wired.com A Fundamental Principle of Aeronautical Engineering Has Been Overturned Ritsuko Kawai 8–9 minutes

Aerodynamic drag is a major “barrier” in high-speed airplanes, automobiles, and bullet trains. This is because a design with less aerodynamic drag allows the aircraft to move at higher speeds with less energy.

When an aircraft or car body moves at high speed, a thin layer of air called the boundary layer is formed on its surface. This boundary layer has two states: laminar flow, in which air flows in an orderly fashion, and turbulent flow, which is chaotic.

The longer the air stays in the laminar-flow state with low friction, the smaller the air resistance becomes, but as the air speed increases, it transitions to turbulent flow. The key to reducing aerodynamic drag is delaying this transition to turbulence.

For more than 80 years, a basic principle of aeronautical engineering has been that the surface of an object must be smooth in order to reduce aerodynamic drag. This premise was based on the results of a 1940 study by Ichiro Tani, a Japanese scientist who demonstrated the relationship between surface roughness (an indicator of the state of the machined surface) and turbulent transition, arguing that surface roughness, which was unavoidable with the manufacturing technology of the time, prevented laminar flow from being realized.

However, in 1989 Tani reinterpreted the experimental data on rough-surfaced pipes obtained by fluid engineer Johann Nikulase in the 1930s, suggesting that “roughness may not necessarily only promote turbulent transition and increase fluid resistance.” (In physics, air is considered a fluid.) Inheriting this idea, a research group led by Yasuaki Kohama of Tohoku University demonstrated in the 1990s that fibrous rough surfaces, which have fine fibrous irregularities on their surface, have the effect of delaying transition under certain conditions.

The same Tohoku University research team recently announced a discovery that significantly advances this idea. Aiko Yakino, associate professor at Tohoku University's Institute of Fluid Science, and her research group were the first in the world to demonstrate that aerodynamic drag can be reduced by up to 43.6 percent simply by applying distributed micro-roughness (DMR), a surface roughness so fine and irregular that it cannot be distinguished by the naked eye.

This technology is fundamentally different from the rivulet (“shark skin”) process, which is a known air-drag-reduction technology. The rivulet process mimics the fine longitudinal grooves in shark skin, and by carving grooves approximately 0.1 millimeter wide along the direction of airflow, it aligns the vortices that occur near the wall surface of turbulent airflow areas. DMR, on the other hand, delays the switch from laminar to turbulent flow by means of random and minute irregularities. The flow zones it affects and the mechanisms it employs are based on completely different concepts. Precise Measurement in a Wind Tunnel Without Support Bars

A key factor in this achievement was the use of a new wind tunnel method. Conventional wind tunnel experiments had structural limitations: The support rods and wires essential for supporting the model disrupted the airflow, negating the minute changes in air resistance caused by micro-scale roughness.

The world's largest 1-meter magnetic support balance system (1m-MSBS), owned by the Institute of Fluid Science, Tohoku University, has fundamentally solved this problem. This device can levitate a streamlined model approximately 1.07 meter in length inside a wind tunnel without contact using electromagnetic force. Because it does not use any support rods or other means, it completely eliminates interference with the airflow around the model.

Yakino and her team precisely measured the total drag coefficient on smooth and DMR-coated surfaces over a wide range of Reynolds numbers, from 0.35 x 10⁶ to 3.6 x 10⁶. (A Reynolds numbers is the ratio of inertial to viscous forces within a fluid; it’s a key predictor of whether fluid flow will be laminar or turbulent.

Two types of DMRs were used in this experiment: a convex pattern made of glass beads with diameters ranging from 38 to 53 micrometers and a concave pattern applied by sandblasting. The height of the DMR coating is only 1 percent of the thickness of the boundary layer and is classified as a “smooth surface” from a hydrodynamic point of view.

Experimental results showed that the critical Reynolds number at which the turbulent transition begins increased from approximately 1.9 × 10⁶ to 2.2 × 10⁶ for the DMR-coated model, and drag was dramatically reduced by up to 43.6 percent in the transition zone. Furthermore, the DMR-applied surface consistently showed a drag coefficient lower than that of the smooth surface up to the highest measured Reynolds number (3.6 x 10⁶). A Mechanism to Suppress Friction Itself

Air resistance can be broadly divided into two types: pressure resistance and frictional resistance. Pressure resistance is caused by separation, where the airflow separates from the surface behind an object. On the other hand, frictional resistance is caused by the viscosity of the air flowing over the surface, and it decreases as the flow maintains a laminar state.

In order to clarify which of the two is responsible for the DMR effect, the research team used “large eddy simulation,” a computational method for numerical fluid dynamics in which large-scale turbulent eddies are calculated directly and small-scale eddies are approximated by a model. This experiment had an LES with a resolution of up to 45.38 million wall cells, and also used fluorescent paint and other materials on the model's surface to see how air flows. The integrated analysis combined “oil flow visualization,” in which the surface of a model is painted with fluorescent paint to visually check the air flow.

According to the researchers, the LES analysis established a conservative upper limit of pressure resistance (Cp ≈ 0.00021) that agrees with theoretical values within 1 percent from laminar flow calculations that do not intentionally introduce artificial disturbances. However, the amount of drag reduction observed in this study (ΔCD ≈ 0.001) is approximately five times this upper limit.

Even if the separation at the rear of the object were completely eliminated, only about 20 percent of the observed reduction can be explained. In other words, the numerical analysis quantitatively confirmed that the main factor in the reduction of aerodynamic drag by DMR is not the suppression of delamination but the reduction of frictional drag itself.

