Brazil scrambles to approve virus vaccine as pressure mounts

by Diane Jeantet and Mauricio Savarese

JANUARY 1, 2021
Demonstrators hold the Portuguese messages: "Vaccine now!" and "Get out Bolsonaro" to protest Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's handling of the coronavirus, at a bus station in Brazilia, Brazil, Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Brazil, a nation proud of its role as a regional leader in science, technology and medicine, finds itself falling behind its neighbors in the global race for immunization against a pandemic that has already killed nearly 200,000 of its people.

Latin America's largest nation, long heralded for its domestic vaccine development programs, appears to be at least three or four weeks away from launching any formal immunization campaign against COVID-19. In contrast, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Costa Rica and other countries in the region have already begun giving shots to their populations.

The Brazilian government has not approved a single vaccine and has stumbled in attempts to acquire even syringes and needles for an immunization effort that, as of the new year, still had no definite rollout date.

Meanwhile, the number of new coronavirus infections in the country reached a new high in December—peaking with more than 70,000 cases on Dec. 16.

The lightning rod in Brazil's vaccine debate is President Jair Bolsonaro, who has cast skepticism on all of the vaccines being developed even as his government negotiates to obtain them. He has said he doesn't plan to get a shot himself and joked at one point that side effects might turn people into crocodiles or bearded ladies.

Such talk has left Brazil's image abroad "very damaged," Margareth Dalcolmo, a professor in respiratory medicine at the state-funded Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, also known as Fiocruz, told The Associated Press.

"No one is saying that Bolsonaro really believes this, but he is discrediting the vaccine," said Walter Cintra, a professor in health management at the Getulio Vargas Foundation university in Sao Paulo. "When the government behaves like this, it loses credibility. And these are million-dollar contracts."

One of the earliest vaccines on the horizon appears to be one developed by China's Sinovac company, which has contracted with the government of Brazil's largest state, Sao Paulo, for distribution and production.

       WOT ME WORRY?

in this July 24, 2020 file photo, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, who is infected with COVID-19, wears a protective face mask as he talks with supporters during a Brazilian flag retreat ceremony outside his official residence the Alvorada Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil. The South American nation proud of its role as a regional leader in science, technology and medicine, finds itself falling behind its neighbors in the global race for immunization against a pandemic that has already killed nearly 200,000 of its people. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)

Sao Paulo Gov. João Doria announced plans to start distributing shots on Jan. 25 if federal health authorities approve the vaccine. Doria is a vocal critic and likely challenger in the 2022 presidential election, and his announcement added pressure on the Bolsonaro administration to come up with its own federal immunization plan.

The president initially sneered at the Chinese vaccine, saying its origins don't inspire trust, but other states quickly showed interest in acquiring some.

Another contender for early release nationwide is likely to be the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, which could be available by early February once regulators approve it, according to Brazil's state laboratory Fiocruz, which is producing it in Brazil.

Fiocruz is one of Brazil's largest public laboratories for vaccine production, including measles, polio and yellow fever. Relying on advanced technology and Fiocruz' ability to produce at a low price, Brazil is the world's biggest manufacturer of yellow fever vaccines, exporting millions of doses to dozens of countries worldwide, according to Fiocruz information.

Fiocruz said it expects to have 100 million of domestically produced COVID-19 doses by the end of July. Two doses are needed.

The government also expects an additional 42 million doses from the global vaccine partnership known as COVAX, with no set date, and has signed a memorandum with Janssen, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, for 38 million doses of its single-shot vaccine when it becomes available.

The government has struggled to reach a deal for the first vaccine approved globally, the Pfizer-BioNTech shot. Pfizer complained in late December of Brazil's regulatory hurdles, while Bolsonaro expressed surprise that pharmaceutical companies did not show more eagerness to sell to a nation of roughly 210 million people.

Tensions seemed to wane in a meeting between regulators and Pfizer on Dec. 30, during which officials said they would simplify protocols and Pfizer said it would consider applying for emergency use approval. The Brazilian government and Pfizer earlier signed a memorandum of understanding for 70 million doses, according to information from the health ministry.

A demonstrator wears a face shield with a red handprint, mimicking blood, to protest Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's handling of the deadly coronavirus pandemic in Brasilia, Brazil, Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020. Protesters also called for the immediate start of COVID-19 vaccinations. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

For Cintra, the professor in health management, the confusion over the COVID-19 vaccine approval is symptomatic of this administration's chaotic handling of the pandemic, during which Bolsonaro has repeatedly denounced local officials' efforts to impose social distancing rules and described the virus as a "small flu".

"This is not about Anvisa (the regulator), or excessive regulation. It's about the federal government systematically sabotaging the fight against the pandemic, or completely destroying the Brazilian health system," he said.

