It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Friday, June 02, 2023
Hidden in plain sight: Windshield washer fluid is an unexpected emission source Peer-Reviewed Publication
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
Exhaust fumes probably come to mind when considering vehicle emissions, but they aren’t the only
source of pollutants released by a daily commute. In a recent ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology study, researchers report that alcohols in windshield washer fluid account for a larger fraction of real-world vehicle emissions than previous estimates have suggested. Notably, the levels of these non-fuel-derived gases will likely remain unchanged, even as more drivers transition from gas-powered to electric vehicles.
Cars’ average carbon dioxide emissions have dropped by 25% since the early 2000s, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, but this gas only accounts for part of the total. Another important component of emissions is volatile organic compounds (VOCs), a broad classification of carbon-based molecules that are easily vaporized and that can contribute to ozone formation. While some VOCs are released in exhaust, others may arise from an unexpected source – the products used for “car care,” such as windshield washer fluid. Estimates from a national inventory of manufacturer statistics in the U.K. showed that car-care products could be an even greater source of VOCs than exhaust, but these numbers had never been verified experimentally. So, Samuel Cliff and coworkers decided to measure the amounts of vaporized windshield washer fluid ingredients from cars on a real-world road and compare it to the inventory estimates.
To measure the VOCs actually emitted by vehicles, the researchers outfitted a van with several instruments, including a mass spectrometer, and parked it near a busy roadway. By comparing the van’s measurements with those from a university site with minimal traffic influence, they calculated the average amount of vapor given off per car for each kilometer traveled for several key VOCs.
The measured values matched inventory estimates for aromatic compounds that are commonly monitored and regulated, but those for alcohols – key ingredients in windshield washer fluid – far exceeded inventory numbers. In fact, the release of two alcohols, ethanol and methanol, was nearly twice the amount of all VOCs released in exhaust. The discrepancy in alcohol emissions could be accounted for by including solvents from car-care products in the inventory estimations, suggesting that these products are a significant, if unexpected, source of vehicle-derived pollutants. The researchers say that this finding has implications for future regulatory policy especially as drivers transition to electric vehicles, which may have fewer emissions from fuels but will still need clean windshields.
The authors acknowledge funding from the U.K. Natural Environment Research Council and the Panorama Natural Environment Research Council Doctoral Training Partnership.
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS’ mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and all its people. The Society is a global leader in promoting excellence in science education and providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, eBooks and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a leader in scientific information solutions, its CAS division partners with global innovators to accelerate breakthroughs by curating, connecting and analyzing the world’s scientific knowledge. ACS’ main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
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Modern agriculture may be distinguished from earlier forms of cultivation by its reliance on chemistry for soil nutrients and the control of insect infestations ...
101 pages
Understanding how couples integrate finances
UGA researchers check how lifestyle affects approach to joint accounts
When it comes to how couples manage money, not everyone jumps to join their accounts.
New research from the University of Georgia looked at demographic and personal factors that revealed what makes couples more or less likely to pool finances.
A survey of more than 600 married or cohabitating individuals found that moving in together was not enough of a reason to combine finances. While some traditional indicators of stability—marriage, more dependents and higher net worth—increased the likelihood of joint accounts, having two sources of income made couples more likely to split finances.
“I just always assumed, based on my family background, that couples always pool their money. If they were married, they just pooled assets and income and made joint decisions,” said the study’s co-author John Grable, an endowed professor in UGA’s College of Family and Consumer Sciences. “That’s not always the case, and this study shows we can actually identify groups of people or profiles of individuals and couples where pooling resources is not as common.”
The study’s authors believe these results can not only help other researchers and financial counselors gain insight into financial integration styles, but they could help couples understand their approach to joint finances.
“Our research does suggest that people have a really hard time talking about money,” said co-author, Ph.D. graduate, UGA part-time lecturer and financial planner Michelle Kruger. “So, if they’re able to even establish whether they have the same kind of goals and values when it comes to spending money, that probably indicates a level of cohesiveness.”
Combining resources or keeping accounts separate
The study found that married participants were 4.5 times more likely to have pooled finances, which Grable said is expected.
“Pooling assets in a case where there’s not a marital agreement can be really dangerous for the couple and the individual because the law doesn’t provide the same protection for unmarried cohabitating couples as it would for a married couple,” Grable said.
The impact of net worth, on the other hand, was more surprising.
Individuals identified their household’s net worth as positive, zero or negative. Couples with a positive net worth, meaning their combined assets were higher than their combined debts, were more likely to merge finances. Those with a neutral net worth were less likely to combine, and negative net worth did not have a significant impact either way.