This principle is fundamentally different from the effect of dimples on golf balls. Dimples reduce pressure resistance by intentionally turbulizing the airflow and suppressing backward separation. DMR, on the other hand, delays the transition, thereby suppressing not pressure resistance but the wall friction itself. They are opposite mechanisms. Advantages Over Shark Skin Processing

The strength of DMR's aerodynamic drag reduction lies in its extremely high passivity and omnidirectional nature. For the rivet process to be effective, grooves must be precisely cut along the direction of airflow. In contrast, DMR has a great advantage in that the surface roughness is random and does not depend on the direction of the flow.

In addition, since it requires neither moving parts nor electricity, a high drag-reduction effect can be achieved at a low cost. If DMR is applied to aircraft, it is expected to significantly reduce operating costs and carbon dioxide emissions by improving fuel efficiency.

The research team plans to further optimize the shape and distribution density of the DMR and to expand the applicable speed range in the future.

This story originally appeared on WIRED Japan and has been translated from Japanese.

An enormous marine heatwave off the US west coast is ringing alarm bells among ocean and atmospheric scientists as new data shows its ecological and environmental effects are intensifying.

The unusual area of warm water has persisted since peaking in size during September 2025 and still stretches thousands of miles from the California coastline – more than halfway across the Pacific – affecting a vast triangle-shaped region of oceanic habitats from Hawaii to British Columbia and southward to Mexico.

As recently as early April, marine scientists had hoped that the heatwave might diminish and the worst of its effects might be avoided. However, new projections released last week by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) show it is now expected to expand and strengthen in the months to come.

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/8564043

Zoo reaches historic milestone for Puerto Rican crested toad conservation efforts with more than 12,000 tadpoles

^The\ Puerto\ Rican\ crested\ toad\ is\ the\ only\ toad\ native\ to\ Puerto\ Rico\ and\ was\ once\ thought\ to\ be\ extinct\ in\ the\ wild.\ Today,\ the\ species\ persists\ through\ one\ of\ the\ world's\ longest-running\ amphibian\ reintroduction\ efforts\ but\ remains\ listed\ as\ endangered\ by\ the\ International\ Union\ for\ Conservation\ of\ Nature\ (IUCN).\ Credit:\ Brookfield\ Zoo\ Chicago^

Behind the scenes at Brookfield Zoo Chicago, a record-breaking conservation milestone is helping secure the future of one of the world's most imperiled amphibians. Months of meticulous care and coordination enabled Brookfield Zoo Chicago to successfully breed and raise 12,244 Puerto Rican crested toad tadpoles to be released in the wild, supporting species recovery efforts.

This marks Brookfield Zoo Chicago's largest tadpole count from a single breeding cycle. Over the last decade, the Zoo has contributed nearly 40,000 Puerto Rican crested toad tadpoles to island-wide recovery efforts led by the Puerto Rican Crested Toad Conservancy (PRCTC) in partnership with the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DRNA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and 16 accredited zoos and aquariums.

"Conservation work like this can be incredibly detailed and time-consuming, but that's what makes these milestones so meaningful," said Mike Masellis, Brookfield Zoo Chicago lead animal care specialist.

"From carefully coordinating breeding pairs to hand-counting thousands of tadpoles and tracking toads in the field, every step plays an important role in helping restore this species. Our hope is that years from now, some of these tadpoles will return to the breeding ponds as adults and continue establishing future generations in the wild."

(Click for video)

^Behind\ the\ scenes\ at\ Brookfield\ Zoo\ Chicago,\ a\ record-breaking\ conservation\ milestone\ is\ helping\ secure\ the\ future\ of\ one\ of\ the\ world's\ most\ imperiled\ amphibians.\ Months\ of\ meticulous\ care\ and\ coordination\ enabled\ Brookfield\ Zoo\ Chicago\ to\ successfully\ breed\ and\ raise\ 12,244\ Puerto\ Rican\ crested\ toad\ tadpoles\ to\ support\ species\ recovery\ efforts\ in\ the\ wild\ led\ by\ the\ Puerto\ Rican\ Crested\ Toad\ Conservancy\ (PRCTC).\ Credit:\ Brookfield\ Zoo\ Chicago^

The Puerto Rican crested toad is the only toad native to Puerto Rico and was once thought to be extinct in the wild. Today, the species persists through one of the world's longest-running amphibian reintroduction efforts but remains listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), threatened by the USFWS, and endangered by DRNA.

Primary threats include habitat loss, invasive species, rising sea levels, and saltwater intrusion into breeding wetlands. The last naturally occurring population remains in the Guánica Commonwealth Forest in southwestern Puerto Rico.

Each year, breeding is carefully timed to align with Puerto Rico's rainy season, when survival conditions are highest for tadpoles released into the wild.

The months-long process involves close coordination with conservation partners to manage recommended breeding pairs for population biodiversity and mimic seasonal environmental changes to encourage breeding behaviors.

Once counted and transported to Puerto Rico, tadpoles are placed into managed aquatic habitats where they are monitored through metamorphosis before dispersing into the surrounding landscape.

Last fall, two Brookfield Zoo Chicago animal care specialists traveled to Puerto Rico to support the PRCTC's field conservation efforts at a release site. Working alongside conservation partners, the team spent a week monitoring toads to better understand habitat use, predator pressures, and environmental conditions affecting survival after reintroduction.

Brookfield Zoo Chicago currently cares for about 20 Puerto Rican crested toads, most of which are cared for behind the scenes as part of conservation efforts.

