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)
Monday, June 22, 2026
How protein limiting offspring numbers contributed to evolutionary success of mosses
A moss gene previously thought to have been inactive actually plays a key role in their evolutionary success, researchers from the University of Bristol have discovered.
The new paper published in Current Biology today [18 June] has investigated a family of plant genes called WOX genes - proteins which help control growth and development.
In mosses, two WOX genes (PpWOX13LA and Pp13WOX13LB) were already known to play an important role in reproduction by supporting the development of the offspring, known as sporophytes, after fertilisation.
A third related gene, PpWOX13LC, was previously thought to be inactive as it appeared incomplete and was not detected in many plant tissues. However, the study showed that this gene is active during reproduction, particularly during the formation of reproductive organs and egg cells.
Professor Jill Harrison from the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Bristol, explained: “When we disabled PpWOX13LC, the moss produced extra sporophytes on a single reproductive shoot. This suggests that, unlike its relatives which encourage sporophyte growth, PpWOX13LC actually acts like a brake, preventing too many sporophytes from developing.”
Further evolutionary analysis found that PpWOX13LC belongs to a large group of similar genes only found in mosses, originating from an ancient gene duplication event. Over time, this duplicated gene appears to have evolved a new function: suppressing excess sporophyte formation, with the new proteins featuring structures that block the old proteins, preventing too many offspring from developing.
The researchers suggest this new function may have been advantageous, as limiting the number of offspring allows the parent plant to allocate resources more efficiently, potentially improving reproductive success.
“Rather than being inactive, our research suggests that the evolution of PpWOX13LC was an important innovation that helped shape moss reproduction and contributed to the long-term evolutionary success of mosses,” said lead author George Greiff, who carried out the research as part of his PhD in the School of Biological Sciences.
“The retention of this trait through hundreds of millions of years demonstrates its importance in the regulation of parental resource allocation during evolution,” he added. “Without this protein, plants produce more twins and triplets with each being smaller than solo offspring. This is a disadvantage in mosses, affecting life cycle progression and reproductive success.”
Paper
‘WOX neofunctionalisation following an ancient duplication in mosses by G. Greiff, M. Bethell, J. Clark, and J. Harrison in Current Biology
The moss Aneura Mirabilisshowing sporophyte offspring growing on the parent plants
ITHACA, N.Y. - Heat stress on dairy cows impacts more than just the quantity of milk produced – warming temperatures also reduce the fat and protein content of the milk, new research from Cornell University finds.
The study identifies a new impact of climate change on milk production, with researchers finding that the economic losses from a decrease in fat and protein in milk equal those of well-established, heat-related losses in yield.
“The heat-induced dilution of these valuable milk components is happening a bit under the radar,” said senior author Ariel Ortiz-Bobea, associate professor of agricultural economics. “When you account for the deterioration in milk composition, the economic loss ends up being of the same order of magnitude as the yield effect, so it just basically doubles the damage.”
Researchers used data from 2007 through 2016 on the milk production of around 6.5 million cows and compared that with weather data from the same period, with precision down to 2.5-mile grids across 43 states. The team found, aligning with previous research, that the amount of milk the cows produced dropped sharply at a certain threshold of heat and humidity. But the negative effects on milk composition began at lower temperatures and increased as temperatures rose.
“If it’s a day in the 60s or 70s, you don’t see any effect on yield, but the milk starts to get diluted gradually,” Ortiz-Bobea said. “Unlike the yield effect, which only happens in the summer, this is happening all the time.”
The team calculated farmers’ potential loss of revenue, finding that an average 10-point increase on the temperature-humidity index results in a 1.2% reduction in milk yield but a 2.8% reduction in revenue over a year, a $1.65 billion loss for an industry that produces 20% of U.S. animal products.
“It’s another headwind for dairy farmers,” Ortiz-Bobea said. “Milk prices are low, and farmers are struggling, and that usually leads to more consolidation, which changes the landscape in rural areas, literally and economically.”
The researchers also found little evidence of cows growing more heat-resilient – they saw almost no variation in heat-response across cows of different ages, farm sizes or regions; the only adaptation to heat was structural, or where in the country the industry chooses to farm.
The team hopes to work with even more granular data that will help them determine the cows’ response to heat with more precision.
“If we can have daily data and benchmarking for specific cows, we might be able to identify which ones are more heat-resilient,” Ortiz-Bobea said. “We can also start to look at if there’s a trade-off between higher yields or higher protein and fat and heat resilience. The goal is to share these insights that have broader implications for the industry.”
Funding was provided by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the National Science Foundation’s AI Research Institutes program.
