In The News

[GordMay]

Some (just a very little) good news for far-future sea level rise
New model finds processes that could help slow loss at some glaciers.
The study* is focused on Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier, which is among the continent’s most sensitive and vulnerable—and therefore a major wildcard when it comes to how quickly future sea level rise will accumulate. Several versions of the model were run to simulate the next 500 years, each time adding another process to see what impact it had.
The two largest effects were rebounding bedrock followed by the gravitational attraction, both of which slowed Thwaites Glacier’s shrinkage. The higher model resolution showed that these processes were stronger in the immediate vicinity of the glacier than you would see in coarser models that average over larger areas. Together, they reduced the movement of the glacier’s grounding line by almost 40 percent in the year 2350, reducing its contribution to sea level rise by 25 percent.
More ➥ https://arstechnica.com/science/2019...any-time-soon/

* “Slowdown in Antarctic mass loss from solid Earth and sea-level feedbacks”
~ by E. Larour et al.
The Study ➥ https://science.sciencemag.org/conte...cience.aav7908

[GordMay]

Deadly box jellyfish antidote discovered using CRISPR genome editing
Researchers, studying how pain works, have discovered an antidote to the deadly sting delivered by the most venomous creature on Earth; the Australian box jellyfish. A single sting to a human causes necrosis of the skin, excruciating pain and, if the dose of venom is large enough, cardiac arrest and death within minutes. The new antidote, discovered using CRISPR genome editing techniques, blocks the symptoms within 15 minutes after contact. Researchers now hope to develop a (spray on) topical application for humans.
“Molecular dissection of box jellyfish venom cytotoxicity highlights an effective venom antidote” ~ by Man-Tat Lau et al.
➥ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-09681-1

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Deadly box jellyfish antidote discovered using CRISPR genome editing
Researchers, studying how pain works, have discovered an antidote to the deadly sting delivered by the most venomous creature on Earth; the Australian box jellyfish. A single sting to a human causes necrosis of the skin, excruciating pain and, if the dose of venom is large enough, cardiac arrest and death within minutes. The new antidote, discovered using CRISPR genome editing techniques, blocks the symptoms within 15 minutes after contact. Researchers now hope to develop a (spray on) topical application for humans.
“Molecular dissection of box jellyfish venom cytotoxicity highlights an effective venom antidote” ~ by Man-Tat Lau et al.
➥ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-09681-1

Very interesting. I see this article only addresses Chironex fleckeri but I had thought the irukandji (Carukia barnesi) was a box jelly so did a little research. This article and a couple of others https://www.diversalertnetwork.org/h.../box-jellyfish indicates there are a number of species in the box jelly family including a couple in the N and S Atlantic and Caribbean which I did not know.

Watched a documentary a few years ago about a couple in Australia that were researching irukandji. When in the water both were completely covered with wet suits, hoods, gloves, boots and even taped up the joints between the suits and gloves, hoods and boots. Even so, one diver was stung in the tiny gap between his hood and face mask. His partner immediately pulled him from the water and in the process she was stung by a jelly that was stuck to the outside of her suit. The documentary followed up on both as they spent many days in the hospital. It looked quite unpleasant. Scared me a lot more than Jaws.

[GordMay]

How air conditioners could keep you cool and capture carbon
A German-Canadian team (Roland Dittmeyer and Geoffrey Ozin) thinks it might be possible to use ordinary building air conditioners to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and convert into "net-zero" emission carbon fuels.
CBC Radio - Quirks & Quarks ➥ https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/may-...rbon-1.5119911

“Crowd oil not crude oil” ~ by Roland Dittmeyer et al.
➥ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-09685-x

[GordMay]

IPBES' 2019 Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

Nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history — and the rate of species extinctions is accelerating, with grave impacts on people around the world now likely, warns a landmark new report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the summary of which was approved at the 7th session of the IPBES Plenary, meeting last week (29 April – 4 May) in Paris.

“The overwhelming evidence of the IPBES Global Assessment, from a wide range of different fields of knowledge, presents an ominous picture,” said IPBES Chair, Sir Robert Watson. “The health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide.”