Earlier this year, guests were able to see two of these toads on habitat in "The Swamp" for the first time, offering a new opportunity to connect with a species that has gained global recognition in recent years. Millions of fans were introduced to Puerto Rico's only native toad as a visual part of Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny's Grammy Award-winning album "DeBí Tirar Más Fotos."

Guests can learn more about Puerto Rican crested toads and Brookfield Zoo Chicago's conservation efforts by visiting The Swamp, watching the latest episode of Wild Rounds with Dr. Mike, and exploring more at brookfieldzoo.org/animals/puerto-rican-crested-toad.

Management of miscarriage requires the same medications and procedures used for abortion, including mifepristone and misoprostol, which in combination is proven to be safer and more effective than misoprostol alone.

In the retrospective cohort study, researchers used a national commercial insurance database to evaluate medical data from 123,598 individuals who experienced miscarriage prior to 10 weeks of pregnancy, between the years of 2018 and 2024.

Analysis showed that abortion bans were associated with a 2.8% increase in expectant management and a 2.2% decrease in medication management. Further, among those individuals who did receive medication, abortion ban states had a 13.8% increase in misoprostol-only regimens relative to the evidence-based mifepristone-plus-misoprostol combination.

This means more women were forced to carry pregnancies that weren’t viable, potentially putting their health and fertility at risk and prolonging the grief of a lost pregnancy.

Most concerning, these findings are likely only the tip of the iceberg, Rodriguez said.

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/8501263

Banner image: Poison dart frog of the species Ranitomeya aetherea, described from the Juruá River Basin, western Amazon, in 2023. Image courtesy of Alexander Mônico.

Scientists race to study the Amazon’s frogs before they disappear

• The Amazon is home to the world’s greatest amphibian diversity, with an estimated 1,525 species, of which only 810 have been formally described by science.
• This megadiversity is under pressure from climate change and human activity, threatening the risk of species going extinct before scientists even get a chance to describe them.
• Recent research indicates that the combination of increased temperature and exposure to pesticides can alter tadpoles’ growth and development in the Amazon.
• Amphibians play a central role in controlling insects, including disease-transmitting mosquitoes, while also contributing to natural control of agricultural pests — a service valued in Brazil at more than a billion dollars annually.

MANAUS, Brazil — Crouched over the leaf litter, where dry leaves accumulate on the forest floor, a researcher tries to capture a distinct croak using a directional microphone. Identifying the sound of a small frog is often one of the conclusive proofs that a new species has been found. It’s nighttime. He wears long clothing as protection against mosquitoes and ants, and boots to keep his feet dry. Finding amphibians in the Amazon doesn’t require high-tech equipment; it actually dates back to explorations by early-20th-century naturalists.

That’s how biologist Igor Kaefer, a professor at the Federal University of Amazonas in Brazil, describes a typical day of fieldwork in search of amphibians in the Amazon. Kaefer was part of a group responsible for describing Amazophrynella bilinguis in 2019. The very description of the little toad gives an idea of ​​how difficult it is to find: females measure about 2 centimeters (less than an inch), and their brown head and back make them “disappear” among the leaves and branches.

Home to an estimated 1,525 species of amphibians, the Amazon Basin is the most diverse ecosystem in the world when it comes to frogs, an order that includes toads and tree frogs. However, occurrence records have been confirmed for only about 810 of those. So going into the field and finding a new-to-science species is not unlikely.

“In almost every inventory conducted in a remote area, you come back with more than one new species for synthesis,” Kaefer says.

But finding a species in the field, analyzing it, and publishing the description takes “at least five,” he adds.

This constant stream of new-to-science discoveries masks another fact: from 2001 to 2010, only 12% of studies on Brazilian amphibians focused on Amazonian species, compared to 60% in the Atlantic Forest. This shows that studies are concentrated in Brazil’s southeast and points out some of the difficulties of conducting research in the world’s largest tropical rainforest, such as limited infrastructure, hard-to-reach areas, and lack of personnel.

“Biologists who know about amphibians are the real threatened species in the Amazon,” Kaefer says.

More than 2,000 amphibian species are threatened worldwide, making them the most vulnerable group of vertebrates on the planet. Of this total, 48% are directly threatened by habitat loss. This adds another layer of complexity to the knowledge gap regarding Amazonian amphibians: we may be losing entire populations before we even know they exist.

Biologist Guilherme Azambuja searches for tadpoles in a puddle in the Amazon. Image courtesy of Guilherme Azambuja.

Why are there so many species of amphibians in the Amazon?

Viewed from above, the Amazon Rainforest looks like a seamless green block, but it’s composed of a mosaic of distinct habitats: dry land, floodplains, streams, and seasonally flooded areas. This heterogeneity is even more pronounced when it comes to amphibians that are just a few centimeters long. Even in a stretch of forest that seems homogeneous to the human eye, some variations regarding moisture, forest height, soil type, and water type are decisive for amphibians.

“Over millions of years, species have diversified and specialized in these many habitats and in different environmental conditions,” Kaefer says. “This means that they have adapted in very distinct ways to different places. Even within a large group of amphibians, we find species with differences that are very subtle but enough for us to recognize a new one.”

The most significant example of these subtle differences is found in species from the genus Synapturanus, called disc frogs because of their round, flat profiles. These species live underground and have short reproductive periods, which makes them difficult to observe. Lineages that used to be seen as a single species are now only distinguished by approaches that combine genetic examination, vocalization monitoring and bone analysis based on 3D models.

Neblinaphryne imeri, a species described only in 2024, from Pico da Neblina. Image courtesy of Taran Grant.

