Aviation rescue networks reimagined for faster, smarter and sustainable forest fire response

KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.

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HOW THE ReSEarch Framework realizes data-driven Aviation Rescue Networks for Forest fire

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Credit: Huang, J., & Zhao, Q.

The devastating wildfires that recently ravaged California serve as yet another testament to nature's destructive power. The blazes consumed vast forested areas, destroyed hundreds of homes, and claimed numerous lives, highlighting the critical need for more effective emergency response systems. Notably, such catastrophic events are becoming increasingly common worldwide, exacerbated by climate change and human activity.

A recent study published in Sustainable Operations and Computers presents a new approach to forest fire emergency response. The research team, led by Dr. Qiuhong Zhao of Beihang University in China, developed a data-driven framework for the planning and execution of aviation-based fire rescue operations. "Our approach is based on data-driven forecasting," explains Zhao. "By anticipating where fires are most likely to occur, we can position rescue resources strategically before disaster strikes."

Satellite imagery and advanced meteorological data feed into probability models that can forecast fire outbreaks. “These predictions then inform the optimal placement of aviation emergency stations and helicopter deployments through a specially developed two-stage stochastic algorithm,” says Zhao.

The system continuously adapts to changing conditions, ensuring resources are always positioned where they can be most effective. In China’s Hainan Province, the new research framework predicted forest fire probabilities, proving its viability in high-risk zones.

“By enabling more effective fire prevention and control, this system contributes to the long-term health of these vital ecosystems,” says Zhao.

Indeed, as climate change continues to increase the frequency and intensity of wildfires worldwide, such innovations in emergency management will become increasingly valuable. "This isn’t just about technology—it’s about safeguarding lives and livelihoods," notes co-author Jun Huang. "By aligning rescue networks with actual fire risks, we’re investing in long-term forest health and sustainable emergency rescue network."

“By combining data science with practical emergency response planning, our study provides a scalable solution that could benefit fire-prone regions across the globe,” adds Huang.

As Dr. Zhao reflects, "Our goal isn't just to fight fires, but to prevent disasters before they happen. This research brings us one step closer to that ideal."

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Contact the author: Dr. Qiuhong Zhao, School of Economics and Management, Beihang University, Beijing, China, qhzhao@buaa.edu.cn

The publisher KeAi was established by Elsevier and China Science Publishing & Media Ltd to unfold quality research globally. In 2013, our focus shifted to open access publishing. We now proudly publish more than 200 world-class, open access, English language journals, spanning all scientific disciplines. Many of these are titles we publish in partnership with prestigious societies and academic institutions, such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).

 

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Journal

Sustainable Operations and Computers

DOI

10.1016/j.susoc.2025.04.001 

Method of Research

Computational simulation/modeling

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Data-driven multi-objective optimization of sustainable aviation emergency network for forest fire rescue

 

Transport and mass budget of biodegradable microplastics in the Seto Inland Sea

Distribution characteristics and transport processes of biodegradable microplastics in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan

Ehime University

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The physical and biogeochemical processes controlling the behavior of MPs in the SIS are advection and diffusion, deposition, resuspension, and degradation processes.

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Credit: Xinyu Guo, Ehime University

Microplastics (MPs) pollution is a prevalent environmental problem that affects ecosystems globally. Despite the growing research on the environmental effects of MPs, a significant research gap remains in understanding the differences of environmental behavior and distribution patterns between biodegradable MPs and traditional MPs.

Using a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model and treating MPs as tracers with vertical velocity, this study simulated the transport of positively, neutrally, and negatively buoyant biodegradable MPs from rivers. The results show that positively buoyant MPs have significant seasonal variations and are mainly distributed in the surface layer. Neutrally buoyant MPs are distributed in all water depths, with a high (low) concentration in the eastern (western) Seto Inland Sea (SIS), characterized by winter mixing and summer stratification. Negatively buoyant MPs accumulate in the sediments and exhibit lower concentrations in seawater. Positively and neutrally buoyant MPs mainly outflow from the SIS into the Pacific Ocean, whereas negatively buoyant MPs hardly leave the SIS and are primarily deposited and degraded near river mouths. A settling velocity of –10–6 to –5 × 10–5 m s–1 (downward) greatly affects the concentration of MPs in seawater. However, large upward and downward velocities outside this range do not result in pronounced changes. Due to their inherent resistance to degradation, non-biodegradable MPs persist for a long time in the ocean. When these MPs sink into sediments, they can accumulate continuously without significant degradation. As the settling velocity increases, the ability of particles to leave the estuary decreases, exacerbating their accumulation on the seafloor. These accumulated non-biodegradable MPs may exacerbate a long-term impact on the environment.