Cintra noted that a public tender to acquire over 330 million syringes and needles for the government's COVID-19 vaccination campaign resulted this week in bids for only 8 million units within the acceptable price range—less than 3% of what was required.

The Ministry of Health said in a statement that it would keep the tender open.

"There is a real risk of having a vaccine but not enough needles and syringes," warned Carlos Eduardo Lula, president of a council of state health secretaries.

The head of Brazil's bar association, Felipe Santa Cruz, told the newspaper Valor that further delays in the vaccination program could lead the association to draft an impeachment request against Bolsonaro.

For physics teacher Francisco Ferreira, 55, hope for a vaccine any time soon is fading.

"Brazil is getting a mix of bad faith and incompetence on the vaccine issue," Ferreira said as he walked through the Sao Paulo international airport. "There are serious administrations around the world giving out the shots, but this isn't our case."

Explore further  Brazil drug agency questions 'transparency' of China vaccine

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Guinea uses Russian COVID-19 vaccine on some officials

by Boubacar Diallo

JANUARY 1, 2021

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Guinea began vaccinating against COVID-19 with the Russian Sputnik V vaccine on an experimental basis, starting with government officials, authorities said Thursday.

Guinea has ordered only 55 doses of the Russian vaccine, said Dr. Sakoba Keita, the director-general of the National Health Security Agency.

"We requested a small quantity of the vaccine, 55 doses precisely. This is the beginning of an order," Keita said. "Yesterday we vaccinated in this pilot phase 25 senior officials of the state. There are 30 doses left and we will continue with the vaccination."

However, he said on state TV Wednesday that they also sent a letter to Russia requesting 2 million doses of Sputnik V to help the country's vulnerable. Guinea has a population of 13 million.

Guinea is one of the first African nations to vaccinate its officials.

The Minister of Defense, Mohamed Diane was the first to receive the vaccine. He was shown getting the inoculation on national TV followed by other Cabinet ministers receiving the shots on Wednesday.

Gen. Bourema Condé, Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, spoke after receiving the Russian vaccine.

"This new vaccine is a strong signal. This signal shows the strong will of the president. Today is a sampling, and this sampling will be duplicated," he said. "The president wants all Guineans to be in good health in relation to this pandemic."

Amadou Damaro Camara, the president of the country's legislative body, the National Assembly, was also vaccinated.

"We are the guinea pigs," he said of receiving the first doses of the vaccine.

"It is the government's permanent concern to want to fight against this disease and we are very happy about it," he said. "We hope that this vaccination will be extended to the rest of the people and that it will be the beginning of the eradication of this disease."

Tibou Camara, Guinea's industry minister, also spoke on the television broadcast after being vaccinated.

"The Guinean population should be congratulated and rejoice at a time when the vaccine is coveted and not very accessible to many countries, and that our country is a beneficiary," he said.

Russia has businesses in the West African nation and Guinea is known for its bauxite mining.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was among the first world leaders to congratulate Guinea's President Alpha Conde after he won a controversial third term in office after a violently contested election in October.

© 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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FIRST NATIONS USA

Fast rollout of virus vaccine trials reveals tribal distrust

by Felicia Fonseca

JANUARY 2, 2021

In this Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020, photo provided by Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, registered nurse Starla Garcia prepares a coronavirus vaccine in Chinle, Ariz., for someone who enrolled in the COVID-19 vaccine trials on the Navajo Nation and initially received a placebo.

 (Nina Mayer Ritchie/Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health via AP)

The news came during a hopeful time on the largest Native American reservation.

Daily coronavirus cases were in the single digits, down from a springtime peak of 238 that made the Navajo Nation a U.S. hot spot. The tribe, wanting to ensure a COVID-19 vaccine would be effective for its people, said it would welcome Pfizer clinical trials on its reservation spanning Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

Right away, tribal members accused their government of allowing them to be guinea pigs, pointing to painful times in the past when Native Americans didn't consent to medical testing or weren't fully informed about procedures.

A Navajo Nation review board gave the study quicker approval than normal after researchers with Johns Hopkins University's Center for American Indian Health made the case for diversity. Without Native volunteers, how would they know if tribal members responded to vaccines the same as others?

"Unfortunately, Native Americans have effectively been denied the opportunity to participate in these clinical trials because almost all of the study sites are in large, urban areas that have not done effective outreach to Native Americans," said Dr. Laura Hammitt of Johns Hopkins.

About 460 Native Americans participated in the trials for the vaccine by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, including Navajos. The enrollment reflects a growing understanding of the role that people of color play in vaccine development and the push to rapidly deploy it to curb infections among populations that have been disproportionately affected by the virus.

Yet, few of the country's 574 federally recognized tribes have signed on for the studies, a hesitation often rooted in suspicion and distrust. Many tribes also require several layers of approval for clinical trials, a challenge researchers aren't always willing to overcome and don't face in the states.

