DRACO) on July 27, 2022.

From this distance—about 20 million miles away from DART—the Didymos system is still very faint, and navigation camera experts were uncertain whether DRACO would be able to spot the asteroid yet. But once the 243 images DRACO took during this observation sequence were combined, the team was able to enhance it to reveal Didymos and pinpoint its location.

"This first set of images is being used as a test to prove our imaging techniques," said Elena Adams, the DART mission systems engineer at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland. "The quality of the image is similar to what we could obtain from ground-based telescopes, but it is important to show that DRACO is working properly and can see its target to make any adjustments needed before we begin using the images to guide the spacecraft into the asteroid autonomously."

Although the team has already conducted a number of navigation simulations using non-DRACO images of Didymos, DART will ultimately depend on its ability to see and process images of Didymos and Dimorphos, once it too can be seen, to guide the spacecraft toward the asteroid, especially in the final four hours before impact. At that point, DART will need to self-navigate to impact successfully with Dimorphos without any human intervention.

"Seeing the DRACO images of Didymos for the first time, we can iron out the best settings for DRACO and fine-tune the software," said Julie Bellerose, the DART navigation lead at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "In September, we'll refine where DART is aiming by getting a more precise determination of Didymos' location."

Using observations taken every five hours, the DART team will execute three trajectory correction maneuvers over the next three weeks, each of which will further reduce the margin of error for the spacecraft's required trajectory to impact. After the final maneuver on Sept. 25, approximately 24 hours before impact, the navigation team will know the position of the target Dimorphos within 2 kilometers. From there, DART will be on its own to autonomously guide itself to its collision with the asteroid moonlet.

DRACO has subsequently observed Didymos during planned observations on Aug. 12, Aug. 13 and Aug. 22.

With its single 'eye,' NASA's DART returns first images from space

Provided by NASA 

Theoretical physicists argue that black holes admit vortex structures

, Phys.org

Sketch of a black hole endowed with multiple vortices. Colors denote the orientation, with 

the associated trapped magnetic field lines in black. Credit: Dvali et al.

Black holes are astronomical objects with extremely strong gravitational pulls from which not even light can escape. While the idea of bodies that would trap light has been around since the 18th century, the first direct observation of black holes took place in 2015

Since then, physicists have conducted countless theoretical and experimental studies aimed at better understanding these fascinating cosmological objects. This had led to many discoveries and theories about the unique characteristics, properties, and dynamics of black holes.

Researchers at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität and Max-Planck-Institut für Physik have recently carried out a theoretical study exploring the possible existence of vortices in black holes. Their paper, published in Physical Review Letters, shows that black holes should theoretically be able to admit vortex structures.

"Recently, a new quantum framework for black holes, namely in terms of Bose-Einstein condensates of gravitons (the quanta of gravity itself), has been introduced," Florian Kühnel, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told Phys.org. "Up until our article was published, rotating black holes have not been thoroughly studied within this framework. However, they might not only exist, but also be the rule rather than the exception."

Kühnel and his colleagues Gia Dvali and Michael Zantedeschi performed several calculations based on existing physics theories, particularly the recently devised quantum model of black holes based on Bose-Einstein graviton condensates. The key goal of their study was to examine rotating black holes on the quantum level, to determine whether they would actually admit vortex structures.

"Since rotating Bose-Einstein condensates have been subject to intense studies in laboratories, it is known that they admit vortex structure if rotating sufficiently fast," Kühnel said. "We took this as an invitation to look for those structures also in models for rotating black holes—and indeed found them."

Kühnel and his colleagues showed that a black hole with extremal spin can be described as a graviton condensate with vorticity. This is aligned with previous studies suggesting that extremal black holes are stable against the so-called Hawking evaporation (i.e., a black body radiation that is believed to be released outside of a black hole's outermost surface, or event horizon).

In addition, the researchers showed that in the presence of mobile charges, the black hole's overall vortex traps a magnetic flux of the gauge field, which would lead to signature emissions that could be observed experimentally. The team's theoretical predictions could thus open new possibilities for the observation of new types of matter, including millicharged dark matter.

