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)
Thursday, September 19, 2024
Study shows political leanings influence happiness, meaning, and psychological richness
Psychologists have long found that conservatism is linked to happiness and meaning in life, but a new study reveals that liberalism is associated with its own mental upside: psychologically rich and interesting lives.
The findings are published in the Journal of Personality.
"No one was looking at a third dimension of a good life. A life full of a variety of enriching, perspective-changing experiences," said Erin Westgate, Ph.D., a University of Florida professor of psychology and co-author of the new study. "Yes you want your life to be happy and meaningful. But you want it to be interesting as well."
By surveying thousands of people across the U.S. and South Korea, Westgate and her collaborators at other institutions replicated the established link between conservatism and both meaning and happiness. But they found for the first time that a psychologically rich life is more associated with liberal traits.
The surveys focused on ideology, not partisanship. Although the questionnaires asked people to rate their conservatism or liberalism, they did not ask about voting preferences or alignment with political parties.
Happiness is associated with lots of positive feelings and good days. Meaning stems from feeling like you have made a difference and contributed to your community. The third dimension, psychological richness—which Westgate and her co-authors defined in earlier research—is associated with new experiences and learning.
All three factors of "the good life" are correlated with one another. A happy person is more likely to lead a meaningful, psychologically rich life and vice versa. But by analyzing six different surveys within their single study, Westgate and her co-authors were able to uncover the underlying associations between political ideology and the three factors of a life well lived.
Westgate collaborated on the study with psychologists at the University of Chicago, Rutgers University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Kyung Hee University in South Korea.
More information: Shigehiro Oishi et al, Differing worldviews: The politics of happiness, meaning, and psychological richness, Journal of Personality (2024). DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12959
Income and wealth inequality in the U.S. remain near all-time highs. Analysts say this disparity is a "major issue of our time." Experts have spotlighted deep policy failures fueling the problem and helpful economic fixes to alleviate the suffering.
Now researchers say our biases favoring the rich over the poor may take root earlier than was previously believed—perhaps when we are very young toddlers.
A new study led by a UC Berkeley psychologist suggests that biases towards those with more resources can be traced to beliefs formed as young as 14 months. However, researchers say a preference for richer people may not necessarily be driven by kids' positive evaluations of them.
Instead, it might be caused by a negative assessment of those with less.
"Taken together, this suggests that somewhere early in this second year of life—12 to 15 months of age—we're really seeing the development of these wealth-based biases come into play," said Arianne Eason, a UC Berkeley assistant professor of psychology and the paper's lead author. "And once they come in, they are relatively strong."
The research findings were published this month in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
Through a series of seven experiments, the team measured how toddlers demonstrated preferences for people with differing amounts of particular kinds of resources they desired—toys and snacks. Besides a bias toward the more "wealthy" person who had more resources, the children showed dislike and avoidance of those whom researchers labeled in the experiments as the "poorer" individuals.
Together, the results point to the deep-seated ways humans form ideas about what to value.
The research was partly inspired by Eason's previous work with children. In graduate school, Eason worked in a lab that studied how infants and children thought resources were and should be distributed. That research consistently demonstrated that young toddlers and preschoolers generally preferred people who distributed resources equally. Wealth-based biases, in contrast, were thought at the time to emerge later in development, perhaps through direct conversations and socialization.
But Eason increasingly wondered less about how people distribute resources and more about how children understood the mere possession of them. To find answers, Eason and her collaborators focused on young children at an age when learning about the social world happens rapidly.
To begin, they needed to determine whether toddlers even retained information about who had more items that were a proxy for "wealth." They introduced 35 children to two people in a room, both of whom had a clear bowl. One of the bowls was filled with things like toys or snacks; the other was almost empty.
Later, each person brought out a new bowl and left the room. This time, though, the bowls were opaque. While the participants couldn't see how many items were in the bowls—or if there were any toys or snacks at all—they were significantly more likely to select the bowl belonging to the person who had previously had more. It was clear that the young toddlers could retain that information.
Next, researchers wanted to test what they did with the knowledge and how it factored into deciding who to help when grown-ups had a shortage of resources—in this case, blocks to build a tower. Toddlers were more likely to choose the person who earlier in the study had more resources. That indicated a longer-lasting preference for those individuals who were wealthier.