“To me, it was interesting that it wasn’t driven primarily by income. It wasn’t necessarily the level of debt that mattered, but the net worth,” Grable said. “And debt could include credit cards, student loans, auto loans, mortgages, those kinds of things.”
Researchers also found that a growing household could push couples toward joint accounts. With a one-person increase in household size, the likelihood of a combined account increased by about 20%.
On the other hand, individuals with a bachelor’s degree or higher level of education were slightly less likely to combine accounts. And couples with multiple income earners were about 50% less likely to pool finances. If both partners have income, they may choose to manage that income alone, researchers said. A non-working partner, however, could face challenges if they could not access any household income.
“If there’s one income earner, and I make the income, do I feel entitled to make all the decisions on how the income is spent or saved? That can create a power dynamic problem in a relationship,” Grable said. “The pooling of assets helps alleviate some of that.”
Conversation a key factor in financial decisions and relationship health
Aside from demographics, agreeing on spending was also a top indicator of how couples manage their finances. Couples who had more open conversations about money and agreed with their approach were 105% more likely to combine their accounts.
“Agreeing on spending mattered a lot,” Kruger said. “That’s a good thing. That’s something we want couples to factor in when they are making decisions about how to manage their money, whether that’s together or separate.”
This aligns with existing research, which shows that couples who pool resources tend to exhibit more stability in their marriage, Grable said.
“If a couple decides because they don’t agree on spending to kind of keep things separate, that’s a potential warning sign there might be stability issues or power structure issues within that couple,” he said. “It’s not something to be alarmed about, or a predictor of divorce or separation, but it is something to consider.”
While this study provided insight into how couples might approach their finances, there is not a hard and fast rule for what financial integration style sets couples up for success. That has to come from communication and seeking out resources or help when issues arise, researchers said.
And when they seek out guidance from a financial planner or counselor, a better understanding of these factors can help guide conversations and steps forward.
“There are so many different ways that couples do this. What's most important is that they find a system that works for them,” Kruger said. “But when there is trust and communication, couples can come to a place where they're both happy with how they're managing things.”
“I knew they wouldn’t last!” is the reaction we often get when we tell others that a couple they know has broken up.
However, a new US study, published in the open-access peer-reviewed scholarly journalSocial Psychological Bulletin, suggests that people might want to think twice before assuming they could have seen the break-up coming. Hindsight bias might just be playing tricks on their memory.
Having conducted a series of surveys among over 1,000 college students and community adults in total, a research team from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (USA) concludes that it is only after someone learns about a couple’s break-up that they perceive a break-up as more obvious.
Furthermore, it is at this point that the observer is more likely to focus on the negative qualities of the relationship instead of the positive ones and evaluate the relationship more unfavorably, thereby justifying the “logical” outcome.
To test the role of hindsight bias, the researchers ran two studies. In both studies, they gave each of the survey participants a story that described a seemingly happy and loving couple who had a number of good things going for them, such as a great emotional connection, but also a number of bad things, such as different religious beliefs.
Then, in each study, the researchers split the respondents into three groups, and each of the groups was given different information about the couple’s relationship status six months later. One group was given no information. One group was told that the couple broke up. And the third group was told a positive outcome: that the couple simply “stayed together” (in the first study) or “got engaged” (in the second study). The researchers wanted to find out if people would evaluate the couple and their relationship differently when they knew the couple had broken up as opposed to staying together.
After the respondents were given the whole fictional scenario, they were asked about how they had thought the relationship would develop when they first read about the couple. They were also asked to rate the quality of the described relationship.
As a result, the researchers report, there was not much of a difference in the responses between the groups that received either no information or a positive scenario. However, there was a stark contrast between those two groups and the group who were told the couple broke up. Those who were told the couple was no more rated a break-up as more obvious than the other groups did, and rated the couple’s relationship more negatively.
The researchers suggest that once a break-up has happened, “signs of the impending break-up that were ignored or unnoticed in foresight may become more relevant, as they now supply ideas for how things could have been different.”
“As individuals update their knowledge and use newly acquired outcome information to make sense of experiences, they may forget or reinterpret thoughts and predictions they previously had,”
explain the researchers.
“Thus, memory might be reconstructed with more weight placed on the negative elements of the relationship. Likewise, aspects of the relationship might be reinterpreted to make sense of the outcome. After a break-up, for instance, what was previously interpreted as constant attention and affection may be reinterpreted as neediness of an overbearing partner. Similarly, differences in beliefs that were previously interpreted as opportunities for perspective-taking and negotiation may be reinterpreted as insurmountable barriers,”
add the authors of the study.