"Vorticity is an entirely new characteristic of black holes, which are on the classical level (i.e., if one closes one's eyes on their quantum structure) fully characterized by three entities: mass, spin and charge," Kühnel said. "This is what we learned from textbooks—until now. We showed that we need to add vorticity."

The team's theorized existence of vortices in black holes offers a possible explanation for the lack of Hawking radiation for maximally-rotating black holes. In the future, this theory could thus pave the way for new experimental observations and theoretical conclusions.

For instance, black hole vortex structures could explain the extremely strong magnetic fields emerging from active galactic nuclei in our universe. In addition, they could potentially be at the root of almost all known galactic magnetic fields.

"We have just recently established the field of black hole vorticity," Kühnel added. "There is a wealth of important and exciting questions to address, including concerning those applications mentioned above. Furthermore, future gravitational-wave observations of merging black holes, each containing a vortex (of multiple of those), might open the door to these new and exciting quantum aspects of space-time."Black holes gain new powers when they spin fast enough

More information: Gia Dvali et al, Vortices in Black Holes, Physical Review Letters (2022). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.061302

Journal information: Physical Review Letters 

© 2022 Science X Network

A theoretical study is one that does not depend upon an experiment, manipulation of variables or empirical evidence. It is based on testing, exploring or developing theories, and it generally involves observation or the compilation of information.

 

Why go back to the Moon?

by Lucie AUBOURG

The United States is returning to the Moon 60 years after JFK's famous speech.

On September 12, 1962, then US president John F Kennedy informed the public of his plan to put a man on the Moon by the end of the decade.

It was the height of the Cold War and America needed a big victory to demonstrate its space superiority after the Soviet Union had launched the first satellite and put the first man in orbit.

"We choose to go to the Moon," Kennedy told 40,000 people at Rice University, "because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win."

Sixty years on, the United States is about to launch the first mission of its return program to the Moon, Artemis. But why repeat what has already been done?

Criticism has risen in recent years, for example from Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins, and the Mars Society founder Robert Zubrin, who have long advocated for America to go directly to Mars.

But NASA argues re-conquering the Moon is a must before a trip to the Red Planet. Here's why.

Long space missions

NASA wants to develop a sustainable human presence on the Moon, with missions lasting several weeks –- compared to just a few days for Apollo.

The goal: to better understand how to prepare for a multi-year round trip to Mars.

In deep space, radiation is much more intense and poses a real threat to health.

Low Earth Orbit, where the International Space Station (ISS) operates, is partly shielded from radiation by the Earth's magnetic field, which isn't the case on the Moon.

"We choose to go to the Moon," Kennedy told 40,000 people at Rice University, "because 

that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and

 one which we intend to win"

From the first Artemis mission, many experiments are planned to study the impact of this radiation on living organisms, and to assess the effectiveness of an anti-radiation vest.

What's more, while the ISS can often be resupplied, trips to the Moon—a thousand times further—are much more complex.

To avoid having to take everything with them, and to save costs, NASA wants to learn how to use the resources present on the surface.

In particular, water in the form of ice, which has been confirmed to exist on the lunar south pole, could be transformed into rocket fuel by cracking it into its separate hydrogen and oxygen atoms.

Testing new gear

NASA also wants to pilot on the Moon the technologies that will continue to evolve on Mars. First, new spacesuits for spacewalks.

Their design was entrusted to the company Axiom Space for the first mission which will land on the Moon, in 2025 at the earliest.

Other needs: vehicles —both pressurized and unpressurized—so that the astronauts can move around, as well as habitats.

Finally, for sustainable access to an energy source, NASA is working on the development of portable nuclear fission systems.

Solving any problems that arise will be much easier on the Moon, only a few days away, than on Mars, which can only be reached in at least several months.

ASA also wants to test on the Moon the technologies that will continue to evolve on Mars.

Establishing a waypoint

A major pillar of the Artemis program is the construction of a space station in orbit around the Moon, called Gateway, which will serve as a relay before the trip to Mars.

All the necessary equipment can be sent there in "multiple launches," before finally being joined by the crew to set off on the long voyage, Sean Fuller, responsible for the Gateway program, told AFP.

"Kind of like you're stopping at your gas station to make sure you get all the stuff, and then you're off on your way."