With a higher degradation rate in sediments than in seawater, the biodegradable MPs do not accumulate in the sediments and can eventually reach a stable concentration in the sediments. The degradation of MPs in the sediment and seawater also reduces the outward flux of MPs from the SIS into the Pacific Ocean.

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DOI

10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.137911 

 

A model is developed to reduce water leaks in distribution networks based on pressure change data

The control model, devised by a team from the University of Cordoba, makes it possible to reduce the waste of an essential and limited resource and to extend the useful life of pipes

University of Córdoba

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Researchers David Muñoz Rodríguez, Alberto Jesús Perea Moreno and Andrés Ortega Ballesteros

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Credit: University of Cordoba

Water is a resource essential for life, as valuable as it is limited. For this reason, and especially in contexts of water scarcity, preventing it from being wasted is a key objective for those who are responsible for transporting it from catchment sources - reservoirs, swamps, springs, etc. - to taps at homes. It is a journey that water makes through piping systems that are often obsolete or that do not meet the necessary performance and efficiency requirements. With the aim of enhancing the management of drinking water, a team from the University of Cordoba has developed a predictive model whose implementation can help reduce one of the main problems suffered by these distribution networks: pipe leaks due to excessive pressure.

The work was carried out by a team in the Department of Applied Physics, Radiology and Physical Medicine, composed of researchers David Muñoz Rodríguez, Alberto Jesús Perea Moreno and María Jesús Aguilera Ureña; together with Manuel J. González Ortega, from the University of Seville; and Andrés Ortega Ballesteros, a student from the University of Cordoba who recently completed his doctoral thesis in this field. As the authors explain, the pressure at which the water circulates has a direct relationship with the appearance of leaks and the volume of water that is lost through them. Having data on this variable allows distribution network managers to detect anomalous patterns and adapt the pressure to the necessary levels and demands, which is done through valves. In this way it is possible to prevent leaks and, thus, unnecessary water loss.

The system proposed by the UCO team was developed following the Box-Jenkins methodology, which is mainly used to analyze and make forecasts through time series, and was generated and validated through the real data on the water distribution network for the Cantabrian town of Noja, a small municipality with significant population fluctuations during holiday periods, affecting water demand and pressure needs.

The resulting predictive model, scalable to other similar networks, allows companies operating water distribution networks to overcome a major limitation: the absence of real-time data to guide them when making dynamic pressure adjustments. The information provided by this system allows them to detect variations in advance and take preventive measures.

The benefits of this model, the researchers explain, go beyond reductions in leaks and consequent water loss. By adapting the pressure to demand, it improves the quality of the service users receive. At the same time, the appearance of new breakdowns is minimized, thereby lowering maintenance costs and also extending the useful life of the pipeline network, an essential infrastructure whose proper functioning is relied on to supply drinking water, a truly precious resource.

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Journal

Energy Nexus

DOI

10.1016/j.nexus.2025.100423 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Innovation ARIMA models application to predict pressure variations in water supply networks with open-loop control. Case study in Noja (Cantabria, Spain)

 Bee attack in southern France leaves 3 hospitalized, 24 injured

By Katie Scott 

 Global News
Posted July 7, 2025 

A bee sits on a yellow flower next to a sunflower on a meadow as the sun battles with dark clouds on Oct., 22, 2024. RALF HIRSCHBERGER/AFP via Getty Images

A rare bee attack in the French town of Aurillac left 24 people injured, including some critically, according to local authorities.


People walking in the south-central France town were stung over a period of 30 minutes on July 6, according to The Associated Press.

Firefighters and medical teams were rushed to the scene to treat the victims, while police set up a security perimeter until the bees stopped their attack.

Aurillac Mayor Pierre Mathonier told French broadcaster BFM TV on July 7 that the three people in critical condition were sent to a local hospital and their condition has since improved.

One of them, a 78-year-old, had to be resuscitated in the fire department’s ambulance after cardiorespiratory arrest. That person is now in stable condition, Mathonier said. The two others “are in good health,” he added.

Mathonier told the media that the bees may have become aggressive after their rooftop hives were attacked by Asian hornets. He said the rooftop beehives were installed in a downtown hotel more than 10 years ago.

He also said that the beekeeper has removed the beehive and relocated it outside of the town.

“All ended well,” Mathonier told the public television network France 3. “The emergency services were perfectly coordinated. There was no panic in Aurillac, but a number of people were stung.”

Mathonier added that a 78-year-old victim was stung 25 times.

Lt. Col. Michel Cayla, in charge of the local fire services, said he had never experienced such an attack.