This undated photo provided by Arvena Peshlakai shows Arvena Peshlakai opening the gate to her sheep corral at her home in Crystal, New Mexico. She and her husband Melvin volunteered to participate in coronavirus vaccine trials on the Navajo Nation. As coronavirus vaccines were being developed around the world, few Native American tribes signed up to participate. The reasons range from unethical practices of the past to the quick nature of the studies amid the pandemic. Native researchers say without participation from tribal communities, tribes won't know which vaccine might best be suited for their citizens. (Courtesy Arvena Peshlakai via AP).

While vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna Inc. roll out across Indian Country, others are being studied.

In the Pacific Northwest, the Lummi Nation and the Nooksack Indian Tribe plan to participate in a vaccine trial from another company, Novavax Inc. A Cheyenne River Sioux researcher plans to enroll Native Americans and others in South Dakota in the Novavax trial and another by Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline.


On the Navajo Nation, Arvena Peshlakai, her husband, Melvin, and their daughter Quortnii volunteered for the Pfizer trials.

Arvena Peshlakai said the rumors were rampant: Navajos would be injected with the virus, and researchers would use plasma from people who got COVID-19.

She was assured that wasn't happening and let the words of her parents and grandparents guide her: Don't let our struggles be your struggles, begin with our triumphs.

"What else am I supposed to do? Just sit back and say, 'No, I don't trust them' and not try something new to see if we can find a breakthrough?" Peshlakai said. "We have to do something, we can't just sit by and wait and hope and pray."

She overcame her fear of needles to get the doses and keeps track of her well-being daily on an app. As trial participants, the family can get the vaccine if they initially received a placebo.

This undated photo provided by Arvena Peshlakai shows Melvin Luke Peshlakai, left, and Arvena Peshlakai at their home in Crystal, New Mexico. The couple volunteered to participate in coronavirus vaccine trials on the Navajo Nation. As coronavirus vaccines were being developed around the world, few Native American tribes signed up to participate. The reasons range from unethical practices of the past to the quick nature of the studies amid the pandemic. Native researchers say without participation from tribal communities, tribes won't know which vaccine might best be suited for their citizens. (Courtesy Arvena Peshlakai via AP)

The Pfizer trials among the Navajo and White Mountain Apache tribes enrolled 275 people, about 80% of them Native American, Hammitt said. It wasn't as many as researchers had hoped for, but she said it's enough to compare immune and antibody responses in Native patients to others.

Vaccine trials nationwide have been moving quickly, which doesn't always align with tribal guidelines on considering research proposals.

"It must be done with respect for tribal sovereignty and knowing that each individual has truly been given informed consent," said Abigail Echo-Hawk, director of the Urban Indian Health Institute in Seattle.

It helped that Johns Hopkins has a decadeslong history with the Navajos and Apaches, including other clinical trials. Hammitt said the Navajo Human Research Review Board was receptive to a quick review of the vaccine trials because of the devastating impact of the pandemic.

In South Dakota, the Cheyenne River Sioux tribal health committee initially pushed back on Dr. Jeffrey Henderson's proposal for trials of the Novavax vaccine. Henderson, a tribal member, was sent into the community to gauge support.

He expects to get approval from a newly seated tribal council but for now, plans to set up a mobile unit outside the reservation.

"We refuse to do this type of research or any research within the boundaries of a tribe without having explicit approval from the tribe," Henderson said.

This undated photo provided by Arvena Peshlakai shows Melvin Luke Peshlakai, left, and Arvena Peshlakai at their home in Crystal, New Mexico. The couple volunteered to participate in coronavirus vaccine trials on the Navajo Nation. As coronavirus vaccines were being developed around the world, few Native American tribes signed up to participate. The reasons range from unethical practices of the past to the quick nature of the studies amid the pandemic. Native researchers say without participation from tribal communities, tribes won't know which vaccine might best be suited for their citizens. (Courtesy Arvena Peshlakai via AP)

In Washington state, the Nooksack tribe is set to begin enrolling volunteers in the Novavax trials Monday, said Dr. Frank James, the tribe's health officer.

"I expect a slow start to it, and we have to get a few brave people who are comfortable with it and then people to follow," he said.

The nearby Lummi Nation is moving forward with a three-part review and approval process for the Novavax trials.

Initial hesitation among the tribe stemmed from a researcher who took photos of Lummi children years ago to develop a tool to diagnose fetal alcohol syndrome but didn't offer any ways to address it, said Dr. Dakotah Lane, executive medical director of the Lummi Tribal Health Clinic.

"I had already known and was aware of certainly some distrust with any kind of research within our community," Lane said. "But I also knew the only way out of this pandemic was with access to vaccines."

Other stories about the sterilization of Native American women, noted in a 1976 federal report, and military testing of radioactive iodine on Alaska Natives have bred distrust.