Over and over, the children showed that they tracked wealth, preferred to help those who were richer and were more likely to play with those who had more resources.
The rich kept coming out ahead.
"It's very clear that toddlers can track well and have these behavioral preferences in favor of people who have more," Eason said, adding that the effects were diminished for those younger than about 13 months of age.
The team then tracked the eye movements of the young toddlers as a video played on a screen. An adult on the screen doled out unequal amounts of resources—Legos and crackers, this time. Initially, the children's gaze was barely different. But then they listened to either a positive recording that said of the adult in the video, "She's a good girl, she did a good job," or a negative one that said, "She's a bad girl, she did a bad job."
The ones who heard the positive message spent their time looking equally at the rich and the poor individuals. Meanwhile, those in the negative message group focused more of their attention on the poorer person.
"It's not that toddlers had a preference for rich people," Eason said. "They may have actually had a dispreference for poor people."
Eason and her co-authors say their work shows that undoing wealth inequality will require a concentrated effort among adults to change the way young children think about and act toward poorer people. That must happen, they say, with the help of people and institutions in the kids' lives who can help combat the negative attitudes that children begin noticing around the time they're learning to walk.
"These are early-ingrained tendencies," Eason said. "That means we have to work hard to undo them and put in a lot of concerted effort. But that doesn't mean we should shy away from it."
To be sure, part of the wealth-based bias could be linked to evolution, she said. Perhaps humans naturally gravitate toward those with resources that will help keep them alive.
But Eason said there's more at play. Her research points to systemic ways we should begin thinking about inequality, and the origin of that wealth-based bias "starting point." That's the only way to combat the biases among many adults that benefit the wealthy and perpetuate policies against the poor.
"Just because wealth biases occur in the second year of life doesn't mean that that has to be the way the world is," Eason said. "We are highly flexible as people. We can build policies that go against some of our initial tendencies in order to create the outcomes we want to see."
More information: Arianne E. Eason et al, The haves and have-nots: Infants use wealth to guide social behavior and evaluation., Journal of Experimental Psychology: General (2024). DOI: 10.1037/xge0001567
When you're on the go, it’s pretty convenient to grab a packaged snack. But new research finds that a slew of chemicals from that the wrappings can wind up in your body.
That doesn't sound great—and it's not. But how concerned about this should you be? A toxicologist explains.
Meet the expert: Jamie Alan, PhD, an associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Michigan State University. What did the study find?
For the study, researchers looked at 14,000 chemicals that come into contact with food during the packaging process and compared that to worldwide databases on human exposure to potential chemical toxins.
From there, the researchers analyzed biomonitoring databases that look for the presence of chemicals in blood, pee, breast milk, and tissue samples, among other things. They also looked at large health and nutrition databases and compared their information.
The researchers found 25 percent of the known food contact chemicals can be found in human bodies. That included 194 chemicals from human biomonitoring programs, including 80 that have hazardous properties the researchers labeled as being “of high concern.”
The findings “highlight opportunities for improving public health,” the researchers wrote in the study.
Which chemicals were found in the body?
There were a lot of different chemicals found in the body, but some of the biggest included bisphenol A (BPA), perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and phthalates.
Are the chemicals used in food packaging harmful to human health?
But the science around this is evolving, meaning we're learning more about these chemicals with time, says Jamie Alan, PhD, an associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Michigan State University. This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
“In general, it is pretty well-accepted that exposure to these materials can cause issues for human health,” Alan says. “We also know that many people have been exposed to many of these compounds throughout their lifetime. What we don’t have a great handle on is how these materials cause health issues and we also don’t have a great idea of what level of exposure is concerning.”
Still, Alan says that the findings are “concerning, for sure.”
How can I avoid chemicals from food packaging?
It’s important to point out that chemicals are everywhere, making them tough to avoid. But when it comes to chemicals in food packaging, Alan says the best way to avoid them is to limit how much foods you eat that come from a package. That can mean buying loose produce at the grocery store or shopping at your local farmer’s market, if one exists near you.
Additionally, "glass food storage seems to be a bit safer" than plastic, Alan says. She also recommends not heating up food in plastic containers and using water filters on your tap whenever possible.
“Taking steps to minimize exposure is important,” Alan says. “Also, in general, our body is well equipped to handle expected levels of environmental insults.”
