UMass Amherst-led team finds rapidly changing river patterns in High-mountain Asia pose a challenge for region’s energy future

The increase in water coming from melting glaciers has consequences for billions of people who depend on this water for drinking, agriculture and electricity generation

University of Massachusetts Amherst

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Upper Bhotekoshi River, Nepal

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Credit: Jonathan Flores, UMass Amherst

AMHERST, Mass. — An international team of researchers led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst has tracked changes in more than 114,000 rivers in High-mountain Asia over a 15-year period. The paper, published in AGU Advances, reported that nearly 10% of these rivers saw an increase in flow, with an increasing proportion of that water coming from glacial ice melt compared to precipitation.  

 

This water serves billions of people from China, India and Southeast Asia to Turkmenistan; is sensitive to climate change; and plays a key role in the sustainable development of this region through hydroelectricity generation.  

 

Using satellite observations and computer models from 2004 to 2019, the team found that 11,113 rivers experienced an increase in river discharge, or the amount of water flowing through them at any given time.  

 

“We’re seeing these rapid changes, which is consistent with a lot of other studies. We’ve just given it a finer lens and therefore assess it more concretely and quantitatively than it’s ever been done before,” says Colin Gleason, UMass Amherst Armstrong Professor of civil and environmental engineering. 

 

The smaller, upstream rivers of the Syr Darya Basin (which spans parts of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan), Indus Basin (Pakistan, India, China and Afghanistan), and China’s Yangtze and Yellow River basins were most affected by these increases. 

 

One issue with this increase occurring in upstream rivers is that it can disrupt hydropower, which is critical for the energy security in the region. “For example, in Nepal, about 80% of their energy sources are coming from hydropower,” says Jonathan Flores, UMass Ph.D. student and first author on the paper. 

 

Increased river flow subsequently increases stream power. This may sound like a benefit for hydroelectricity, but in reality, it means that the river can push more and larger pieces of sediment downstream. 

 

“The dams are designed for specific stream power or discharge,” Flores says. “With that design, it has a limit for energy generation as well. The capacity and the energy supply stay the same, but the sediment that is clogging up the turbines and reducing the capacity of the reservoir increases.” This, ultimately, limits the amount of energy a plant can generate or raises the cost of doing so. 

 

Their research also traced the source of this increased water. Depending on the region, these changes were driven by different factors.  

 

“There are hot spots that we found out in the region,” says Flores. The eastern part of the Indus is getting wetter because of increased precipitation and changes in monsoon patterns. 

 

Overall river discharge in the western part of High-mountain Asia, namely the Syr Darya, Amu Darya and Western Indus rivers, increased by 2.7% year over year, with an increasing proportion of that water coming from glaciers. Every year, 2.2% more of the water discharge in a river can be attributed to glacial melt rather than precipitation.  

 

High-mountain Asia is referred to as the “Third Pole” in China, making it a key area of climate change research. “The first things to respond to warming climate are snow and ice,” says Gleason. “You see it in Greenland, you see it in Antarctica, and you see it here.”  

 

The shift will have significant consequences for water use. Gleason describes water as a bank: Precipitation is like paycheck. It makes deposits into your checking account that you use for your day-to-day withdrawals. “Your glacier is like your savings account,” he says. “You really don’t want to touch it. It just kind of drips your low interest rate over time. If there’s a year-on-year percent increase in flow coming from a glacier, it would suggest that, if those trends continue at that pace, you could be looking at diminishing glacial water stocks.” 

 

Gleason highlights that planners will need to consider the shift because glacial water is more seasonally predictable than precipitation. “The real effect is: it changes the stability of how much water is coming into your hydro system. If you’re building a drinking water or hydropower system reliant on glaciers providing a stable water supply, are you ready for that stable supply to change, and will the glacier even still be there 100 years from now?” 

Upstream, Koshi River, Nepal

Credit

Jonathan Flores, UMass Amherst

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Journal

AGU Advances

DOI

10.1029/2024AV001586 

Method of Research

Imaging analysis

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Accelerating River Discharge in High Mountain Asia

Article Publication Date

13-Aug-2025

 

Seashells inspire a better way to recycle plastic

Using nature’s approach to robust structures, Georgia Tech has created a process that makes normally unpredictable recycled plastic reliable and strong

Georgia Institute of Technology

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Georgia Tech researchers used a device to test the reliability and strength of chopped-up sheets of recycled plastic. The video shows several stages as the plastic is torn apart, from initial deformation (white shading) to crack initiation to propagation to final failure.

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Credit: Georgia Tech

Researchers from Georgia Tech have created a material inspired by seashells to help improve the process of recycling plastics and make the resulting material more reliable.