The Havasupai Tribe also settled a lawsuit a decade ago that accused Arizona State University scientists of misusing blood samples meant for diabetes research to study schizophrenia, inbreeding and ancient population migration without the tribe's permission.

This photo provided by Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health shows a brochure that was used to provide information about a COVID-19 vaccine trial on the Navajo Nation, Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020, in Chinle, Ariz. (Nina Mayer Ritchie/Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health via AP)

That case came to mind when Annette Brown, a Navajo woman, heard about her tribe's willingness to participate in COVID-19 vaccine trials.

"There's this historical distrust when it comes to any type of experimenting," she said. "It's just experience, I don't know that there are many families out there who haven't been touched by some sort of experimentation (or) biological attacks on tribal communities."

Brown has mixed feelings because she previously participated in a vaccine trial with Johns Hopkins.

It was related to research that determined the first generation of vaccines for bacterial meningitis was less effective among Navajo and Apache children 6 months and younger, Hammitt said. The rate of the disease used to be five to 10 times higher among those children than the general population.

Researchers and doctors in Native American communities also have found that standard doses for medications like blood thinners weren't always the best fit for tribal members.

For Marcia O'Leary, helping with a study that indirectly discovered HPV vaccines don't protect against a strain that's a leading cause of cancer among Native American women in the Great Plains shows the importance of having more Native researchers and being involved in clinical trials.

"We can't wait for this to trickle down," said O'Leary, director of Missouri Breaks, a small Native American-owned research group on the Cheyenne River Sioux reservation. "It seems like in Indian Country, we keep chasing the ball of health and we never get ahead of it."


Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

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Torpor: a neat survival trick once thought rare in Australian animals is actually widespread

by Chris Wacker, The Conversation

DECEMBER 30, 2020

Credit: Shutterstock

Life is hard for small animals in the wild, but they have many solutions to the challenges of their environment. One of the most fascinating of these strategies is torpor. Not, to be confused with sleep or Sunday afternoon lethargy, torpor is a complex response to the costs of living.

To enter torpor, an animal decreases its metabolism, reducing its energy requirements. A torpid animal will often be curled in a tight ball in its nest and look like it's sleeping.

Once thought to occur only in birds and mammals in the Northern Hemisphere where winters are more pronounced, we now know torpor is widespread in small Australian mammals, and has also been observed in many small Australian bird species.

Masters of metabolism

Birds and mammals are endotherms and can maintain a high and constant body temperature independent of the environmental temperature, thanks to their high metabolic rate. This allows them to be active across a wide range of environments.

The downside? This high metabolic rate requires a lot of food to fuel it. By reducing the metabolism in a very controlled manner and entering torpor, an animal can live on less energy.

With a lower metabolic rate, the animal's body temperature decreases—sometimes by as much as 30°C. How low it goes can depend on the extent of the metabolic reduction and the temperature of animal's immediate environment. The reduced body temperature further lowers the metabolic rate.

Echidnas use torpor to save energy. Credit: Shutterstock

Slowing down to survive

Torpor is an extremely effective survival strategy for small endotherms. For example, small mammals have been observed using torpor after bushfires.

Take the brown antechinus, for example. When other animals have fled, this 30g marsupial hides in refuges, waits out the fire, then uses torpor to cope with reduced food availability until local vegetation and invertebrate populations recover.

Many pregnant and lactating bats and marsupials, and even the echidna, synchronise torpor with reproduction to cope with the energetic costs of mating, pregnancy or lactation.


There are two main types of torpor: daily torpor and hibernation.

Daily torpor

Animals that use daily torpor can do so for approximately 3-6 hours a day as needed.

Daily torpor is common in, but not exclusive to, endotherms living in arid areas, such as the fat-tailed dunnart. This species is a carnivorous marsupial and has a diet of insects and other invertebrates, which may be in short supply in winter.

Weighing approximately 12 grams as adults, the fat-tailed dunnart may need to eat its body weight in food each day. When finding enough food is difficult, it uses torpor; foraging in the early part of the night then entering torpor in the early morning. Fat-tailed dunnarts reduce their metabolic rate, and subsequently their body temperature, from 35 °C to approximately 15°C, or the temperature of their underground nest.

The brown antechinus uses torpor to cope with reduced 

food availability after bushfire. 

Credit: Shutterstock

Hibernation

Animals that hibernate lower their metabolic rate further and have longer torpor bouts than those that use daily torpor. An example of an Australian hibernator is the eastern pygmy possum, a 40g marsupial found in south eastern Australia that hibernates regularly, decreasing its body temperature from approximately 35 °C to as low as 5°C.

When active, this species can survive for less than half a day on 1g of fat, but when hibernating, it can survive for two weeks.