Still, Alan says, “we need more data.”
New research reveals how 'home' affects psychological well-being in a mobile world
A typology of home in global consumer mobility. Credit: Journal of Consumer Psychology (2024). DOI: 10.1002/jcpy.1440
A new study by Zahra Sharifonnasabi, Senior Lecturer in Marketing and Co-Director of the MINDS Research Group at Queen Mary University of London, sheds light on the link between "home" and psychological well-being for people who frequently move across countries. The work is published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology.
The study, "Home and Psychological Well-being in Global Consumer Mobility," explores how individuals who travel or relocate often—like expatriates, digital nomads, or frequent international travelers—create and experience different types of "home." These findings offer important insights into how this impacts their mental well-being, sense of ownership, and identity.
Global consumer mobility refers to a lifestyle where individuals frequently move across borders for work, study, or personal reasons. This group often faces unique challenges, such as adjusting to new cultures and living environments, which can affect how they feel about "home" and their psychological well-being.
Different types of home
The study identified four main types of home, each with its own psychological benefits. These challenge the traditional idea of home as just one place:
Emotional Home: A place that provides a deep sense of belonging and stability.
Home Away from Home: Temporary comfort through familiar rituals and routines.
Base of Operation: A location that supports work productivity and provides professional stability.
Home on the Road: A flexible, temporary setup that offers a sense of groundedness while traveling.
These types of home reflect the fragmented and ever-changing nature of home in the lives of globally mobile individuals.
How people cope with global mobility
The study also looked at how people manage the challenges of constantly moving. Many rely on resources in the marketplace—like services, brands, or even local businesses—to help make different places feel like home. These "commercial friendships" and familiar consumption habits play a crucial role in easing the mental strain of mobility.
One study participant, Adam, a consultant, shared his experience: "I have a flat in London, which is my primary home. I spend about 60-70% of my time there. In Berlin, we have a house built in 1966 where my wife lives, and that's my emotional home, where I want to retire. Dubai, where I work part-time, is just a place to get the job done. It can be challenging… It's an isolated life in London or Dubai, as everyone is so focused on work. I've tried to connect more, like having coffee with a colleague or joining a choir. It helps."
What HR professionals can learn
This research offers valuable takeaways for HR professionals managing internationally mobile employees:
Understanding Needs: Recognizing the different types of homes and their benefits can help HR understand the diverse needs of globally mobile workers.
Support Systems: Providing resources that help employees manage multiple homes and offering access to local services can improve well-being.
Flexible Work Policies: Offering remote work or short-term assignments that fit employees' mobile lifestyles can boost productivity and satisfaction.
Cultural Sensitivity: Promoting an inclusive environment where cultural differences are valued can help internationally mobile employees feel more at home.
Mental Health Support: Offering mental health resources tailored to the unique challenges of global mobility can help employees maintain well-being.
Zahra Sharifonnasabi explains, "Our study challenges the traditional idea of home. It shows that home is more complex and multifaceted, especially for people who move frequently. These insights are crucial for understanding their well-being and helping HR professionals manage a mobile workforce."
The study redefines what "home" means in today's world of constant mobility and offers practical ways to help people cope with the challenges it brings.
More information: Zahra Sharifonnasabi et al, Home and psychological well‐being in global consumer mobility, Journal of Consumer Psychology (2024). DOI: 10.1002/jcpy.1440
In preparation for building the new tunnel section, workers removed about 20,000 cubic yards of dirt, weighing more than 40 million pounds, to expose where the extension would connect to the existing SNS beam transport tunnel. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
What's the best way to wake a giant after a long nap? "Very carefully, and with a lot of planning," said a grinning John Galambos. He was the project director for the Proton Power Upgrade project, or PPU, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory until his retirement in July after more than 40 years at the lab. "It was an A-team effort that will benefit science and technology development for decades to come."
The "giant" Galambos referred to is the Spallation Neutron Source, or SNS, the nation's leading source of pulsed neutron beams for research, which was recently restarted after nine months of upgrade work. The planned extended outage permitted installing and testing seven additional cryogenic modules and their 28 additional power units, as well as the supporting systems—all designed to increase the power capabilities of the 362-yard-long linear accelerator complex, or linac.