It was precisely this diversity that attracted Kaefer to the Amazon. Originally from the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, he arrived in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state, in 2008 to pursue his doctoral studies, accompanied by his friend, Daiani Kochhann, now a professor at the State University of Vale do Acaraú, in Ceará state. While Kochhann’s career was focused on the study of Amazonian fish, she was convinced by her colleague to invest in the little frogs as well — a field where scientists still have much to discover.

Kochhann says Amazonian diversity isn’t defined only by the sheer number of species, but also includes the richness of reproductive behaviors. She cites the case of frogs, which most schoolchildren are taught go through two life stages, first as tadpoles, before metamorphosing into adults.

“In the Amazon, however, some species face very complex variations regarding this pattern, such as parental care, or tadpoles that hatch from the egg and live freely right away,” Kochhann says. “Some lay eggs in water; others in damp soil. And there are species that we only know in their adult phase, whose tadpoles we have never seen.”

These differences also pose a challenge for Kochhann’s research area of physiology: scientists need to know these organisms’ functions and processes, from cells to tissues and organs. Above all, they need to understand how they function in the face of increasing environmental strain, including climate change impacts.

“When we talk about climate change and amphibians, the big questions are which species will survive, which will not, and how this process will occur,” Kochhann says. “In the case of amphibians, the urgency is greater because they have characteristics that make them especially vulnerable to rising temperatures and drier climates, such as cutaneous respiration, which depends on skin moisture. Having little data on the Amazon means not understanding enough about these processes and risks.”

Data from Brazil’s National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) indicate that only five groups in the country’s Northern region, which includes much of the Brazilian Amazon, formally study amphibians in their research; three of them are systematically focused on amphibian ecology and physiology.

A search by Mongabay found 9,062 scientific articles on Amazonian amphibians published in the last 10 years, only 3% of which explicitly describe new species. Climate, on the other hand, has been a central topic in the scientific literature: the keyword comes up in 3,411 of the papers, even though a data gap persists regarding amphibians’ tolerance to higher temperatures and their adaptive capacities.

Adult female of the species Ranitomeya aetherea, described from the Juruá River Basin, western Amazon, in 2023. Image courtesy of Alexander Mônico.

Climate change and pesticides: Emerging extinction risks

Climate change scenarios for the Amazon region include not only hotter days but also more severe periods of drought, as already observed in 2023-2024. Studies indicate that the increase in prolonged drought will cause an increase in habitat loss of up to 33% for frogs.

In addition to this risk, climate change interacts with other factors that also affect amphibians, such as water contamination by pesticides and heavy metals. Biologist Guilherme Azambuja investigates precisely these interactions, which are still little explored in the literature on the Amazon.

“One of the biggest challenges I faced was the lack of studies in this field for tropical environments such as the Amazon,” he says. “We end up resorting to results obtained in Europe or North America, which compromises comparisons with our reality.”

The darker colors show the areas of the planet with higher projected risks for frog species due to increased aridity. Image courtesy of Wu et al., 2024.

In a paper published in February this year, Azambuja tested the isolated effects of warming and exposure to the insecticide methomyl — an extremely toxic substance used in crops, with high water solubility — on tadpoles from two species, Osteocephalus taurinus and Scinax ruber. In a second phase, exposure to methomyl was tested at two temperatures: 26.5° and 30° Celsius (79.7° and 86° Fahrenheit).

In both species, the higher temperatures reduced the animals’ final mass. “When the temperature increases, their metabolism accelerates, hindering mass gain,” Azambuja says.

With higher temperatures and faster metabolism, tadpole respiration also increases, which may explain their greater susceptibility to absorbing substances present in water in warmer scenarios. In the case of O. taurinus, the link was clear: heat doubled methomyl’s lethal toxicity.

But the results also showed there are no absolutes in nature, with species responding differently to multiple stress factors. In terms of lethality, the tree frog S. ruber proved to be sensitive to methomyl regardless of temperature.

For Azambuja, this variation between species is the central point. It is precisely because species diversity is so high that responses to the same conditions also vary. Therefore, the lack of knowledge about these animals and their lifestyles means we can’t fully understand the impacts of these challenges or which species may be at greater risk.

In any case, Azambuja says, adaptation to temperature or substances takes a toll on amphibians, even the most resistant ones. “Body size decreases, resulting in thinner and smaller animals. While they are resistant, they may have lower sexual fitness and face reproductive challenges. Sometimes an animal tolerates warmer environments but remains at a level of stress that may not be sustainable in the long run, leading to organism collapse,” he says.

Harlequin toads of the species Atelopus spumarius, endemic to the Amazon. Image courtesy of Jaime Culebras/ASI.

What are we about to lose?

Making the case for amphibian conservation can be difficult: considered “disgusting” by society, these little frogs face invisible threats, and their contribution to ecosystems is rarely appreciated. At the Federal University of Ceará, Karoline Ceron is trying to change this reality with a powerful argument: money.

“By proposing research to assign economic value to amphibians in Brazil, we want to work alongside those who influence decision-making in the country, considering agribusiness’s major role in policymaking,” she says. “We want to establish a dialogue between two worlds: that of conservation and that of production.”

Still in progress, her research estimates that amphibians help prevent $1.18 billion in agricultural losses in Brazil, simply by consuming insects that attack crops. In soy plantations in the Cerrado biome, for example, amphibians likely save around half a million dollars a year in pesticides, by eating approximately 300 million invertebrates in those areas.

They also play a role in public health, especially in the tropics. With amphibians’ decline, part of the natural control of disease vectors like mosquitoes, which can transmit malaria and dengue fever, becomes lost. Research conducted across Central America found an increase in malaria cases related to the loss of amphibian populations.