“In terms of the number of victims, the panic among the people and the severity of some of the injuries, it was impressive,” he told broadcaster TF1.

Reactions to stings from honeybees and wasps range in severity from minor to potentially fatal, according to the Mayo Clinic. In most cases, stings only cause a brief, sharp pain, along with slight swelling and redness.

If you’re allergic to insect venom, a more severe reaction, called anaphylaxis, can occur and require emergency medical attention, the Mayo Clinic explains

— With files from The Associated Press

Voracious honey bees threaten the food supply of native pollinators

Researchers raise concern of native species being outcompeted by non-native honey bees, which were found to extract nearly 80 percent of available pollen in a day at a key hotspot of bee biodiversity

Peer-Reviewed Publication

University of California - San Diego

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Honey bees and other pollinating insects contribute billions of dollars to the American economy.

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Credit: Keng-Lou James Hung

The majority of the earth’s plant species, including our crop plants, rely on the services of animal pollinators in order to reproduce. Honey bees and other pollinating insects annually contribute billions of dollars to the U.S. economy, and are responsible for nearly a third of the food that ends up on our tables. Our modern agricultural industry is so reliant on honey bees that humans have introduced them worldwide, and in many cases, they have escaped human management and risen to prominence in natural ecosystems as non-native, feral populations. And, like any other non-native organism, feral honey bees may perturb native ecosystems when they become sufficiently abundant.

Feral honey bees have greatly proliferated in Southern California, along with the rest of the Southwestern United States. A new study by University of California San Diego biologists Dillon Travis, Joshua Kohn, David Holway and Keng-Lou James Hung is calling attention to the threat posed by non-native honey bees to the diverse native pollinators of the San Diego and broader Southern California region. These researchers previously estimated that honey bees comprise up to 90 percent of all bees visiting flowers of multiple native plant species in the region.

The new study, published in the journal Insect Conservation and Diversity, a Royal Entomological Society journal, estimates the impact honey bees may be having on populations of native bees in this important global hotspot of native pollinator biodiversity. The researchers found that honey bees remove about 80 percent of pollen during the first day that a flower opens. This finding is important because all bees in the region — and the vast majority of bee species worldwide — use pollen to raise their offspring. The amount of pollen removed daily by honey bees from just one hectare (2.5 acres) of native vegetation is enough to provision thousands of native bees per day during the peak bloom of native shrubs, the researchers found.

Because honey bees are larger than most native bee species in Southern California, the new study calculated that honey bees now comprise 98% of all bee biomass in this ecosystem. If the pollen and nectar used to create honey bee biomass were instead converted to native bees, populations of native bees would be expected to be roughly 50 times larger than they are currently. 

“Although honey bees are rightly considered an indispensable asset to humans, they can also pose a serious ecological threat to natural ecosystems where they are not native,” said Hung, who earned his PhD from UC San Diego and is now an assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma. “The plight of the honey bee is an issue of animal husbandry and livestock management, whereas when it comes to conservation issues here in North America, honey bees are likelier to be part of the problem, not a solution or a target for conservation.”

In another cause for concern, a study published in 2023 by Travis and Kohn showed that plants pollinated by honey bees produce lower-quality offspring compared with offspring from native pollinators.

While bees in general are being threatened by habitat loss, climate change and chemical pollution, the researchers say that such a level of honey bee pollen exploitation is not well documented, and could well pose an additional and important threat to native bee populations in places where honey bees have become abundant. Even as the number of managed honey bee colonies is increasing worldwide due to the commercial beekeeping industry, many species of native pollinators are declining. “Public concern for honey bees often fails to consider their potential negative effects on native pollinators,” the authors note in their report.

“Honey bees are incredibly effective at extracting resources like pollen and nectar,” said Travis, who earned his PhD at UC San Diego in 2023. “Unlike the vast majority of native bee species in the region, honey bees can communicate to their nestmates the locations of rewarding plants and quickly remove most of the pollen, often early in the morning before native bees begin searching for food.”

The new study used pollen-removal experiments to estimate the amount of pollen extracted by honey bees using three common native plants (black sage, white sage and distant phacelia — also known as distant scorpion weed) as targeted pollen sources. The researchers found that just two visits by honey bees removed more than 60 percent of the available pollen from flowers of all three species. Such prodigious rates of pollen exploitation leave scant pollen for the more than 700 species of native bees in the region.

“The most surprising finding was the extraordinarily small number of individual native bees observed that were as large or larger than honey bees,” said Professor Emeritus Kohn of the Department of Ecology, Behavior and Evolution.  “Particularly rare were bumble bees, which made up only 0.1% of all bees we observed.”