The beefed-up linac will initially provide the First Target Station at SNS up to about 40% more power than its original 1.4 megawatts, as much as 2.0 megawatts. More power will produce more neutrons and increase the pace of scientific discovery across a wide range of materials and technologies. To handle the increased power, the accumulator ring and target at the SNS complex were also upgraded with new electronics and supporting systems.
Eventually, the linac will also power the SNS's Second Target Station, or STS, to produce the world's brightest "cold" neutrons and enable studies of smaller and more complex materials.
Neutrons are widely used in research, such as in developing new vaccines, analyzing advanced batteries and operating national security systems. Neutron scattering at the SNS and ORNL's High Flux Isotope Reactor, or HFIR, is an essential technique for advancing materials research to support the U.S. economy and offer solutions to challenges in energy, transportation, biotechnology, quantum and other research areas.
Overcoming obstacles
Despite the global pandemic, supply chain issues and other unprecedented challenges, the ORNL team still managed to complete the PPU project ahead of schedule and under budget.
"The PPU project exceeded all expectations in how it's come together nearly three years ahead of schedule despite enormous technological, logistical and even global health challenges," said Jens Dilling, associate laboratory director for the Neutron Science Directorate. "Thanks to the tremendous efforts of the ORNL staff and our collaborative partners at Jefferson Lab and Fermi National Laboratory, the SNS will continue to operate as the world's foremost center for pulsed neutron research."
The future looks brighter
The STS will produce the world's highest peak brightness of neutrons, tailored for probing soft matter such as polymers and biological materials, and complex engineering materials. STS will house up to 24 new instrument stations—starting with eight—for unprecedented experiments on complex matter.
Mark Champion is the new PPU project director after serving as project manager since PPU's inception in 2016. "We want to acknowledge and thank the project team for all of their hard work and dedication," he said. "But we don't plan to rest on our laurels. There's more 'gas in the tank,' and we need to keep pushing the technology to enable even more and better science in the future."
Jon Taylor, division director for ORNL's Neutron Scattering Division, said, "I know our neutron scientists and the external researchers working at the SNS are already benefitting from the record 1.7 megawatts enabled by the PPU project in 2023. They've seen the improvements that added accelerator power does for their experiments, and they really want the full 2.0 megawatts we're going to provide."
Traveling 167,000 miles per second
The linac uses electromagnetic fields to steer and accelerate protons to around 90% of the speed of light, or about 167,000 miles per second. These protons pass through large steering magnets that guide them into an accumulator ring that is 271 yards in circumference.
There they are bunched together and directed 60 times per second at a target filled with 20 tons of liquid mercury. This is where the protons knock neutrons loose from the mercury atoms. Finally, these "free" neutrons are steered down beamlines to instruments where the scientists conduct their experiments.
The first one-third of the linac operates at room temperature, while the remainder uses 81 superconducting cavities inside cryomodules cooled with liquid helium to just two degrees above absolute zero (minus 460 degrees Fahrenheit).
A key aspect of the project involved building a curved tunnel extension leading from the existing accelerator toward the location of the planned Second Target Station. Workers added about 3,000 square feet of concrete tunnel, capped off by an 18-foot-thick wall of more than 7,000 concrete blocks to provide radiation shielding during normal SNS beamline operations. Other tunnel extension-related construction tasks included installing associated structures, roofing, geomembrane liner, tunnel waterproofing, electrical, fire alarm, ventilation systems and controls.
The long installation outage at SNS concluded in April 2024. An external accelerator readiness review was conducted the following month, and authorization for beam commissioning and routine operations to resume was granted in early June. Beam commissioning was then completed in less than 30 days.
"The post-PPU power ramp up plan calls for a gradual increase in beam power on target and annual neutron production hours up to 2.0 MW and 5,000 hours, respectively, in fiscal year 2027. However, now that our sleeping giant is already fully awake and working hard, it may be possible to increase the beam power earlier, which would benefit the science productivity at the facility," said Champion.
The project is preparing a closeout report, lessons learned, and other documentation as required to support a U.S. Department of Energy project completion review in early 2025.
After Charla's landlord failed to repair leaks that caused the ceiling to collapse in her daughter's bedroom, she withheld her rent. Shortly after, her landlord filed an eviction case against her for nonpayment.
Though she won her court case, Charla and her family had to remain in unsafe conditions as she searched for new housing and was repeatedly denied. She says she spent at least US$2,000 on unsuccessful application fees.