According to a Concordia-led study, Canada’s national parks may still be struggling to protect landscapes from fragmentation as effectively as intended.
The researchers examined whether Canada’s national parks have been successful at preventing fragmentation of park landscapes by transportation infrastructure, agriculture and other barriers that restrict wildlife movement across their landscapes.
The study analyzed 43 national parks and national park reserves across Canada and compared them with nearby unprotected areas from the year they were designated protected areas to 2020. The researchers mapped roads, railways, built-up areas, industrial facilities, agricultural land, water bodies and other features using historical maps and digital geographic datasets. Then they compared changes inside parks with the nearby controls.
Using a metric called effective mesh size, the researchers estimated how easily animals can move through a landscape. Larger mesh sizes indicate more connected landscapes, while smaller ones indicate greater fragmentation.
About half of the parks and control areas experienced little change in mesh size over time, mostly in remote regions. However, fragmentation increased faster in roughly 35 percent of parks than in comparable unprotected areas, while only about 15 per cent were fragmented more slowly than their control areas. This suggests that park protection has been only partly successful at preventing fragmentation.
On average, older parks with long histories of tourism and transportation infrastructure generally became more fragmented than nearby unprotected landscapes. Protection was most effective in the Taiga, the Prairies, Pacific Maritime (the region along the coast of British Columbia) and Arctic ecozones. In contrast, park protection was least successful in the Cordilleras (including the Rocky Mountains) and Hudson (the southern shoreline of the Hudson Bay) ecozones.
Banff, Jasper, Yoho, Kootenay, Prince Albert and La Mauricie are examples of national parks where fragmentation has increased more substantially than in unprotected areas.
The team says the results indicate that landscape fragmentation should be monitored carefully to disclose trends over long periods and to assess the effects of Parks Canada’s various management strategies.
A visual abstract summarizing the key findings of the research titled "The Effects of Open-World and Fun, Accessible Games on Perceived Loneliness and Stoicism in Adults: Cross-Sectional Survey Study," published in JMIR Serious Games in 2026. The study found that mainstream video games can mitigate the feeling of loneliness in young adults by promoting a stoic mindset.
(Toronto, June 18, 2026) A new study published in JMIR Serious Games suggests that some video games may do more than entertain—they may also help adults cope with loneliness and build emotional resilience. The study, titled “The Effects of Open-World and Fun, Accessible Games on Perceived Loneliness and Stoicism in Adults: Cross-Sectional Survey Study,” found that adults who played open-world adventure games such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and accessible “feel-good” games such as Yoshi’s Crafted World reported lower levels of loneliness than nonplayers. These players also showed higher levels of stoicism, a psychological measure of emotional resilience, self-control, and the ability to handle challenges calmly.
Published by JMIR Publications, the study surveyed 2252 adults aged 21 years and older about their gaming habits, emotional outlook, and feelings of loneliness. According to the authors, the findings suggest that specific types of games may offer positive emotional outcomes beyond simple escapism.
The researchers hypothesize that combining challenging exploration-based games and more relaxing games may create what they describe as a balanced “digital diet” for emotional well-being.
“Contrary to the stereotype of gaming as mere escapism, we found that open-world and accessible, joyous games can help foster a resilient, stoic mindset and alleviate loneliness,” said author Andreas B Eisingerich.
Loneliness continues to be recognized globally as a growing public health concern linked to poorer mental and physical health outcomes. While the study does not claim that games replace professional mental health care, it suggests that thoughtfully chosen gaming experiences could be affordable and scalable tools to support emotional well-being.
This research moves beyond the stereotype of gaming as passive screen time. Instead, it highlights that video games can provide spaces where players practice persistence, problem-solving, recovery from setbacks, and emotional regulation.
Please cite as:
Hou C, Tam W, Rahmadianty A, Rajendra P, Eisingerich A The Effects of Open-World and Fun, Accessible Games on Perceived Loneliness and Stoicism in Adults: Cross-Sectional Survey Study JMIR Serious Games 2026;14:e89304 URL: https://games.jmir.org/2026/1/e89304 DOI: 10.2196/89304
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About JMIR Publications
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In Götz Veser’s lab at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, then-PhD candidate Aime Laurent Twizerimana was pumping ethane through molten metal at temperatures below 1,000 degrees Celsius when something unexpected happened. The carbon byproduct that rose to the surface appeared “fluffy.” That byproduct turned out to be high-quality graphite.
While researching a cleaner, more efficient way to produce ethylene, Twizerimana had struck the new “black gold,” as graphite is known in high-tech and automotive industries. This graphite is a key ingredient in lithium-ion batteries, which are essential to electric vehicles, modern electronics, and green energy storage. However, current methods for producing the graphite, which require temperatures of 3,000ºC, are far from energy efficient, and today 95 percent of the material comes from China.