If it weren't for the periodic increases in metabolic rate and body temperature, a hibernating pygmy possum could live for well over three months on 1g of fat. However, the exact purpose of these periodic arousals is unknown.

The metabolic rate during pygmy possum hibernation is just 2% of the minimum metabolic rate endotherms at a normal body temperature need to live. This baseline metabolism is called basal metabolic rate.

Compare this with a well-known hibernator, the American black bear.

At approximately 120kg, its metabolic rate during hibernation decreases to 25% of the basal metabolic rate, and the body temperature decreases from approximately 37°C to 30 °C. Black bears can't hibernate with a lower body temperature, perhaps because it would take them a very long time to reduce it, and then cost them too much energy to rewarm at the end of hibernation.

When finding enough food is difficult, the fat-tailed dunnart uses torpor. 

Credit: Shutterstock

A torpid eastern pygmy possum. Note the curled posture. 

Credit: Chris Wacker, Author provided


Can humans do it?

The question people often ask about torpor, is "can humans do it?" Interestingly, some small primates have been observed using torpor. While it is technically possible to induce torpor in humans chemically, torpor is a very complex physiological process, and there are many aspects of it scientists still don't fully understand.

Coping with climate change

Australia's wildlife have evolved strategies to cope with life in an often-harsh environment affected by multiple year-long droughts, landscape-altering floods, and widespread bushfires.

Climate change is predicted to increase the duration, frequency and severity of these events, and in conjunction with landscape clearing, animals are facing new environmental and resource challenges.

While animals that use flexible, daily torpor may be well-suited to cope during these times, at least in the short term, hibernators that depend on long winters are most at risk.


Explore further Hummingbird reduces its body temperature during nightly torpor

Provided by The Conversation 

Fish sex organs boosted under high CO2

by University of Adelaide

DECEMBER 30, 2020

Triplefin fish. Credit: University of Adelaide

Research from the University of Adelaide has found that some species of fish will have higher reproductive capacity because of larger sex organs, under the more acidic oceans of the future.

Published in PLOS Biology, the researchers say that far from the negative effects expected under the elevated CO2 levels in our oceans predicted for the end of the century, these fish capitalise on changes to the underwater ecosystems to produce more sperm and eggs. They also look after them better, enhancing the chances of reproductive success.

"The warming oceans absorb about one-third of the additional CO2 being released into the atmosphere from carbon emissions, causing the oceans to acidify," says lead author Professor Ivan Nagelkerken from the University's Environment Institute and Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories.

"We know that many species are negatively affected in their behaviour and physiology by ocean acidification. But we found that in this species of temperate fish—the common triplefin—both males and females had larger gonads under conditions of ocean acidification. This meant increased egg and sperm production and therefore more offspring."

The team used natural volcanic CO2 underwater seeps to compare ecosystems with the levels of CO2 that are predicted for the end of this century with fish communities living under today's 'normal' levels of CO2.

They found that there were no negative effects of ocean acidification for the triplefins. The larger gonads did not come at a physiological cost.

"We found males were eating more. They showed intensified foraging on more abundant prey—which was more abundant because of the increased biomass of algae that grows under the elevated CO2," says Professor Nagelkerken.

"The females, on the other hand, did not eat more. They instead reduced their activity levels to preserve energy and then invested this in larger ovaries.

"We also found there were more mature males under elevated CO2 and, in this species where it is the males that take care of the eggs, that means we have more parents nurturing the egg nests, which could increase offspring."

The researchers found that other, less dominant, fish species did not show such an effect of reproductive output, perhaps due to their less competitive nature.

"We think it likely that the triplefin and similar species will do very well under increased ocean acidification," says co-author Professor Sean Connell. "The study shows that some, more dominant, species will be able to capitalise on changes to ecosystems under ocean acidification, increasing their population."

Explore further Volcanic vents preview future ocean habitats

More information: PLOS Biology (2020). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001033

Journal information: PLoS Biology

Provided by University of Adelaide

ATLAS project finds 12 new species of sea creatures

by Bob Yirka , Phys.org

DECEMBER 30, 2020 REPORT

Cold-water corals and seastars. Credit: IFREMER / ATLAS project

Researchers working with the ATLAS project have reported to the press that they have found 12 new species of sea creatures new to science. The EU funded undersea project has been ongoing for five years and has carried out 45 research expeditions that involved the work of over 80 scientists and student volunteers.

The ATLAS project was begun five years ago and grew into the largest oceanic enterprise ever undertaken. Its mission was to study the North Atlantic—the water, the seafloor, currents and most particularly the creatures that live there. Researchers from 13 countries took part in the project, spanning a wide range of interests from physics to ocean chemistry to biology. As the project carried on, researchers began to take a hard look at changes that are taking place in the ocean as part of global warning.