“There is a synergistic risk, therefore,” Ceron says. “Loss of amphibian populations can lead to increased use of pesticides and insecticides in both rural and urban areas, which in turn would create new contamination and environmental poisoning.”

This story was first published here in Portuguese on April 13, 2026.

This week, a company called Casimir Inc. emerged from “stealth mode” to announce that it had raised significant funding from venture capitalists willing to roll the dice on free energy. That’s right: a startup has gotten serious backing to develop sources of perpetual free energy. The people behind this fantastic new energy generator also brought us the wildly successful ~~WTF thruster~~ EM-drive that could supposedly directly convert electricity into a propulsive force.

(Its one practical application was in the show Salvation, where it was treated with the same detailed attention to physical laws as Galaxy Quest’s Omega-13.)

With that success, who are we to be skeptical?

Casimir Inc. is convinced it can squeeze energy from the vacuum via the Casimir force (hence the subtle reference in the name). The Casimir force is a real thing, arising from the fact that a vacuum is not actually nothing. Instead, it is filled with a froth of virtual particles becoming real in pairs, waving to us, annihilating each other, and sinking back into the soup of virtual particles. The Casimir force emerges when we create an imbalance in the spatial distribution of these virtual particles, leading to a pressure as the Universe seeks to equalize the distribution.

James Walker, a professor emeritus of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Leeds, said the research had helped to “cut through the noise” regarding recent concerns regarding whether medications taken by mothers during pregnancy could affect their babies.

“The practical message is straightforward” Walker said. “Women with moderate or severe depression should not stop their antidepressants in pregnancy out of fear of causing autism or ADHD. Depression that goes untreated in pregnancy carries real risks of its own, for the mother, the pregnancy and for the developing baby, including a higher chance of premature birth, postnatal depression and difficulties bonding with the baby. For milder depression, talking therapies and other non-medication approaches are usually tried first, in line with current guidelines. As always, decisions in pregnancy are personal and should be made with a clinician who knows the woman’s history.”

Cement production alone currently accounts for about 8 percent of global CO2 emissions, so considerable effort is going into lowering that number. Efficiency can be increased, and energy sources can be swapped for cleaner ones, but a stubborn reality remains: The byproduct of turning limestone into lime during cement production releases CO2 gas. These “direct process emissions” are actually slightly larger than the emissions from burning fuel to heat the kilns and drive this process.

A new paper in Communications Sustainability suggests a route to eliminating direct process emissions by removing a bedrock assumption. What if we don’t have to use limestone cement?

The material we call “Portland cement” was developed in the 1800s. It simply requires heating limestone (calcium carbonate) and adding something like clay or coal ash. This gives you the calcium oxide (lime) you’re after but also releases the CO2 that results when you pull an oxygen atom from carbonate.

The authors of the new paper include the CEO and an engineer from a company that says it has made Portland cement from silicate rocks like basalt—at the lab scale. Basalt contains a mix of minerals that include calcium, aluminum, iron, magnesium, sodium, silicon, and oxygen. (Note the absence of carbon from that list.) The basic idea is that you don’t need limestone to get calcium oxide.

Psychologists have found that two common questionnaires for assessing depression don’t work for comparing people of differing intelligence—and the problem may extend to other conditions and traits.

For a recent study in the journal Intelligence, Stanisław Czerwiński of the University of Gdańsk in Poland and his colleagues investigated how intelligence correlates with mental health. They hypothesized that the association between intelligence and better mental health starts out positive as it approaches the high end of the IQ scale, then turns negative.

The data revealed the curved relation the researchers were expecting: the highest intelligence levels seemed to be associated with declines in mental health. But then the scientists found a problem. To make sure their results were valid, they ran statistics tests to determine whether the mental health measures work the same for people at different intelligence levels, in part by calculating whether responses to individual questions reflect depression to the same extent for everybody. Both scales failed this test, meaning they can’t be used to compare people with differing intelligence—and conclusions like this study’s can’t be trusted.

This is a dry run for any new or known pathogen with pandemic potential. And today, the people who would be in charge of managing such a pandemic are the worst possible people: from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at Health and Human Services, to Jay Bhattacharya at the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to Russell Vought in the White House.

Together, these men have left the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy vacant; have shuttered 10 of the Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases meant to study zoonotic pathogens that jump from animals to humans, like hantavirus; gutted the STOP Spillover Project, a USAID-funded network that tracked “menacing animal viruses across seven countries”; put a hold on research at the Integrated Research Facility in Frederick, Maryland, which studies high-risk pathogens; left key posts at CDC with acting directors including the Division of High-Consequence Pathogens; wound down mRNA vaccine research, which is one of the platforms under consideration for a hantavirus vaccine; refocused infectious disease research away from novel pathogens at NIH toward more common infections; proposed cutting funding for state and local preparedness grants to health departments and hospitals around the country; canned the CDC’s full-time cruise ship inspectors and port health workers; and we have left the World Health Organization, leaving us flying solo without a key source of international collaboration and coordinated planning.

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/8484460

Banner: Secretarybird. Photo: Ronelle Visagie, Author provided (no reuse)

Birds of prey in South Africa are in trouble – a study analyses data from 16 years of road counts

Birds of prey and vultures (raptors) play a vital role in ecosystems, both as top predators and key scavengers. However, compared to many other bird species, raptor populations are declining faster. This is because they need large areas to live in, have low population densities, and reproduce slowly. For these reasons they are vulnerable to human impacts like farming with pesticides, electrocution, collision with wind turbines, or poaching.

In many cases, by the time scientists and conservationists fully understand how bad the declines are, it may be too late to act. Thus, having good population monitoring is vital to act as an early warning system of declines. Many countries in the global south host important populations of raptors but lack effective monitoring programmes.