Maintaining leadership over China

Apart from Mars, another reason put forward by the Americans for settling on the Moon is to do so before the Chinese, who plan to send taikonauts by the year 2030.

China is the United States' main competition today as the once proud Russian space program has withered.

"We don't want China suddenly getting there and saying, "This is our exclusive territory,'" NASA boss Bill Nelson said in a recent interview.

For the sake of science

While the Apollo missions brought back to Earth nearly 400 kilograms of lunar rock, new samples will make it possible to further deepen our knowledge of this celestial object and its formation.

"The samples that we collected during the Apollo missions changed the way we view our solar system," astronaut Jessica Meir told AFP. "I think we can expect that from the Artemis program as well."

She expects further scientific and technological breakthroughs too, just like during the Apollo era.

To the Moon and beyond: NASA's Artemis program

© 2022 AFP

Growth of psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners helped offset drop in psychiatrists treating Medicare patients

Peer-Reviewed Publication

HARVARD T.H. CHAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Boston, MA—The mental health system is increasingly reliant on psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners (PMHNPs) to meet the psychiatric needs of Medicare patients, according to a new study led by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. 

“We were surprised by the degree to which PMHNPs are the de facto mental health prescribers in parts of the country,” said corresponding author Michael Barnett, associate professor of health policy and management at Harvard Chan School. “In the states where PMHNPs have no restrictions on prescribing medications, these providers account for 50% of all mental health prescriber visits in rural areas, which was much greater than we had anticipated.” 

The study will be published in the September 2022 issue of Health Affairs. 

Mental health access is a public health crisis that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated. While demand for mental health treatment is soaring, the supply of psychiatrists accepting insurance is dropping, particularly in rural areas.  

To assess how the mental health workforce and patient population have changed over time, Barnett and his colleagues analyzed fee-for-service Medicare claims during 2011-2019. The team focused on the number of PMHNPs and psychiatrists billing Medicare, the volume of outpatient and psychiatric services by provider group, and how these numbers varied by rurality and scope-of-practice regulations, which can restrict whether a PMHNP is able to prescribe medications. 

The findings showed that PMHNPs provided nearly 1 in 3 mental health prescriber visits to Medicare patients nationally by 2019. The number of PMHNPs also increased 162% during 2011-2019, while psychiatrists billing Medicare dropped by 6%. During this period, without growth in the PMHNP workforce, there would have been a decline of nearly 30% in mental health specialist visits in Medicare. Instead, the drop was 12%.  

“This work puts the spotlight on PMHNPs as a critical part of the mental health workforce,” said Barnett. “This is so important because we desperately need new solutions to address the current mental health crisis in this country. Policy that targets the PMHNP workforce could be a key part of the national effort to expand mental health access.” 

Co-author Arno Cai is also from Harvard Chan School. 

This research was supported by the National Institute on Aging (K23 AG058806-01) and the National Institute of Mental Health (R01 MH112829-01) in the National Institutes of Health.  

“Trends In Mental Health Care Delivery By Psychiatrists And Nurse Practitioners In Medicare, 2011–19,” Arno Cai, Ateev Mehrotra, Hayley D. Germack, Alisa B. Busch, Haiden A. Huskamp, and Michael L. Barnett, Health Affairs, September 2022, doi: 10.1377/ hlthaff.2022.00289. 

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Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health brings together dedicated experts from many disciplines to educate new generations of global health leaders and produce powerful ideas that improve the lives and health of people everywhere. As a community of leading scientists, educators, and students, we work together to take innovative ideas from the laboratory to people’s lives—not only making scientific breakthroughs, but also working to change individual behaviors, public policies, and health care practices. Each year, more than 400 faculty members at Harvard Chan School teach 1,000-plus full-time students from around the world and train thousands more through online and executive education courses. Founded in 1913 as the Harvard-MIT School of Health Officers, the School is recognized as America’s oldest professional training program in public health. 

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JOURNAL

Health Affairs

DOI

10.1377/hlthaff.2022.00289 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Trends In Mental Health Care Delivery By Psychiatrists And Nurse Practitioners In Medicare, 2011–19

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

6-Sep-2022