In conclusion, the team points to their data as evidence that post-break-up self-blame and negative reactions from others - which pose a risk for depression and anxiety - might be unwarranted.
“We hope that future research will explore the psychological consequences of hindsight bias in romantic relationships, as well as the specific mechanisms that may operate to produce the bias,”
they say.
Research paper:
Bleske-Rechek, A., Gunseor, M. M., & Nguyen, K. (2023). I “Knew” They Wouldn’t Last: Hindsight Bias in Judgments of a Dating Couple. Social Psychological Bulletin, 18, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.32872/spb.9967
One of Australia’s first long-distance walkers has been described after Flinders University palaeontologists used advanced 3D scans and other technology to take a new look at the partial remains of a 3.5 million year old marsupial from central Australia.
They have named a new genus of diprotodontid Ambulator, meaning walker or wanderer, because the locomotory adaptations of the legs and feet of this quarter-tonne animal would have made it well suited to roam long distances in search of food and water when compared to earlier relatives.
Researchers say the skeleton of Ambulator keanei, found on the Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s Kalamurina Station in northern South Australia by Flinders University researchers in 2017, belongs to a species in the family Diprotodontidae, a group of four-legged herbivores that were the largest marsupials to ever exist.
“Diprotodontids are distantly related to wombats – the same distance as kangaroos are to possums – so unfortunately there is nothing quite like them today. As a result, palaeontologists have had a hard time reconstructing their biology,” says Jacob van Zoelen, a PhD candidate at the Flinders University Palaeontology Laboratory.
The largest species, Diprotodon optatum, grew to the size of a car, weighing up to 2.7 tonnes. Diprotodontids were an integral part of Australian ecosystems until the last species became extinct about 40,000 years ago.
During the period when Ambulator keanei was alive (the Pliocene), there was an increase in grasslands and open habitat as Australia became drier. Diprotodontids likely had to travel much greater distances to obtain enough food and water to keep them going.
“We don’t often think of walking as a special skill but when you’re big any movement can be energetically costly so efficiency is key,” says Mr van Zoelen.
“Most large herbivores today such as elephants and rhinoceroses are digitigrade, meaning they walk on the tips of their toes with their heel not touching the ground.
“Diprotodontids are what we call plantigrade, meaning their heel-bone (calcaneus) contacts the ground when they walk, similar to what humans do. This stance helps distribute weight when walking but uses more energy for other activities such as running.”
Diprotodontids display extreme plantigrady in their hands as well, by modifying a bone of the wrist, the pisiform, into a secondary heel, Mr van Zoelen explains.
This ‘heeled hand’ made early reconstructions of these animals look bizarre and awkward, he says.
“Development of the wrist and ankle for weight-bearing meant that the digits became essentially functionless and likely did not make contact with the ground while walking. This may be why no finger or toe impressions are observed in the trackways of diprotodontids.
“So, diprotodontids such as Ambulator may have evolved this morphology to traverse great distances more efficiently. This morphology also allowed for greater weight to be supported, allowing diprotodontids to get very big indeed.
“Eventually, this led to the evolution of the giant and relatively well-known Diprotodon.”
Most studies on the group have focused on the skull, as associated skeletons are rare in the fossil record. As such, the newly described skeleton is of great importance and is even more special as it is the first to be found with associated soft tissue structures.
Using 3D-scanning technology, the Flinders team was able to compare the partial skeleton with other diprotodontid material from collections all over the world.
Encasing the foot of the individual was a hard concretion that formed shortly after death. By CT scanning the specimen, soft tissue impressions preserving the outline of the footpad were revealed.
Reassembled partial skeleton Ambulator keanei (SAMA P54742) with silhouette demonstrating advanced adaptations for quadrupedal, graviportal walking.
Analysis of the partial skeleton Ambulator keanei
CREDIT
Jacob Van Zoelen (Flinders University)
Flinders palaeontology researcher Jacob Van Zoelen with the partial skeleton from Australia's interior.
CREDIT
Flinders University
The new article, Redescription of the Pliocene marsupial Ambulator keanei comb. nov. (Diprotodontidae) from inland Australia and its locomotory adaptations (2023) by Jacob D van Zoelen, Aaron B Camens, Trevor H Worthy and Gavin J Prideaux has been published in the Journal of Royal Society Open Science DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230211
Acknowledgements: This research was funded by the Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship (Excellence). Travel to collections was partially funded by the Royal Society of South Australia small grant scheme 2018, the Univerasity of California Museum of Palaeontology Doris O. and Samuel P. Welles Fund 2019, Flinders University Higher Degree Research International Conference Travel Grant 2019 and the North American Palaeontology Conference Student Travel Grant. For assistance in the field at Kalamurina Station, we thank Tess McLaren and Keith Bellchambers from the Australian Wildlife Conservancy.