Africa is an important continent for raptor diversity. Several studies across Africa have used road counts (counting birds from repeated transects across routes) to monitor how raptor populations have changed over time. A recent study went one step further, combining trends from these different surveys from across Africa to better understand these changes at a pan-African scale. Unfortunately, no data from South Africa were available to be incorporated into this analysis.

Monitoring on the road.

In our recent study we took advantage of data that was collected by one dedicated fieldworker, Ronelle Visagie, who drove nearly 400,000 km (the distance from Earth to the moon) across the central area of South Africa (see map) between 2009 and 2025, while she worked for the Birds of Prey Programme of the Endangered Wildlife Trust.

Map of the study area showing the distribution of all road counts conducted between 2009 and 2025. The black polygon indicates the core survey area.

During these 16 years, Ronelle counted all the raptors and large birds that she saw on these work trips. Comparing how the rate of these observations (numbers of individuals per 100km driven) changed over time allowed us to explore species population trends. We had enough data to examine trends for 18 raptors and eight other large bird species over this period. Unfortunately, we did not find a good news story.

These road counts revealed that 50% of the species (13 out of 26) declined significantly, while only three species (12%) showed significant increases. The remaining ten species (38%) showed no significant trends (see Figure 2).

The declining trends raise serious concerns about the conservation status of several species in a region known to host important raptor populations. Thus, urgent conservation actions are needed, especially for species declining by more than 50%. Given that several of these species are not currently listed as threatened either globally or regionally, their conservation status may need to be reassessed.

Fig.2: Estimated population change for 26 species from road counts between 2009 and 2025 in South Africa. (a) Negative and (b) positive trends. The dashed vertical black line indicates a −50% population change. Author provided (no reuse)

Trends in raptor populations

According to our results, 42% of the assessed species declined by more than 50% in the last 16 years.

Notable declines included all of the three migratory species assessed (lesser kestrel, amur falcon and steppe buzzard). These trends match other studies from their breeding grounds in the northern hemisphere, which also suggested declines. Protecting migratory species is especially challenging because action may be needed in breeding areas, non-breeding areas, and along migration routes, where the threats they face may differ.

We also found declines of several resident raptors, including jackal buzzard, Verreaux’s eagle and secretarybird. Populations of these species declined by over 50% in our study region.

In contrast, populations of white-necked raven, greater kestrels, and white-backed vulture increased. The latter is a critically endangered species, but seems to be increasing within our study area.

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Read more: Nigeria’s Hadejia wetlands are a vital stopover for migrating birds: new survey records species found in the park

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Amur Falcon. Ronelle Visagie, Author provided (no reuse)

Some of the trends we detected were similar to a recent study that explored raptor population trends from across Africa using similar approaches to our study. For example, our findings of large declines for secretarybird and lesser kestrel were very similar to those reported in Kenya and Botswana. Additionally, similar population changes for secretarybird were detected during winter (but not summer) using road counts in the Nama Karoo (a major part of our study area) during the period just before our study (a 61% decline between the late 1980s and early 2010s). This suggests that the decline detected earlier may have continued into the mid-2020s.

Secretarybird. Megan Murgatroyd, Author provided (no reuse)

We compared the direction of trends (whether species numbers were going up or down) from our road counts and the Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP2). But only about half of the trends agreed between the two methods (road counts and the bird atlas). Species with consistent trends between the methods included amur falcon and lesser kestrel – both showing declines – and greater kestrel and white-backed vulture – both showing increases. Species with inconsistent trends all showed decreases according to our road counts but increases according to the bird atlas project. These included Ludwig’s bustard, blue crane, secretarybird, black-winged kite, and southern pale chanting goshawk.

If we assume that our road counts trends are reliable, these findings suggest that although the bird atlas project data can provide valuable information on the changes in distribution of birds, atlas data may be less well suited to capture changes in abundance at large spatial scales and across multiple species.

Across Africa, declines in birds of prey are often linked to human population growth, agricultural expansion and climate change. In our study area, there have been no major recent changes in land use or population density, but more subtle or long-term human impacts may be driving these changes.

Conflicts between people and raptors, including illegal killings, could play a role. Climate change and infrastructure like power lines and wind farms are adding further pressure by fragmenting aerial habitat and affecting survival and reproduction.

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Read more: Finding space for both wind farms and eagles in South Africa

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Trends in human populations

Ronelle Visagie. Author provided (no reuse)

Human populations in Africa are expected to grow significantly over the next three decades, which will increase pressure on biodiversity.

Given the projected human population growth in Africa (79%), and a corresponding rise in demand for resources and energy, threats to vulnerable bird species are likely to get worse.

Gareth Tate. Author provided (no reuse)

It is therefore essential that we have reliable tools to monitor species trends and better understand the impacts of these pressures.

This is crucial for understanding the current biodiversity crisis and preventing severe wildlife loss.

Ronelle Visagie and Gareth Tate of the Endangered Wildlife Trust contributed to this research.

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/8484458

Banner image: The golden mantella, an endangered frog species found only in Madagascar. Image by Frank Vassen via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0).

Africa’s amphibians are overlooked in conservation planning, experts warn

Herpetologists are calling for greater inclusion of amphibians in African conservation planning, in a recent letter published in the journal Science.

Africa is home to roughly 1,170 known species of amphibians, 99% of which are endemic. Some 37% of the amphibians are recognized as threatened with extinction.