The structures they created greatly reduced the variability of mechanical properties typically found in recycled plastic. Their product also maintained the performance of the original plastic materials.

The researchers said their bio-inspired design could help cut manufacturing costs of virgin packaging materials by nearly 50% and offer potential savings of hundreds of millions of dollars. And, because less than 10% of the 350 million tons of plastics produced each year is effectively recycled, the Georgia Tech approach could keep more plastic out of landfills.

Aerospace engineering assistant professor Christos Athanasiou led the study, which was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Why are plastics recycled so infrequently? And when they are recycled, why can’t they be widely reused?

Recycled plastics aren’t pristine materials — they’re a chaotic mix of past lives. Every bottle, bag, and wrapper brings its own history of additives, stress, and degradation. When we recycle them mechanically by melting them all down, we get a material that’s weaker than virgin plastic — and wildly unpredictable. Unpredictability is a dealbreaker.

That’s why recycled plastics rarely make it back into products that need strength, safety, or consistency like construction materials, car components, or autonomous delivery vehicles. They simply can’t be trusted to perform.

Why can seashell structure offer clues for improvement?

Nature doesn’t purify. It organizes.

Seashells, like nacre, are made of brittle minerals glued together by soft proteins. They’re not flawless, but they’re robust. The secret is in the architecture: hard “bricks” connected by soft “mortar,” creating a system that dissipates energy and controls failure. That’s a fundamentally different design philosophy from how we typically engineer materials, where uniformity and purity are the paths to reliability.

Nature embraces variability and makes it manageable through structure. We borrowed that insight.

What did you create, and how did you test it?

We took chopped-up sheets of recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE) — the same plastic used in industrial stretch wrap — and reassembled them into layered composites inspired by seashells. Think of it as a synthetic nacre structure: stiff plastic “bricks” joined by a softer “mortar” made from a commercial adhesive polymer, engineered to absorb stress and control failure.

To test it, we pulled these bio-inspired structures apart using a custom-built mechanical setup. We captured their behavior in real time, from initial deformation to crack initiation to propagation to final failure.

Then we developed a new model — a first-of-its-kind uncertainty-aware Tension Shear Chain model. Rather than just assessing how stiff and strong the material was, our model also provided a measure of confidence of how reliably it performed under tension.

What were the results?

We reduced the variability in maximum elongation — a key measure of mechanical performance — by over 68%. Normally, recycled plastics are all over the place in mechanical performance. Our structured composites were consistent. That’s a key requirement for any real-world application.

In other words: we built a structure you can trust, using materials you normally can’t.

HDPE stretch film is the clear material that wraps products stacked on pallets. It can’t do the same job again once it’s been recycled?

Not quite. Stretch film needs to be both strong and flexible. But once it's exposed to sunlight, stress, and heat, its molecular structure changes. Recycling it blindly is like reusing a parachute without checking for rips. Our bio-inspired design doesn’t just reuse the plastic — it restores its reliability, making high-performance reuse possible.

You’re in the School of Aerospace Engineering. This work doesn’t appear to be related to airplanes, rockets, or space. What’s the connection?

Designing the next generation of aerospace systems requires thinking across disciplines and pushing beyond conventional materials. For example, one of the biggest challenges in space engineering is creating structures that don’t fail in unpredictable, extreme environments. Whether it’s a reusable rocket part or a shelter on Mars, we need materials that are resilient across their entire lifecycle.

Our PNAS study tackles a fundamental mechanics problem: how do you build reliable structures from unreliable materials? That’s not just a recycling question. It’s a future-of-space question.

What’s next?

We’re scaling this approach to work with a wider range of recycled plastics while pairing them with greener, bio-based adhesives to make the entire structure more sustainable. At the same time, we’re exploring how this strategy could support off-Earth construction, where recycling and reusing materials is a necessity. NASA’s Lunar Recycling Challenge, for example, points to a future where waste becomes the building block of survival.

CITATION: Georgiou, D., Sun, D., Liu, X, Athanasiou, C. Suppressing Mechanical Property Variability in Recycled Plastics via Bio-inspired Design. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Vol 122, 2025). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2502613122.

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Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2502613122. 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Suppressing Mechanical Property Variability in Recycled Plastics via Bio-inspired Design

Article Publication Date

12-Aug-2025

 

Study: As temperatures and humidity rise, so do emergency room visits for heart conditions

High humidity, when combined with extreme heat, was associated with a six times higher risk of a heart-related emergency room visit

Tulane University

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Extreme heat can be hard on your heart. As temperatures rise, the heart pumps faster to move blood toward the skin to cool the body. This added strain on the cardiovascular system can increase the risk of heart attack or stroke, especially for those with existing heart conditions.