Recognizing the need to produce domestic graphite and hydrogen more efficiently, the Pitt team of Veser and Twizerimana, with Assistant Professor Mohammad Masnadi and PhD student Nader Sawtarie, filed for a provisional patent and launched the startup Graphonos Materials (formerly Grapheon). The company has demonstrated its novel technology in the lab and has caught the attention of venture capitalists, most recently at the Rice Business Plan Competition, where it won a $20,000 Aramco Innovator Prize.
An unexpected discovery
“A holdup in the transition to cleaner energy is the attitude that you're either for or against renewable energy,” said Veser, professor of chemical and petroleum engineering at the Swanson School and the Leonard Peters Faculty Fellow in the Covestro Circular Economy Program. “My research explores ways to connect the processing of fossil fuels to a more sustainable future, supporting this transition.”
With Masnadi, who also now serves as chief sustainability officer of Graphonos Materials, Veser has been investigating new methods to separate, or “crack,” ethane, a main ingredient in the natural gas found in Western Pennsylvania. Cracking ethane into ethylene requires heat and generates solid carbon from side reactions, and the most common approach involves pumping steam into a reactor to avoid plugging the reactor tubes.
“It's a very energy- and emission-intensive process, wherecarbon build-up in the reactor requires regular process shut-downs for cleaning,” said Veser, who is also chief technology officer of Graphonos Materials. “In looking for a cleaner alternative, we turned to molten metal catalysis, a technique that isn’t widely used but that has been around for almost a century already.”
Instead of using a solid metal catalyst, the researchers pumped the ethane through molten metal, where it dehydrogenates. “Molten metals have an amazing advantage,” Masnadi said. “Because of the extreme density of the liquid metals,the carbon floats out to rest on the top.”
For his PhD research, Twizerimana, now CEO of Graphonos Materials and a postdoctoral researcher at the Swanson School, was investigating this process. As he said, “It was toward the end of my PhD, and I realized that with some of the metals we used, the carbon that formed came out differently, fluffier. We decided to look more closely at that.”
Twizerimana turned to Sawtarie, a fellow graduate student who was researching the unique properties of 2D metals in Professor Susan Fullerton’s Nanoionics and Electronics Lab. “Part of my PhD research involved graphene, a form of graphite,” said Sawtarie, the chief product officer at Graphonos Materials. “I characterized the byproduct, which turned out to be incredibly valuable.”
A trip to “the Super Bowl”
“While searching for new ways to crack ethane, we found that we could produce battery-quality graphite by heating the ethane to temperatures below 1,000ºC,” Twizerimana said. “We produce graphite in a more sustainable and economically competitive process, with hydrogen generated as a valuable co-product.”
Most of the battery-quality graphite today is produced in China through an extremely energy-intensive process. Crystalline petroleum coke, called needle coke, is heated to 3,000ºC in a very slow batch process, where a single batch can take up to three weeks. Domestic graphite producers exist, using this intensive process, but the graphite is more expensive than in China, which dominates the market.
The Pitt team developed and validated a process that spanned two Swanson School labs and produced two key ingredients for a cleaner energy future. As they launched Graphonos Materials, they found valuable support at Pitt’s Big Idea Center. The Center helps students and faculty entrepreneurs realize their ideas and develop and deliver their pitches.
This support would help lead Graphonos Materials to what Pitt Professor Christopher Wilmer calls “the Super Bowl of pitch competitions.” Of the more than 550 teams worldwide that applied to compete in the Rice Business Plan Competition, 41 were selected along with Graphonos Materials.
This April at the competition, they were one of 15 teams to reach the semi-finals and one of two teams capturing a $20,000 Aramco Innovator Prize. According to Aramco Ventures, this prize “recognizes the most forward-thinking and high-impact solutions at this year’s competition and celebrates entrepreneurs who embody this spirit of discovery and technical excellence.”
At Pitt, the team also won the $25,000 Big Idea Competition Grand Prize. Together, the prizes validated their work and its potential to transform how graphite and hydrogen are produced. “We have learned that there is a strong need for low-cost, sustainable graphite in the market,” Twizerimana said. “Now is the right time to fill it.”
“We’re raising money to develop our first fully integrated bench-scale system, which will enable us to produce kilograms per day and will give us the engineering basis to design a pilot skid,” Veser said. If successful, it will allow the team to turn Western Pennsylvania’s ethane into two products essential to the transition to cleaner energy, right here in Pittsburgh.
Nader Sawtarie and Aime Laurent Twizerimana in the lab.