“The Report also tells us that it is not too late to make a difference, but only if we start now at every level from local to global,” he said. “Through ‘transformative change’, nature can still be conserved, restored and used sustainably – this is also key to meeting most other global goals. By transformative change, we mean a fundamental, system-wide reorganization across technological, economic and social factors, including paradigms, goals and values.”

“The member States of IPBES Plenary have now acknowledged that, by its very nature, transformative change can expect opposition from those with interests vested in the status quo, but also that such opposition can be overcome for the broader public good,” Watson said.

The IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services is the most comprehensive ever completed. It is the first intergovernmental Report of its kind and builds on the landmark Millennium Ecosystem Assessment of 2005, introducing innovative ways of evaluating evidence.

Compiled by 145 expert authors from 50 countries over the past three years, with inputs from another 310 contributing authors, the Report assesses changes over the past five decades, providing a comprehensive picture of the relationship between economic development pathways and their impacts on nature. It also offers a range of possible scenarios for the coming decades ...

... The Report finds that around 1 million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction, many within decades, more than ever before in human history.

The average abundance of native species in most major land-based habitats has fallen by at least 20%, mostly since 1900. More than 40% of amphibian species, almost 33% of reefforming corals and more than a third of all marine mammals are threatened. The picture is less clear for insect species, but available evidence supports a tentative estimate of 10% being threatened. At least 680 vertebrate species had been driven to extinction since the 16th century and more than 9% of all domesticated breeds of mammals used for food and agriculture had become extinct by 2016, with at least 1,000 more breeds still threatened ...

More from IBPES ➥ https://www.ipbes.net/news/Media-Rel...bal-Assessment

From CBC "Nature is in its worst shape in human history, UN report says”
➥ https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/un-glo...port-1.5124089

[GordMay]

Dynamic covalent bonds means polymers can be taken apart by acid
Scientists have made a next-generation plastic that can be recycled again and again into new materials of any color, shape, or form.
A team at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, US, has developed a new family of polymers that brings us closer to the dream of closed-loop, zero-waste plastics. To achieve this they used a family of molecules called polydiketoenamines (PDK), held together by dynamic covalent bonds that, while very strong, can be easily broken down using small amounts of acid.
Brett Helms, the staff scientist at the Berkeley Lab who led the research*, said that the new discovery “could significantly reduce the leakage of plastics into the environment.”
More ➥ https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...0507110452.htm

“Closed-loop recycling of plastics enabled by dynamic covalent diketoenamine bonds” ~ by Peter R. Christensen et al.
* ➥ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41557-019-0249-2

[transmitterdan]

Genetically Modified Viruses Help Save A Patient With A 'Superbug' Infection

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-...rbug-infection

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by transmitterdan

Genetically Modified Viruses Help Save A Patient With A 'Superbug' Infection
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-...rbug-infection

Phages have been used for over 90 years, as an alternative to antibiotics in the former Soviet Union and Central Europe, as well as in France. Phage therapy, or the use of bacteriophages to kill pathogenic bacteria, represents a potentially significant, if currently underdeveloped, weapon in our ongoing battle against bacterial disease.
“Phage Therapy: Concept to Cure” ~ by Eric C. Keen
☞ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3400130/

[GordMay]

Maid of the Mist tour boats to be battery-powered

The Maid of the Mist boats, that bring (> 1.6 million) tourists to the base of Niagara Falls, are going electric.

The new vessels are expected to go into service in mid-September and replace the existing diesel-engine vessels that will operate on the lower Niagara River until then.

The Swiss technology company ABB is supplying the lithium-ion battery packs and an onshore charging system. The batteries will be recharged for seven minutes after each trip.

Maid of the Mist VI (1990) and Maid of the Mist VII (1997), will be removed from service, the company said in a press release, when the new vessels begin operating.

The Maid of the Mist first launched in 1846.

➥ https://cleantechnica.com/2019/05/06...-mist-ferries/

[SailOar]

Crossing the Atlantic in a Giant Barrel

On a journey across the Atlantic Ocean, the French adventurer Jean-Jacques Savin spent 127 days alone in a large, barrel-shaped capsule made of plywood, at the mercy of the winds and currents. He had no television. No Facebook or Twitter.