The team's original goal was to map the deep waters off the coasts of Europe, the U.S. and Canada and as often as possible, areas farther out in international waters—it was to be what the team described as "maritime spatial planning." As it turned out, the researchers wound up focusing most of their effort on 12 specific locations in a deep part of the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the research was conducted using underwater robots. In addition to the 12 new species the team found, they also discovered 35 species living in areas where they were not previously known to reside. To date, the effort has resulted in 113 papers published in peer-reviewed journals; more are expected in the near future. At the project's conclusion, members of the team reported to the press that despite their long effort, more is still known about the surface of the Moon and Mars than is known about the deep oceans here on Earth.

Among the findings by the team was a new kind of coral, a sedentary animal that resembled moss, and another that also resembled moss. They also learned more about the impact greenhouse gas emissions are having on the world's oceans. Prior research has shown that in addition to rising temperatures due to global warming, the gasses also increase ocean acidity. The researchers with ATLAS found that such acidification was attacking the foundations of coral reefs and predict many deep-sea habitats will collapse over the next century. They also found that the Atlantic Ocean's currents have been slowing, resulting in changing weather patterns and further disruptions to sensitive ecosystems.


Explore further Ocean acidification risks deep-sea reef collapse

© 2020 Science X Network

AI-controlled vertical farms promise revolution in food production

by Peter Grad , Tech Xplore

DECEMBER 30, 2020 REPORT

Credit: Plenty

When you think about it, early civilizations had a rough time when it came to dinnertime. With no supermarkets, McDonald's, or Cheesecake Factories, you pretty much had to find and prepare your own meal every day. And since Uber would not be invented for another 14,000 years, primitive peoples around 12,000 BC had to walk, sometimes for miles, and learn to hunt, fish, gather and cook for their daily meals. In the rain. Even on Sundays.

Farming evolved quite a bit since then. But with a world population hurtling towards 8 billion, we face a problem. As the 18th century economist Thomas Malthus observed, human population increases geometrically, while food production increases only arithmetically. That means the more civilization grows and thrives, the more likely it will be unable to keep up with demands for food.

While advances in food technology have helped forestall Malthus' dire predictions, there remains great concern for the future of food production as the Earth's population soars on a planet with shrinking farming real estate. National Geographic recently predicted that by 2050, there will be more than two billion additional mouths to feed while the Earth's irrigable land remains essentially the same.

A San Francisco agricultural-technical startup thinks it might just have an answer. Nate Storey, who co-founded the appropriately named Plenty, wants to reinvent farming.

To do so, he has constructed climate-controlled vertical farms that are so promising, they have drawn $400 million in funding from former Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, Amazon's Jeff Bezos and SoftBank.

These upright farms take up only 2 acres yet produce 720 acres worth of fruit and vegetables. Lighting, temperature and watering are controlled by AI-controlled robots. Sunlight is emulated by LED panels, so food is grown in optimal conditions 24/7. And water is recycled and evaporated water recaptured so there is virtually no waste.

The operation is so efficient it uses 99 percent less land and 95 percent less water than normal farming operations.

"Imagine a 1,500-acre farm," Storey says. "Now, imagine that fitting inside your favorite grocery store, growing up to 350 times more. That's efficient."

It is so efficient that these rows of hanging plants produce 400 times more food per acre than a traditional farm.

AI monitors growth patterns and constantly adjusts environmental factors such as temperature, water and light patterns to ensure ever-more efficient and economical output.


In an era that has seen food production lines disrupted by a pandemic, wildfires and hurricanes, Plenty's approach will play a key role in ensuring future stability in the food chain.

Plenty's web site explains vertical farming "free agriculture from the constraints of weather, seasons, time, distance, pests, natural disasters and climate."

Also noteworthy is that the crops are grown "GMO-free" and use no pesticides or herbicides, according to Plenty.

Plenty will soon supply more than 400 stores in California with its produce. The company says its packaging is specially designed to keep produce fresh longer and is 100 percent recyclable.

In October, Driscoll's, a leading producer of fresh berries, reached an agreement with Plenty to produce strawberries year-round in its Laramie, Wyoming-based farming operation, currently the largest privately-owned vertical farming and research facility in the world.

The Plenty website lists several products currently offered in stores, including lettuce, arugula, bok choy, mizuna and kale.

If the first civilizations to invent farming back around 12,000 BC only had the convenience of vertical farming, maybe they could have saved 8,000 or so years by spending more time working on inventing the wheel. And ear pods.


Explore further  The yield potential of wheat grown in controlled-environment vertical farms

More information: www.plenty.ag/about-us/

© 2020 Science X Network

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Silent Running is a 1972 environmental-themed American post-apocalyptic science fiction film. ... Lowell, Huey and Dewey set out into deep space to maintain the forest. ... 1972 films · English-language films · 1970s science fiction films · 1970s dystopian films · American films · American robot films · American science fiction ...