"When we go to find new housing, we can't because we have these [filings] on our records, and that's wrong," said Charla, a pseudonym. "I won [my] case … It's still following me. Why?"
Each of the tenants included in our study had legal representation and had their case resolved with a dismissal, withdrawal or a win. No one received an eviction order in court. We asked tenants in our study to describe the costs and losses they had experienced since their landlord filed to evict them.
We found that regardless of a tenant's outcome in court, eviction filings led to immediate and long-term housing instability, income loss and job insecurity, harm to physical and mental health, and strained relationships with family and friends.
Permanent stains on tenant records
Rising rents and stagnant wages have turned eviction into a routine process for poor and working-class renters. In 2023, Pennsylvania residents needed to work the equivalent of 130 hours per week at minimum wage to afford the average cost of a two-bedroom rental.
After a significant reduction in eviction filings due to pandemic-era programs, filing rates in Pennsylvania have returned to pre-pandemic levels. In 2023, landlords filed more than 114,000 cases against Pennsylvania tenants. This is the equivalent of 7 in every 100 renter households.
When a landlord files an eviction complaint against a tenant, the court generates a public record. In Pennsylvania, these records remain public indefinitely—even when the records are incomplete or inaccurate, the case is never argued before a judge or the tenant wins in court.
Our research confirms that simply being named in an eviction complaint is enough to leave a permanent stain on a tenant's record that has lasting consequences for their well-being. Future rental applications denied
Landlord filing and screening practices exacerbate the effects of Pennsylvania's housing crisis and make it nearly impossible for tenants with eviction records to find safe, decent and affordable housing for their families.
Growing research documents landlords' increasing reliance on the use of third-party tenant screening algorithms and internet searches to apply blanket denials of applicants with eviction records.
In our study, 8 in 10 participants said their eviction filing limited their future housing options. Nearly two-thirds of participants who moved after their eviction filing said a prospective landlord asked about their eviction record, and over half said a landlord explicitly denied their application because of it.
"[A] lot of people don't want to hear your backstory. They just see that you went to court and they think you are going to be a problem," another study participant said.
Though participants in our study did not receive eviction orders in court, the majority said they were forced to move after their eviction filing for reasons beyond their control. Most attributed this to their landlords' failure to make repairs, which rendered their units uninhabitable.
State laws allow tenants to withhold rent if their unit is unfit for habitation and are intended to protect them against retaliatory evictions for doing so. Still, 1 in 4 Pennsylvania tenants in our study faced eviction after withholding rent for repairs.
Charla said she developed stress-related medical conditions and was in and out of the hospital after her eviction filing.
Landlords "put us in situations where we have to move because they don't want to make repairs. Then they take us to court and try to make it seem like it's all our fault," she stated. "The system failed us."
An array of circumstances led to participants' evictions. Some faced prolonged pandemic-related hardships such as job loss, reduced work hours and deaths of loved ones. Others dealt with uninhabitable conditions, including lack of heat, running water and mold. In some cases, tenants described being sexually harassed or intimidated by their landlords. Some experienced serial eviction filings, with their landlord filing multiple eviction cases against them at the same property.
In other words, there was often much more to tenants' stories than simply the nonpayment of rent.
Roughly half of the tenants who moved after their eviction filing described a subsequent period of homelessness.
The desperate need for a stable place to live led some to accept substandard conditions from landlords who would rent to them despite their records. This aligns with prior research showing that landlord eviction practices and code violations concentrate tenants in housing and neighborhoods of last resort that can be detrimental to health and well-being.
Our research also showed that tenants with prior eviction records were often hesitant to assert their right to habitable housing. For example, 43% of participants reported being less willing to advocate for repairs after their eviction filing. Efforts to seal eviction records
Just as Pennsylvania's Clean Slate legislation, passed in 2018, has enabled people with criminal records to access housing and economic opportunities, eviction record-sealing can remove unjust barriers for people with eviction records. We believe this is a necessary first step to promote access to the safe and stable housing that all Pennsylvanians deserve.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution is one of the greatest environmental health challenges that we face today. Various studies have shown that in addition to the lungs, it affects essential organs like the heart and brain, and that those who suffer most from its consequences are the most exposed or vulnerable people in society. It is a pervasive issue that affects all of humanity, and reinforces entrenched inequalities.