The researchers note that amphibians — frogs, salamanders and caecilians — are especially important as early-warning detectors of ecological disruption, given their sensitivity to pathogens, thermal stress, pollution and hydrological changes in their wetland habitats. Yet amphibians as a group remain poorly represented in protected-area planning and management tools in Africa, the authors write. They note there are only 12 documented amphibian-specific action plans across the continent. These include a conservation plan for frogs in Cape Town, South Africa, and for the golden mantella frog (Mantella aurantiaca) in Madagascar.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), for example, doesn’t yet have conservation action plans specifically dedicated to amphibians, according to the letter’s lead author, Bienvenu Mwale, an expert on amphibians in the DRC and Cameroon. “To date, the DR Congo existing legal frameworks remain broad and give limited attention to this taxonomic group, with a stronger focus on large mammals,” Mwale told Mongabay by email.

Cameroon, on the other hand, has given full protection to six amphibian species, including the Goliath frog (Conraua goliath), the world’s largest, through a ministerial decree. This could be a good model for African conservation planning, Mwale said.

He added that several African amphibian species are currently classified as data deficient on the IUCN Red List, meaning there’s not enough information to assess their conservation status.

“One of the needs for amphibian conservation plans in Africa (that citizens can help with) is specific information on distribution,” Amaël Borzée, a co-author of the letter and member of the Amphiban Specialist Group at the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, told Mongabay by email. “This is something anyone can help with, and for instance, doing it through the iNaturalist platform is a great way for people to get engaged. This is easy: take a picture of any amphibian and upload it on iNaturalist, and the job is done, and it helps.”

Karen Lips, an amphibian expert not affiliated with the letter, told Mongabay in an email: “I agree that much more research and much more conservation is needed in Africa. It is a continent with incredible richness of biodiversity, but still needs research to understand patterns of distribution and threats to that biodiversity.

“Africa is one of the regions with the least amount of information on amphibian population biology, meaning that we are not able to assess how land use change, climate change, disease, or other factors affect those species, because we have no baseline population data for comparisons,” Lips added.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/11576154

Deadly droughts and floods wipe out young California salmon en route to Pacific

Salmon are becoming river "ghosts" as brutal droughts and violent floods cause unprecedented losses on their treacherous journey to the Pacific Ocean, scientists say. A study led by the University of Essex; NOAA Fisheries; University of California, Davis; and Cramer Fish Sciences has found that young Californian Chinook salmon face a deadly double threat from extreme weather and the destruction of historical wetland habitats they rely on.

The study emphasized how deadly droughts are for young fish and how they thrive in wetter conditions. However, the results also indicated that in modern, simplified rivers, extreme flows during winter storms can be devastating too. The paper is published in the journal Global Change Biology.

Decades of engineering in California's 1,100 square mile Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta have created an "ecological trap" by carving the Delta into a series of fast-flowing canals.

The research paper contrasted juvenile salmon habitat use during the multi-year drought of 2012–2016 with the massive floods of 2016–2017 that were associated with millions of dollars of damage to roads and infrastructure.

It showed that the altered river system simply could not support the smallest fish at extreme high flows, with high numbers being shot out to sea in early 2017 instead of being guided through the freshwater floodplains and wetlands they need to grow and survive.

The team described these lost fish as river "ghosts" because they die unseen, their fate hidden beneath the water.

Lead author Dr. Anna Sturrock, from Essex's School of Life Sciences, said, "The heroes of the tale, the 'early migrants,' were a bit of a mystery before. They're simply too small to track with traditional tags when they leave their rivers. By turning to natural chemical tags that are more often used to identify the origin of bones found in archaeological digs, we could track the lifetime movements of these tiny fish and identify the key mortality hotspots."

By analyzing the chemical composition of otoliths, tiny ear stones that preserve a chemical record of each fish's life, alongside their eye lens isotopes, the team reconstructed where each salmon had traveled and grown. By sampling the same cohort across their entire life cycle, they could also infer where and when they were being lost.

The study showed that early migrants became rarer at every stage of the journey. On average, the early migrants made up about 80% of the juvenile salmon entering the Delta, but only 26% leaving it and just 15% of the adults that returned to spawn.

In the extreme climate years, young fish either face low flows and rising temperatures or are swept downstream by powerful floods into hostile environments with a slim chance of survival.

"In extreme climate years, juvenile salmon run out of options, and climate models predict these harsh conditions will only become more frequent," said Rachel Johnson, senior author of the study and scientist with NOAA Fisheries.

Despite heavy losses, some fish from every migratory group still made it back to reproduce, showing why having different types of salmon is so important.

These different groups take slightly different routes and leave at different times, which helps the species survive when conditions change, but researchers warn that as weather becomes more extreme, losing this diversity makes the whole population more likely to collapse.

The researchers say that restoration actions need to mimic that diversity and to be made climate-ready, with habitats restored across the full migratory route so salmon have safe places to grow, shelter and survive, whatever the weather throws at them.

Dr. Sturrock added, "The impacts of 'whiplash weather' are being felt all around the world, impacting both human and natural systems. Salmon didn't evolve to bet everything on a single strategy. Historically, the Delta offered multiple pathways and places to grow, which allowed different migratory groups to succeed in different years. Restoring that diversity of habitats is essential if we want salmon populations to remain resilient in the face of increasingly extreme and unpredictable climate conditions."

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/11558655

Banner image: Deforestation, climate change and trade pose threats to the species, which has dwindled to a few hundred from some 750,000 in the 1960s. Image by kaysud via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0).