With the new study shedding light on the steep honey bee/native bee imbalance in San Diego and Southern California, the researchers say resource consumption by honey bees should receive greater attention as a potential factor in pollinator declines. One step to address the situation could be increased guidance on whether and where large-scale contract beekeepers are allowed to keep their hives on public lands after crops have bloomed, to limit opportunities for honey bees to outcompete native species for scarce resources provided by native vegetation.

“In areas with threatened bee species, natural preserve managers may also want to consider systematic removals or relocations of non-native honey bee colonies to provide wild bees a fighting chance,” said Hung.

Researchers found that honey bees remove about 80 percent of pollen during the first day that a flower opens.

Credit

Keng-Lou James Hung

Journal

Insect Conservation and Diversity

DOI

10.1111/icad.12858 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Pollen exploitation by non-native, feral honey bees: potential consequences for interspecific competition

Article Publication Date

7-Jul-2025

Heat and heavy metals are changing the way that bees buzz

Society for Experimental Biology

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A buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) buzz-pollinating a flower of the tomato family.

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Credit: Mario Vallejo-Marin

Ongoing research into the effect of environmental change on the buzzing of bees reveals that high temperatures and exposure to heavy metals reduces the frequency (and audible pitch) of non-flight wing vibrations, which could have consequences on the effectiveness of bee communication and their role as pollinators.

“People have been long interested in how insect flight muscles work, as these muscles power the most efficient flight systems in nature,” says Dr Charlie Woodrow, a post-doctoral researcher at Uppsala University. “However, many do not know that bees use these muscles for functions other than flight.”

These important non-flight muscle vibrations are used in communication, defence and buzz-pollination. “Buzz pollination is an incredible behaviour whereby a bee will curl its body around the pollen-concealing anthers of some flowers, and contract the flight muscles up to 400 times per second to produce vibrations which shake the pollen loose,” says Dr Woodrow.

“We want to understand how variation in these vibrations affects pollen release, to understand plant reproduction and pollinator behaviour,” says Dr Woodrow. “This inspired us to research how non-flight buzzes differ within and between species, and the drivers affecting these buzzes.”

Dr Woodrow’s experiments were carried out using colonies of buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris), a common European species that are well studied. Using accelerometers, Dr Woodrow and his team were able to measure the frequency of the buzz, which corresponds to the audible pitch. “They are super easy to use in the field,” he says. “We press these against the thorax of the bee, or against the flower the bee is visiting, and we can record the vibrations the bee produces.”

Dr Woodrow and his team also coupled the accelerometry with thermal imaging, which shows them how bees deal with the extra heat that they generate when buzzing. “We have also been using high-speed filming to uncover never before seen behaviours,” says Dr Woodrow. “For example, we recently discovered that bees don’t just vibrate on flowers, but they periodically transmit these vibrations to flowers by biting.”

“We have recently found that temperature plays a vital role, much more than was previously appreciated, and this work is currently in review for publication,” says Dr Woodrow. “This has many implications for how we study buzz-pollination, as temperature is not really something that has been considered up to this point.”

As well as increased temperatures, exposure to heavy metals was also shown to reduce the contraction frequencies of the flight muscles during non-flight buzzing, which Dr Woodrow is working on in collaboration with Dr Sarah Scott at Newcastle University, UK. However, the researchers were surprised to find no differences in the effect of temperature on buzzing when the experiments were reproduced in the Arctic compared to those further south, suggesting underlying muscle physiology, rather than local adaptation, may be responsible for determining the properties of a bee’s buzz.

The benefits of understanding the impact of environmental change on a bee’s buzz include unique insights into bee ecology and behaviour, helping to identify the species or regions most at risk, and the improvement of AI-based species detection based on sound recordings. “Perhaps buzzes could even be used as a marker of stress or environmental change,” says Dr Woodrow. “For example, we now know that certain environmental pollutants can affect the buzzes bees produce, so they could even serve as an indicator of ecosystem health.”

“It is important we understand how these changes will affect non-flight buzzes because they are responsible for so many aspects of a bee’s ecology,” says Dr Woodrow. “If these vibrations are disrupted, this could lead to poor communication in the colony, inefficient thermoregulation, or poor resource acquisition for their offspring.”

Perhaps most concerningly for humans and wildlife alike, a reduction in buzz-pollination could have potentially serious consequences for plant reproduction and biodiversity. “For example, buzz-pollination is energetically expensive and causes the bee to generate metabolic heat – therefore if the environment gets too warm, it may simply choose to avoid buzz-pollinated flowers,” says Dr Woodrow.