While vehicles and industry pollute the air outside, indoors we are exposed to a range of chemical pollutants that—even in moderate amounts—can cause headaches, dizziness, fatigue and nausea. In the long term, they can lead to more serious health problems.
One of the key factors behind the deterioration of interior air quality is that new buildings are becoming more airtight in order to improve energy efficiency. In buildings with very well insulated façades, mechanical ventilation systems have to play a bigger role than more traditional ventilation methods like windows and drafts.
In hermetically sealed buildings, less fresh air gets in. This means indoor air is replenished less often and pollutants from internal sources—or those that come in from outside—become more concentrated.
In densely populated cities, we also have to consider the vicious cycle of ventilation systems reintroducing pollutants back into buildings, not unlike the way plastic waste is dumped into the ocean and then enters the food chain, eventually ending up in people's bodies.
Volatile organic compounds, particulate matter, and methane
One source of indoor pollution is cleaning products, many of which release volatile organic compounds. The levels of these compounds expelled through ventilation systems rise and fall over the course of a normal day.
These two groups of pollutants—along with methane, a potent greenhouse gas made by decomposing organic matter—appear to be the main contributions that buildings make to urban air quality.
Other pollutants have sources that are less clear, and are less regular over time. Carbon monoxide, for instance, may come from tobacco smoke or other forms of combustion, as its main source—traffic—would not be found inside a dwelling. However, its presence in the air expelled from smoke-free homes would be a clear indicator of outdoor pollution entering the building and becoming concentrated in its ventilation system.
Pollution sensors
Monitoring and controlling the ventilation of buildings and dwellings is critical to ensuring the best possible indoor air quality. In particular, this means ventilation must be adjusted in relation to outdoor air conditions—increasing or decreasing the amount of outside air taken into a building depending on the difference in pollutant concentration between indoors and outdoors.
But perhaps the next revolution in building could come from low-cost, integrated sensors: a natural evolution of the systems already used in garages and boiler rooms for carbon monoxide detection, but extended to all homes.
Indeed, the WHO highlighted this issue in a 2016 statistical report entitled Monitoring Health for the Sustainable Development Goals, which set a target for 2030 of reducing the mortality rate attributed to household and ambient air pollution. It notes that one of the main barriers to reducing mortality levels caused by air pollution is the "lack of monitoring of air pollution levels, sources and consequences on public health."
A detailed understanding of how buildings contribute to pollution in cities is essential. This will give public authorities, decision-makers and managers the tools to establish strategies, for example, to minimize pollution through devices similar to the catalytic converters required on all combustion-powered vehicles. Eventually, we may even be able to recover useful components of domestic air, such as waste methane, which could be redirected to energy generation
Rugged treeless landsacape of the Falkland Islands today. Credit: Dr. Zoë Thomas
A researcher from the University of Southampton (UK) has found evidence that the treeless, rugged, grassland landscape of the Falkland Islands was home to a lush, diverse rainforest up to 30 million years ago.A study by Dr. Zoë Thomas, leading an international team of scientists, reveals that the South Atlantic archipelago was once covered in cool, wet woodland—similar to the present day rainforests found in Tierra del Fuego, off the tip of South America.
Detailed findings of the research are newly published in the journal Antarctic Science.
The scientists conducted the research after clues to the whereabouts of buried remains of the ancient forest reached them via word of mouth in the tight-knit community of Port Stanley, the Falklands' capital. Chance conversations led them to find perfectly preserved prehistoric tree remains and pollen at a building site in early 2020.
"We were in the Falklands carrying out research for a different project when a fellow researcher, based on the island, mentioned they'd heard from a friend that something interesting had been dug up by a builder they knew," explains Dr. Thomas, an expert in physical geography at the University of Southampton.
She continues, "Excavators at the site of a new care home in Stanley had cut into a deep peat layer which was filled with large tree trunks and branches. These were so well preserved, they looked like they'd been buried the day before, but they were in fact extremely old.
"Our interest was immediately piqued, as finding tree remains here was baffling. For at least thousands—probably millions—of years, the Falkland Islands have not been able to sustain trees. It's too windy and the soil too acidic. This raised the intriguing question of just how old the wood from this forest bed was."