The danger can spike dramatically when combined with high humidity, according to a new study from Tulane University that found the risk of visiting the emergency room for a heart-related issue is six times higher during extremely hot and humid days.

The study, published in Science of the Total Environment, analyzed more than 340,000 emergency room visits for heart-related issues in Dhaka, Bangladesh, a city characterized by intense heat and humidity, from 2014 to 2019. Researchers modeled these visits against historical temperature and humidity data. While heat alone increased the risk of a heart-related emergency by 4.4% on low-humidity days, the risk jumped to 26.7% on the most humid days when relative humidity topped 82 percent.

“These findings show we need to consider heat and humidity together when we discuss any kind of climate change policy,” said first author Mostafijur Rahman, an assistant professor of environmental health sciences at the Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane University. “We know extreme heat can have a negative health impact, but I never expected such a dramatic increase in risk when high humidity is also factored in.”

Researchers found no association between humidity alone and increased heart-related emergencies. High heat was defined as temperatures above 84 degrees Fahrenheit; exposure to high heat alone was associated with an 8% increase in heart-related emergency visits. However, humidity significantly magnified that risk when levels exceeded 80%. The increase was consistent across age and sex groups.

When combined with high heat, a high level of moisture in the air can limit sweat evaporation, the body’s key cooling mechanism, and force the heart to pump even harder.

The findings are especially significant because household air conditioning is uncommon in Dhaka, and Bangladesh consistently ranks among the countries estimated to be most vulnerable to climate change. As temperatures rise around the globe, Rahman hopes these findings encourage solutions in Bangladesh and similar countries, where exposure to high heat and humidity can drive up the risk of heat-related illness.

“There are billions around the world—from Southeast Asia to Africa—who are directly impacted by rising temperatures but have little access to air conditioning,” Rahman said. “Hopefully governments will be spurred to develop systems to warn cities of dangerous heat and humidity. For average citizens, it’s important to develop habits to beat the heat: stay hydrated, stay indoors, wear breathable clothing, and consider visiting air-conditioned public places like malls or libraries.”

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Journal

Science of The Total Environment

DOI

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.180220 

Article Title

Compounding effects of heat and high humidity on cardiovascular morbidity in Dhaka, Bangladesh: An implication of climate crisis

Article Publication Date

13-Aug-2025

Team creativity can and should play a key role in primary care

Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health

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August 13, 2025 — Team creativity can be measured in primary care, according to a new study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Primary care teams are essential to high-quality, patient-centered care yet face persistent challenges despite growing recognition of their operational expertise. Their role as a source of creative ideas for improving care is underleveraged while empirical tools for assessing and supporting creativity in primary care teams also remained scarce. The findings are published in Health Care Management Review.

“In other industries, team creativity is well-studied and is gaining traction in health care, where it may foster innovation and improvement,” said Yuna Lee, PhD, assistant professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, and first author.

“Our goal was to adapt and refine the concept of team creativity for primary care.” 

Over the past two decades, primary care in the United States has undergone a wave of innovation in response to persistent challenges, including new models of financing, delivery, and workforce design. At the forefront of these efforts are primary care teams—comprising physicians, nurses, medical assistants, and other staff—who work together to solve problems and adapt care on a daily basis.

The researchers used a three-stage empirical design. First, team creativity dimensions were identified through a review and thematic analysis of management literature. The second stage of the study involved consulting an expert panel of 15 scholars and professionals with experience in primary care who adapted these dimensions for primary care. Third, a survey of 648 primary care team members in a large health system was followed by an analysis to identify core dimensions.

Five dimensions of primary care team creativity emerged:

• Team orientation to creativity
• Team creative processes
• Job-required creativity
• Team creative outputs
• Leveraging team creativity

“Primary care teams can apply these five dimensions to generate creative ideas in their daily work,” said Lee. “Managers can support this by allocating resources, implementing supportive practices, and recognizing their creative contributions.”

With primary care teams increasingly operating in complex environments shaped by burnout, staffing shortages, care coordination challenges, and complex patient needs, this work offers a foundation for making creativity a core capability in high-performing primary care teams, Lee observed.

“Despite many innovations in primary care, the creative capacity of frontline teams remains underexplored,” Lee points out. “The findings from our study suggest that with supportive dynamics and infrastructure, these teams can generate solutions to persistent challenges—contributing to care quality and operational efficiency.”

Co-authors are Nancy LaVine, Northwell Health and Department of Medicine, Lenox Hill Hospital; Yulia Kogan, Population Health Analytics, Northwell Health; and Lusine Poghosyan, Columbia University School of Nursing and Department of Health Policy and Management, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health.