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Eastern Caribbean issues rare alerts for rumbling volcanoes

by Dánica Coto
DECEMBER 31, 2020

Volcanoes that have been quiet for decades are rumbling to life in the eastern Caribbean, prompting officials to issue alerts in Martinique and St. Vincent and the Grenadines as scientists rush in to study activity they say hasn't been observed in years.

The most recent warning was issued late Tuesday for La Soufriere volcano in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a chain of islands home to more than 100,000 people. Officials reported tremors, strong gas emissions, formation of a new volcanic dome and changes to its crater lake.

The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency said that scientists observed an "effusive eruption within the crater, with visible gas and steam" on Tuesday.

The government warned those living near the volcano to prepare to evacuate if needed, declaring an orange alert that means eruptions could occur with less than 24 hours' notice.

La Soufriere, located near the northern tip of the main island of St. Vincent, last erupted in 1979, and a previous eruption in 1902 killed some 1,600 people. That occurred shortly before Martinique's Mt. Pelee erupted and destroyed the town of Saint-Pierre, killing more than 30,000 people.

Mt. Pelee too is now active once again. In early December, officials in the French Caribbean territory issued a yellow alert due to seismic activity under the mountain. It was the first alert of its kind issued since the volcano last erupted in 1932, Fabrice Fontaine, with Martinique's Volcanological and Seismological Observatory, told The Associated Press.

While the eastern Caribbean is one long chain of active and extinct volcanoes, volcanologist Erik Klemetti, at Denison University in Ohio, said the activity at Mt. Pelee and La Soufriere are not related.

"It's not like one volcano starts erupting that others will," he said. "It falls into the category of coincidence."

He said the activity is evidence that magma is lurking underground and percolating toward the surface, although he added that scientists still don't have a very good understanding of what controls how quickly that happens.

"The answers are not entirely satisfying," he said. "It's science that's still being researched."

Klemetti said the most active volcano in recent years in the eastern Caribbean has been Soufriere Hills in Montserrat, which has erupted continuously since 1995, destroying the capital of Plymouth and killing at least 19 people in 1997.

Seventeen of the eastern Caribbean's 19 live volcanoes are located on 11 islands, with the remaining two are underwater near the island of Grenada, including one called Kick 'Em Jenny that has been active in recent years.

Explore further Lava lake forms as Hawaii volcano erupts after 2-year break

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More from Earth Sciences

THIRD WORLD USA

Major rail safety technology installed before deadline

by Josh Funk

DECEMBER 30, 2020

An N train moves through the Long Island City neighborhood 

Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020, in the Queens borough of New York.

(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

The railroad industry has installed an automatic braking system on nearly 58,000 miles of track where it is required ahead of a yearend deadline, federal regulators said Tuesday.

Federal Railroad Administration chief Ronald Batory said railroads worked together over the past 12 years to develop and install the long-awaited technology known as positive train control, or PTC. The roughly $15 billion braking system is aimed at reducing human error by automatically stopping trains in certain situations, such as when they're in danger of colliding, derailing because of excessive speed, entering track under maintenance or traveling the wrong direction because of switching mistakes.

"PTC is a risk reduction system that will make a safe industry even safer, and provide a solid foundation upon which additional safety improvements will be realized," Batory said.

The National Transportation Safety Board has said more than 150 train crashes since 1969 could have been prevented by positive train control, which was required in 2008 after a commuter train collided head-on with a freight train near Los Angeles, killing 25 and injuring more than 100. That agency had recommended positive train control for years before Congress mandated it after that crash. Then Congress extended the original 2015 deadline twice and gave railroads until the end of this year to complete the system.

Bob Chipkevich, who oversaw railroad crash investigations for several years at the NTSB, said positive train control is a significant safety improvement for the industry, particularly in areas where commuter trains operate and where hazardous gases are transported, but added that it could have been done years earlier and it is still not required on all tracks nationwide.

The W train passes an MTA official at the Mid-Day Storage 

Yard Services Building during a news conference on Positive

 Train Control, a federally mandated rail safety technology,

 Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020, in the Queens borough of New York.

(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

"When I was at NTSB, we were quite disappointed in how long it took to actually move forward with the requirements and development of the system," Chipkevich said. "It is a disappointment that it has taken so long."

CENTRAL PLANNING WOULD HAVE AVOIDED THIS CHAOS OF CAPITALISM
Railroad analyst Tony Hatch said the industry had to make sure each railroad's system would work with those installed by other railroads because trains hauling people and goods often travel across several different railroads' tracks.