Dr. Zoë Thomas and Dr. Haidee Cadd examining ditch at Tussac House site where prehistoric tree remains were found. Credit: Dr. Zoë Thomas
With the help of members of the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute (SAERI) in Port Stanley, samples of the peat layers and deposits were removed from the site at Tussac House near Stanley Harbour. These were carefully transported to Australia for laboratory testing at the University of New South Wales, where the sediment was meticulously sampled, and the wood analyzed with specialized scanning electron microscopes.
The tree remains proved too old to obtain conclusive results from radiocarbon dating, so pollen spores were used instead. The scientists analyzed a variety of spores compacted and sealed in the same layers of peat as the wood. Pollen records led them to conclude the tree trunks and branches date to between 15 and 30 million years old.
The Falkland Islands are a British territory located 8,000 miles from the UK in the South Atlantic. Comprised of two main islands and 778 smaller ones, they cover an area just over half the size of Wales and are known for being wet, cold and windswept, with fast changing weather conditions. Their landscape is not dissimilar to Dartmoor in the UK.
Perfectly preserved wood sample from Tussac House site aged between 15 and 30 million years old. Credit: Dr. Zoë Thomas
Tens of millions of years ago, the climate in the South Atlantic was much warmer and wetter than today, and capable of supporting a rainforest environment. This would have been cooler than tropical rainforests we might typically think of—such as the Amazon rainforest—but still able to support a rich, diverse ecosystem of plant and animal life.
Many of the tree species growing on the Falklands at the time of the Tussac House sample are now extinct, but would have seeded on the islands by being carried on the prevailing westerly winds from rainforests that covered much of the southern hemisphere, including what is now mainland South America.
Scientists can't be sure what led to the eventual demise of the islands' rainforest and the transformation to peatlands, but it's reasonable to speculate it was due to a change in climate and a move to colder and drier conditions.
Dr. Thomas comments, "It's amazing to think that if we'd not had the chance to chat and engage with people in such a close community at that particular moment, we may never have recovered these pristinely preserved samples of tree. Until our visit and the construction worker's find, no one had any idea that six meters under their feet were perfectly preserved relics of an ancient rainforest and exquisite fossilized pollen. I'm so grateful to the friendly islanders, who, by being so welcoming and open, gave us this unique opportunity to investigate."
As for the future, Dr. Thomas says the islands are unlikely to see a return to a forest landscape anytime soon: "Current projections suggest the region will get warmer, but also drier—leading to concerns about the risk of erosion to the peatlands, which are sensitive to climate change."
More information: Zoë A. Thomas et al, Evidence for a floristically diverse rainforest on the Falkland archipelago in the remote South Atlantic during the mid- to late Cenozoic, Antarctic Science (2024). DOI: 10.1017/S0954102024000129
Kamala Harris, who has branded herself as a staunch advocate for US labour, is snubbed by one of the largest and most influential American unions that could significantly impact the race against Donald Trump.
Reuters
Non-endorsement by Teamsters is a remarkable break from the influential union's decades-long tradition of backing of Democratic presidential candidates./ Photo: Reuters
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, one of the largest and most influential US labour unions, has declined to make a presidential endorsement, breaking with a quarter-century tradition of backing Democratic White House hopefuls.
"Unfortunately, neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before Big Business," Teamsters general president Sean O'Brien said in a statement on Wednesday.
The move is a blow to US Vice President Kamala Harris, this year's Democratic nominee who has positioned hers elf as a fierce defender of American labour. In the Teamsters' internal survey conducted in July, Biden held a 44-36 percent lead over Donald Trump. Today, Trump has surged ahead, commanding a 60-34 lead over Kamala Harris in a Teamster online and phone poll.
Blue and white collar workers
The Teamsters have previously backed GOP presidential candidates like Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H W Bush. O’Brien's recent engagement with former President Trump and other Republicans had already fuelled speculation that the union might once again diverge from its usual alliances.
O'Brien has been actively forging connections with Republicans, including Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo), to push forward the union's key policy goals, such as the Protecting Workers’ Right to Organise (PRO) Act, which enhances workers' ability to unionise and negotiate, as well as resisting national right-to-work legislation.
Founded in 1903 through the merger of the Team Drivers International Union and the Teamsters National Union, the union currently represents a diverse range of blue and white collar workers in both public and private sectors, with approximately 1.3 million members as of 2015.