As well as furthering our understanding of how environmental change may be affecting bee buzzes, there are also applications for robotics and the future safeguarding of pollination services. “We are working towards understanding bee vibrations through micro-robotics, so our results are also going towards developing micro-robots to understand pollen release,” says Dr Woodrow.

This research is being presented at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Conference in Antwerp, Belgium on the 8th July 2025.

A buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) buzz-pollinating a flower of the tomato family [VIDEO] | 

During, buzz-pollination, the buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) reaches body temperatures of almost 40 °C.

Credit

Charlie Woodrow

ART IS ALCHEMY

Despite dwindling resources, report of successful arts education models worldwide paints bright picture

A new report highlights the promise of community and global advocacy, organizational support, partnerships, and other strategies for integrating quality arts education in public schools

New York University

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In India, the Slam Out Loud program connects teachers and artists in classrooms for storytelling, theater, and visual arts that bolster children’s socio-emotional learning. In the United States, Carnegie Hall partners with more than 115 orchestras across the country to teach children to sing and play instruments, culminating in an orchestral performance. Nonprofits like these are providing opportunities across the world in the face of reduced funding and support for arts education in public school systems.

In a new report, an NYU researcher offers a global audit of successful arts education models, and strategies for integrating quality arts programs in schools, including offering arts experiences to community members, partnering with local artists and institutions for programming, and advocating for the importance of artistic skills in advancing the global economy.

“The arts are vital for children’s development, wellbeing, and creative and critical thinking, the kinds of skills we need now more than ever amid rising conflict, polarization, and growing threats to education,” says Heddy Lahmann, the report’s author and clinical assistant professor of international education at NYU Steinhardt.  “This report is a blueprint for policymakers, educators, donors, and advocates who believe that arts belong at the heart of public education.”

Commissioned by the Community Arts Lab/Porticus and Community Arts Network, Lahmann’s report—From Margins to Masterpieces: Charting Pathways to Strengthen Arts in Global Public Education—draws on survey and interview data from artists, educators, policymakers, and advocates in 55 countries to highlight barriers for arts education, opportunities to establish and strengthen arts programming, global advocacy efforts, and successful national models facilitated by governments or nonprofit organizations.

Key Findings:

• The devaluation of arts education in public schools is driven by a multitude of factors, including limited funding and government support, prioritization of STEM courses, and perceptions of the arts as a “luxury.”
• Strategies are necessary to cultivate demand at the local level, establish partnerships at the regional level, and foster research networks on a global level.
• Growing recognition of creativity as a fundamental learning outcome, of cultural industries as drivers of economic growth, and of links between arts and health is opening new pathways for arts education advocacy.
• Successful models of arts education across the world are characterized by strong partnerships between governing bodies and arts nonprofits that expand and enrich school programming and training for teachers.

"Our goal, in commissioning this research, was to build the most updated and well-informed case for the arts in public education systems, given how detrimental the decline of arts education in public classrooms is to the future of our children, societies, and the arts," says Samar Bandak, managing director, co-lead of the Community Arts Network.

To address the barriers to arts education, Lahmann identifies opportunities to demonstrate the value of arts and create pathways for programming in schools. At the local level, schools have found success engaging students, parents, local leaders, and policymakers through performances and hands-on creative experiences that secure buy-in and cultivate demand for arts programming. At the regional level, partnerships between schools, arts organizations, and government agencies allow for shared resources. Globally, knowledge-sharing across countries and regions contributes to existing evidence on the benefits of arts education and allows for replication of successful arts education models.

The report emphasizes the importance of global networks and identifies the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as a key advocate in promoting arts education through international collaborations, influencing policy, and investing in research that positions arts as a driver of economic growth and innovation.

Lahmann provides more than 20 examples of successful initiatives supported by national governments or led by nonprofits like Slam Out Loud and Carnegie Hall, that can serve as blueprints for establishing long-term, high-quality arts education programs in underserved communities—in partnership with education systems. Factors contributing to their success include professional development for teachers, technical support for the development and implementation of curricula, and close collaborations between schools, arts organizations, and communities to support consistent funding and/or resources.

"Although arts education is the focus of this report, its findings mirror the case for art in general, providing the solid basis for an advocacy framework for championing the role of arts in society," says Bandak.

“Strengthening arts education requires more than policy declarations, it demands concrete action: investing in teacher training, technical support, and opportunities for communities to experience the arts firsthand,” says Lahmann. “It also means investing in the partnerships that make this work possible. The most successful efforts align strategy with heart: they build partnerships, connect policy to practice, and shift mindsets.”

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Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

From Margins to Masterpieces: Charting Pathways to Strengthen Arts in Global Public Education

Article Publication Date

7-Jul-2025