IMAGE: (A) SCHEMATIC GEOLOGY OF THE LOWER CRETACEOUS DEPOSITS OF THE WEALD SUB-BASIN (SOUTHEAST ENGLAND), HIGHLIGHTING PUBLISHED SPINOSAURID FINDS (CHARIG & MILNER, 1997; SALISBURY & NAISH, 2011; TURMINE-JUHEL ET AL., 2019). BASED ON AUSTEN & BATTEN (2018: FIG. 2). NOTE THAT VARIOUS ADDITIONAL SPINOSAURID TEETH ARE KNOWN FROM THE REGION BUT REMAIN UNDESCRIBED IN DETAIL (FOWLER, 2007). (B) SIMPLIFIED STRATIGRAPHIC COLUMN OF THE WEALD GROUP IN SOUTHEAST ENGLAND, BASED ON BATTEN & AUSTEN (2011: FIG. 3.2). NOTE THAT THE GRINSTEAD CLAY FORMATION, WHICH SUBDIVIDES THE TUNBRIDGE WELLS SANDS FORMATION IN BATTEN & AUSTEN (2011) AND FROM WHICH THE “SUCHOSAURUS CULTRIDENS” TYPE SPECIMEN WAS DISCOVERED (SALISBURY & NAISH, 2011), IS DOWNGRADED TO A MEMBER OF THE LATTER FORMATION IN OTHER WORKS (HOPSON, WILKINSON & WOODS, 2008) AND HAS NOT BEEN INCLUDED IN THIS COLUMN.view more
CREDIT: SPINOSAURID SILHOUETTE COURTESY OF DAN FOLKES (CC-BY 4.0).
Analysis of a British spinosaur tooth by palaeontologists at the EvoPalaeoLab of the University of Southampton shows that several distinct spinosaur groups inhabited Cretaceous Britain.
Stored within the collections of theHastings Museum and Art Gallery in East Sussex, the fossil that forms the basis of the new study was gifted to the museum in 1889. It was collected from the local Lower Cretaceous rocks of the Wealden Supergroup, a thick, complicated rock sequence deposited across south-eastern England between 140 and 125 million years ago.
The Wealden is famous for its spinosaur fossils. Baryonyx – discovered in the Wealden of Surrey in 1983 – is one of the world’s most significant spinosaur specimens, since it was the first to reveal the true appearance of this crocodile-headed, fish-eating group. Less impressive spinosaur remains – isolated teeth – are common throughout the Wealden, and have often been identified as belonging to Baryonyx. However, some experts have long suspected that this is incorrect, and such is confirmed by the new study published in PeerJ Life & Environment.
“We used a variety of techniques to identify this specimen, in order to test whether isolated spinosaur teeth could be referred to Baryonyx”, said lead author Chris Barker, whose PhD focuses on the spinosaurs of southern Britain. “The tooth did not group with Baryonyx in any of our data runs. It must belong to a different type of spinosaur”.
The results show that distinct and distantly related spinosaur types lived in the region during Early Cretaceous times. This backs up research by the EvoPalaeoLab team, who argued in previous studies that the spinosaurs of southern England are more diverse than previously thought. In 2021, they named the ‘hell heron’ Ceratosuchops from the Isle of Wight, and in 2022 announced the discovery of what might be Europe’slargest ever land predator, a giant known only as the White Rock spinosaur. These several spinosaurs did not all live at the same time, but inhabited the region over the course of more than 15 million years.
“Museums themselves are places to make exciting discoveries as our understanding of specimens changes from the time they were deposited. What this work highlights is the importance of keeping collections alive, and developing our understanding of them. Curators are essential to help us navigate the cupboards and displays, helping us to unpick the often-incomplete records- either never fully written, or lost to time. The diversity of palaeoenvironments is not always hidden in rocks, it is often waiting in a museum, its importance waiting to be rediscovered!” - Dr. Neil Gostling
“Dinosaur teeth preserve numerous anatomical details, and we can use various analytical techniques to see how similar, or different, they are to other teeth. Our new study shows that previously unrecognised spinosaur species exist in poorly known sections of the Wealden’s history, and we hope that better remains will be discovered that improves our knowledge. Here’s another reminder that even well-studied places like southern England have the potential to yield new dinosaur species”. - Dr. Darren Naish
(A) Lingual, (B) basal, (C) mesial, (D) distal and (E) labial view. (F–G) Close up of the enamel texture on the labial tooth surface. Abbreviations: ca, carina; ce, cervix; co, crown; ent, enamel texture; flu, flute; puc, pulp cavity (infilled); ro, root. Scale bars (A–E): 10 mm, (F–G): 1 mm.