In December, Mr. Savin, a former military parachutist, pilot and park ranger in Africa, set sail from the Canary Islands, the Spanish archipelago west of Morocco, in the orange vessel he built. It measures about 10 feet long and 6 feet 8 inches wide.

Last week, on May 2, Mr. Savin, 72, completed his 3,125-nautical-mile trip on the Dutch Caribbean island of St. Eustatius....

[GordMay]

3RD Japanese earthquake study retracted over false data

Authors of a study in Science, analysing an earthquake that struck Kumamoto in southern Japan in 2016, have retracted their paper, following a university investigation that found it contained falsified data and manipulated images (falsifications in two figures and plagiarism in one of them).
In a retraction notice published on May 2, Science cited a Kyoto University probe, which could not determine whether the errors were deliberate but found that responsibility for them lay with Aiming Lin, the corresponding author and a professor at the university.

Lin's is the second group to have research about the Kumamoto earthquake retracted.
In March, a study published in Seismological Research Letters by scientists from Osaka University in Japan, was retracted following a university investigation. The investigators found that the lead author, Yoshiya Hata, had fabricated data in this paper and four others, but cleared his coauthors.
Another study, published in the Bulletin of Seismological Society of America, was also retracted in March, after the coauthors notified the journal that it also contained fabricated data from Hata.

➥ https://science.sciencemag.org/content/364/6439/444.1

➥ https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa...dFrom=fulltext

➥ https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa...te-response-at

[GordMay]

Unpredictable Rainfall Patterns Caused Ancient S.A. Population To Decline

South American hunter-gatherer populations declined sharply, as rainfall became increasingly unpredictable, starting around 8,600 years ago, but bounced back quickly, once rain returned to a relatively stable pattern, about 6,000 years ago, report archaeologists Philip Riris and Manuel Arroyo-Kalin, both of University College London.
During that roughly 2,600-year intervening period, bouts of unusually wet or dry conditions, that disrupted local food sources, occurred frequently, every five years or so on average. Foragers would have been unable to predict whether extreme rainfall or drought was next up, or precisely when those conditions would hit. Previously, average rainfall patterns had included an abnormally wet or dry year only every 16 to 20 years,

“Widespread population decline in South America correlates with mid-Holocene climate change” ~ by P. Riris and M. Arroyo-Kalin
☞ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-43086-w

[GordMay]

NYC waiter returns $424K check to customer despite no tip

Waiter Armando Markaj came across a $424,000 cashier's check in an envelope, while cleaning a table at Patsy's restaurant in Harlem on May 4.
Karen Vinacour, a retired social worker, left the money behind while eating lunch with her daughter at Patsy's. Vinacour brought along the cashier's check as a down payment for a condo to buy in the neighborhood. Then she accidentally left the check on her table before leaving the restaurant.
Despite not receiving a tip from Vinacour for his service, Markaj gave the check to Patsy's owner for safe keeping.
☞ https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...kue-story.html

[GordMay]

The Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup is a conservation effort, in which volunteers sign up to collect garbage that amasses along Canadian bodies of water. The initiative is a partnership between the advocacy group Ocean Wise and the World Wildlife Fund. So far in 2019, the cleanup effort has collected more than 54,000 kilograms of litter on 1,478 kilometres of Canadian shoreline.
More ➥ https://www.shorelinecleanup.ca/

Ocean Wise ➥ https://ocean.org/
World Wildlife Fund ➥ https://www.worldwildlife.org/

[LakeSuperior]

San Francisco’s twin crises of housing and homelessness are reaching a tipping point, forcing some residents to move to makeshift boats and barges, forming floating tent cities, due to a lack of affordable shelter.

-“It’s not a free ride. It’s a lot of effort to be out here,” Kristina Weber told the Journal, noting that she had to buy the 54-foot vessel for $15,000 because she could no longer afford the rent for a studio apartment in a town north of San Francisco, which cost $3,000 a month.

Another complaint, according to the Journal, is that the boats often break away from anchor lines and thus endanger both occupants and the properties of waterfront homes into which they can crash.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/san-franc...rdable-housing