"It was an expensive, complicated and time consuming project," Hatch said.
CENTRAL PLANNING WOULD HAVE BEEN LESS COSTLY MORE EFICACIOUS 

The braking system uses GPS, wireless radio and computers to monitor train position and speed, and it can give engineers commands. The NTSB said the system could have prevented the December 2017 derailment of an Amtrak passenger train in Washington state that killed three passengers and injured 57 people.

Ian Jefferies, CEO of the Association of American Railroads trade group, said completing the positive train control systems is an important milestone for the industry that will "enhance safety and springboard innovation long into the future."

Explore further  Railroad safety: Few likely to meet deadline for technology

© 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Mexico City ban on single-use plastics takes effect

by Christopher Sherman

JANUARY 2, 2021

A customer receives his order of fried plantains, served on a non-biodegradable disposable plate along with a plastic fork, from a street vendor in central Mexico City, Friday, Jan. 1, 2021. The few street food vendors out working on New Year's Day amid the COVID-19 pandemic said they were either unaware of or were still figuring out how to comply with a broad ban on single-use containers, forks, straws, and other ubiquitous items that took effect Friday in Mexico's capital, one of the world's largest cities, after more than a year of preparation.

 (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

A broad ban on single-use containers, forks, straws and other ubiquitous items takes effect in Mexico's capital, one of the world's largest cities, after more than a year of preparation.

On Friday, Mexico City's environmental secretary said via Twitter that "from today on Mexico City without single-use plastics." The message urged people to think of always carrying reusable containers like never leaving home without their cell phones.

Mexico City lawmakers passed the ban on plastic bags, utensils and other disposable plastic items in 2019. The city of 9 million people has spent the past year adjusting or in some cases ignoring the impending law change. The ban on plastic bags took effect last year.

Light, allegedly biodegradable bags have become more common at the city's street food stalls. Plastic straws are offered less often. Fresh tortillas are handed over wrapped in paper or cloths that buyers bring with them.

But without the imposition of fines, the change will likely be slow in coming.

On Friday morning, a woman selling tamales under a large umbrella at the corner of a busy Mexico City avenue slid two into a plastic bag and offered two small colorful plastic spoons from a cup filled with them. Asked if she was aware of the ban taking effect she said she was, "but with the coronavirus, they (authorities) forgot about it."

A vendor serves up a green juice in a disposable plastic cup, at a street stand in central Mexico City, Friday, Jan. 1, 2021. The few street food vendors out working on New Year's Day amid the COVID-19 pandemic said they were either unaware of or were still figuring out how to comply with a broad ban on single-use containers, forks, straws, and other ubiquitous items that took effect Friday in Mexico's capital, one of the world's largest cities, after more than a year of preparation.(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Biodegradable plastic bags, in compliance with a 2020 plastic bag ban, hang at a taco stand in central Mexico City, Friday, Jan. 1, 2021. The few street food vendors out working on New Year's Day amid the COVID-19 pandemic said they were either unaware of or were still figuring out how to comply with a broad ban on single-use containers, forks, straws, and other ubiquitous items that took effect Friday in Mexico's capital, one of the world's largest cities, after more than a year of preparation. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Snacks are displayed for sale in disposable cups, on the cart of a street vendor in central Mexico City, Friday, Jan. 1, 2021. The few street food vendors out working on New Year's Day amid the COVID-19 pandemic said they were either unaware of or were still figuring out how to comply with a broad ban on single-use containers, forks, straws, and other ubiquitous items that took effect Friday in Mexico's capital, one of the world's largest cities, after more than a year of preparation. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

A vendor serves up tacos on disposable plates, at a street stand in central Mexico City, Friday, Jan. 1, 2021. The few street food vendors out working on New Year's Day amid the COVID-19 pandemic said they were either unaware of or were still figuring out how to comply with a broad ban on single-use containers, forks, straws, and other ubiquitous items that took effect Friday in Mexico's capital, one of the world's largest cities, after more than a year of preparation. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Plastic straws are offered for clients at a street juice stand in central Mexico City, Friday, Jan. 1, 2021. The few street food vendors out working on New Year's Day amid the COVID-19 pandemic said they were either unaware of or were still figuring out how to comply with a broad ban on single-use containers, forks, straws, and other ubiquitous items that took effect Friday in Mexico's capital, one of the world's largest cities, after more than a year of preparation. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Mexico City is currently under red alert as its hospitals' COVID-19 beds hover near capacity.

The woman, who declined to give her name because she didn't want to be singled out for enforcement, said it wasn't just her. She said vendors and market stalls were still using plastic all over the city.

She asked how she was supposed to give customers steaming hot tamales without a plastic bag.

The ban also covers disposable plastic cups, plastic stirrers, single-use coffee capsules and balloons among other items.

In 2019, Mexico City produced about 13,000 tons of garbage per day, according to the capital's environmental agency.

Explore further  Canada to ban single-use plastics such as bags, straws by end of 2021

© 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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