IMAGE: THE SPINOSAUR TOOTH FROM THE WEALDEN IN SOUTH EAST ENGLAND SEEN FROM TWO DIFFERENT ANGLES.view more
CREDIT: HASTINGS MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY
Palaeontologists at the University of Southampton (UK) studying a British dinosaur tooth have concluded that several distinct groups of spinosaurs – dinosaurs with fearsome crocodile-like skulls – inhabited southern England over 100 million years ago.
The team, from the University’s EvoPalaeoLab, carried out a series of tests on the 140 million year old tooth, discovered in the early 20th century, in a thick, complicated rock structure named the Wealden Supergroup. The Wealden lies across south-eastern England and was formed around 140-125 million years ago.
The scientists conducted statistical analysis on the tooth, which is stored at the Hastings Museum and Art Gallery in East Sussex. They meticulously compared its characteristics with other species in the spinosaur ‘family’ of dinosaurs to which it belongs. Their findings, published in the journal PeerJ, confirm the tooth doesn’t match that of any identified spinosaur species.
Project supervisor, Dr Neil Gostling explains: “While we can’t formally identify a new species from one tooth, we can say this spinosaur tooth doesn’t match any of the existing species we know about. Given how many individual teeth exist in collections, this could be just the tip of the iceberg and it’s quite possible that Britain may have once teemed with a diverse range of these semi-aquatic, fish-eating dinosaurs.”
The Wealden is famous for its spinosaur fossils. Baryonyx – discovered in Surrey in 1983 – is one of the world’s most significant spinosaur specimens, since it was the first to reveal the true appearance of this crocodile-headed group. Less impressive spinosaur remains – isolated teeth – are common throughout the Wealden, and have often been identified as belonging to Baryonyx. However, some experts have long suspected that this is incorrect.
“We used a variety of techniques to identify this specimen, in order to test whether isolated spinosaur teeth could be referred to Baryonyx”, said lead author Chris Barker, whose PhD focuses on the spinosaurs of southern Britain. “The tooth did not group with Baryonyx in any of our data runs. It must belong to a different type of spinosaur.”
The results show that distinct and distantly related spinosaur types lived in the region during Early Cretaceous times. This backs up research by the EvoPalaeoLab team, who argued in previous studies that the spinosaurs of southern England are more diverse than previously thought.
In 2021, they named the ‘Hell Heron’ Ceratosuchops from the Isle of Wight, and in 2022 announced the discovery of what might be Europe’s largest ever land predator, a giant known only as the ‘White Rock’ spinosaur. These several spinosaurs did not all live at the same time, but inhabited the region over the course of more than 15 million years.
“Museums themselves are places to make exciting discoveries as our understanding of specimens changes from the time they were deposited,” said Dr Neil Gostling. “What this work highlights is the importance of keeping collections alive, and developing our understanding of them. Curators are essential to help us navigate the cupboards and displays, helping us to unpick the often-incomplete records – either never fully recorded, or lost to time. The diversity of palaeoenvironments is not always hidden in rocks, it is often waiting in a museum, its importance waiting to be rediscovered!”
Co-author Darren Naish said “Dinosaur teeth preserve numerous anatomical details, and we can use various analytical techniques to see how similar, or different, they are to other teeth. Our new study shows that previously unrecognised spinosaur species exist in poorly known sections of the Wealden’s history, and we hope that better remains will be discovered that improves our knowledge. Here’s another reminder that even well-studied places like southern England have the potential to yield new dinosaur species.”
Ends
Artist illustration of a previously identified spinosaur on the Isle of Wight.
CREDIT
Anthony Hutchings
Notes to Editors
The paper, ‘Isolated tooth reveals hidden spinosaurid dinosaur diversity in the British Wealden Supergroup (Lower Cretaceous)’ is published in the journal PeerJ, DOI: 10.7717/peerj.15453 and can be viewed here: https://peerj.com/articles/15453
For interviews, please contact Peter Franklin, Media Relations, University of Southampton – press@soton.ac.uk +44 23 8059 3212
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