The study was supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, grant 5R03HS027502-02.

Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

Founded in 1922, the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health pursues an agenda of research, education, and service to address the critical and complex public health issues affecting New Yorkers, the nation and the world. The Columbia Mailman School is the third largest recipient of NIH grants among schools of public health. Its nearly 300 multi-disciplinary faculty members work in more than 100 countries around the world, addressing such issues as preventing infectious and chronic diseases, environmental health, maternal and child health, health policy, climate change and health, and public health preparedness. It is a leader in public health education with more than 1,300 graduate students from 55 nations pursuing a variety of master’s and doctoral degree programs. The Columbia Mailman School is also home to numerous world-renowned research centers, including ICAP and the Center for Infection and Immunity. For more information, please visit www.mailman.columbia.edu.

 

 

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Journal

Health Care Management Review

DOI

10.1097/HMR.0000000000000455 

Article Title

Examining team creativity in primary care

 

Tiny creatures, big insights: The microbial signature of the sea uncovered by copepods

New study reveals that copepod-associated microbes mirror ocean currents and environmental gradients better than free-living microbes

Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research

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image: 

Top - a map showing the sampling stations along the research cruise onboard the R/V L’Atalante. Bottom - circulation maps presenting ocean connectivity between stations, reflected in the copepod microbial metacommunities. From: Velasquez et al. (2025).

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Credit: Dr. Ximena Velasquez

[13 August 2025] — An international study led by Prof. Tamar Guy-Haim and Dr. Ximena Velasquez from the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research (IOLR) has revealed that tiny planktonic crustaceans carry a unique microbial signature that better reflects ocean currents and environmental gradients than microbes found freely in seawater.

Published today in Limnology and Oceanography Letters, the researchers investigated microbial communities associated with copepods across the Mediterranean Sea—one of the world’s most environmentally diverse marine systems, characterized by pronounced west-to-east gradients in temperature, salinity, and nutrients. By comparing microbes living on copepods with those found in seawater, the researchers discovered that copepod microbiomes revealed clearer biogeographic patterns that reflect environmental gradients and ocean circulation.

 “These microbes travel with their copepod hosts”, explains lead author Dr. Ximena Velasquez. “Because copepods dispersal is more limited by ocean currents than free-living microbes, their associated microbes are shaped by where they are and how they move, creating a ‘microbial map’ of ocean regions”.

The study brought together experts from Israel, Italy, Greece, and France, collecting samples aboard the French research vessel L’Atalante during a five-week expedition from the western Mediterranean off France to the eastern Mediterranean near Crete. The fieldwork took place in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, adding logistical challenges. “Every day we towed plankton nets and collected water samples”, recalls Velasquez.  “I set hours by the stereomicroscope in our ship’s lab to identify and carefully pick the copepods, one by one, even when the sea was rough. Despite everything, it was an unforgettable and enjoyable experience”.

“Marine microbial metacommunities are networks of communities”, explains Prof. Tamar Guy-Haim. “At local scales, copepod microbial communities are host-specific and strongly influenced by traits like diet and feeding behavior, as we found in a previous research. But over large oceanic distances, copepods can share microbes directly with one another or indirectly via the environment, forming what we call a microbial metacommunity”.

Using genetic tools and evolutionary models, the researchers discovered that copepod-associated microbial metacommunities were alike in Mediterranean basins linked by ocean currents, but distinctly different in basins that were not connected. By contrast, free-living microbes in seawater were more uniform everywhere and tended to be dominated by common, widespread species.

 “This suggests that copepod-associated microbes are more sensitive indicators of regional changes in ocean conditions”, says Guy-Haim. “They could serve as valuable bioindicators for detecting shifts in marine ecosystems, especially under climate change”.

As surface oceans become warmer and more nutrient-depleted, these host-associated microbes, especially those adapted to oligotrophic conditions, may offer early warning signs about the health of marine ecosystems. The findings open new avenues for tracking how host-associated microbial communities, and the ecosystems they inhabit, are changing on a global scale.

Top right Dr. Ximena Velasquez picking copepods from plankton samples. 

Top left – copepods collected for the research. Bottom – The research team.




Left – Plankton nets. Right – Rosette mounted with Niskin bottles, collecting seawater from different depths.

Sampling from palnkton nets during the COVID pandemic

Credit
Zooplankton Ecology Lab, IOLR.

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Journal

Limnology and Oceanography Letters

DOI

10.1002/lol2.70054 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Copepod-associated microbial biogeography in the epipelagic ocean