US proposes endangered species protections for an imperiled Jamaican butterfly

• The U.S. has proposed listing a rare butterfly from Jamaica, the Jamaican kite swallowtail under the Endangered Species Act.
• The striking blue-green and black butterfly, endemic to this island country, hovers on the brink of extinction. Scientists have observed no more than 250 adults in the wild in recent years.
• Deforestation, devastating hurricanes and droughts on the island have destroyed much of this butterfly’s breeding sites; only four remain. Demand for framed butterflies used in home decor is another factor in their disappearance.
• ESA listing would bring attention to the species and stop its trade in the U.S. Conservationists hope it will also fund efforts to protect the butterfly’s habitat.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) recently proposed listing Jamaica’s most imperiled butterfly, the Jamaican kite swallowtail, as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The species (Protographium marcellinus), a small, fast-flying butterfly, flutters through its limestone forest home. Its wings, painted in streaks of bright turquoise and black with a dash of red, sport long, narrow tails.

These charismatic butterflies live on this island and nowhere else. In recent years, they’ve nearly disappeared. Back in the 1960s, scientists recorded about 750,000 individuals; that number has plummeted to between 50 and 250 today. In some years, they’ve seen none.

It’s such an alarming decline that scientists say this swallowtail should jump two categories on the IUCN Red List, from vulnerable to critically endangered.

“This listing would be a real turning point for this species,” said Dianne DuBois, senior scientist at the U.S.-based NGO Center for Biological Diversity, which has been fighting for ESA protections for the butterfly since 1994. After a few failed attempts, it sued USFWS in 2021, which resulted in the agency drawing up the current proposal.

ESA listings prevent extinction in 99% of the species under the act, but the wait is often quite long, about 12 years on average. Time may not be on its side for the Jamaican kite swallowtail, which hangs on the brink of extinction.

“We wish this proposal had come three decades ago,” DuBois said. “We really want to urge the Fish and Wildlife Service to work quickly to finalize these protections and let the ESA work its magic.”

Vaughan Turland at Jamaica’s Windsor Research Centre, who has studied the species for decades, welcomed the U.S. proposal. “Any formal recognition of the potential demise of such an iconic species is important,” he said, because it raises awareness and urges urgent conservation actions.

The Jamaican kite swallowtail is a small, endemic species that lives in Jamaica’s limestone forests. Image by Vaughan Turland.

Hammered by vanishing habitat, climate change and trade

Jamaica is rapidly losing its forests, and along with it, the Jamaican kite swallowtail is losing its homelands. Trees are felled to make way for mines, quarries, expanding farmlands, human settlements and livestock grazing.

Baby caterpillars feed only on the leaves of the black lancewood trees (Oxandra lanceolata) found in limestone forests. Cocooned pupae stay buried in the leaf litter for months before turning into showy butterflies. Meanwhile, black lancewood is targeted by loggers: Thousands of these trees are cut down to make furniture, fish pots, stakes for growing yams and charcoal for cooking, among other things.

As a result, the butterfly’s breeding habitat has shrunk by about 70% since the 1960s, according to a study by Turland and his colleague Thomas Turner from the Florida Museum of Natural History, who’s also considered an authority on the species. Today, the swallowtails breed in just four sites on the island where a few dense stands of black lancewood remain.

Extreme weather events, including hurricanes and drought, pose an increasing threat. Hurricane Melissa, one of the strongest hurricanes on record in the Atlantic basin, made landfall in Jamaica in October 2025, damaging one of the butterfly’s few remaining breeding sites, Turland said.

Caterpillars only eat the leaves of the black lancewood trees, which are logged by the thousands to make furniture, fish pots and charcoal, and more. Image by Vaughan Turland.

Because of its striking appearance, the rare butterfly is also in demand for home décor, framed and hung on the wall. It’s part of a massive trade that includes more than 3,700 butterfly species the world over, mostly coming from the Global South. They’re bought primarily by consumers in the U.S. and Europe.

Fewer than 70 butterfly species have trade protections under CITES, the global wildlife trade agreement. All others, including the Jamaican kite swallowtail, can be traded internationally without restrictions.

“The Jamaican kite swallowtails are one of many butterfly and invertebrate species that have kind of caught the eye of collectors that pin and frame them for display,” DuBois said.

How many are captured and sold remains unclear, as it’s illegal to catch them in Jamaica, but it’s likely a lucrative activity in a country where workers average $34 a day. Dubois said this butterfly sells online for as much as $178 apiece.

For an animal this rare, every sale matters. “Even low levels of collection can be devastating for a species with such a small population,” DuBois said.

This is where the ESA listing could make the most impact. If finalized, the listing would “ensure that this species no longer gets caught up in this popular online decor trade,” DuBois said. It could also bring more attention to the butterfly’s perilous state, and with it, funding to protect its habitat, she added.

(Left) Deforestation has resulted in a nearly 70% loss of the butterfly’s breeding sites. (Right) A Jamaican kite swallowtail. Images by Vaughan Turland and kaysud via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0).

The ESA listing proposal is currently open for comments until June 16, and it’s an open forum: Anyone with information about the species or who is interested in butterfly conservation can post statements. USFWS will then have a year to make its decision. If the listing is finalized, it would be the first addition to the ESA since U.S. President Donald Trump took office for his second term.

“If we can get it listed, there’s a very good chance that it will avoid extinction,” DuBois said.

Spoorthy Raman is a staff writer at Mongabay, covering all things wild with a special focus on lesser-known wildlife, the wildlife trade, and environmental crime.

For his last birthday, I gave my husband a monthly beer box subscription. While he saw it as a generous and delicious present, it spawned a mischievous idea on my part. One evening, as I watched him drain the last bottle, I opened my email. “We’ve just had a message from the beer people,” I said. “They’re issuing a recall on the last batch.”

“What’s the problem?” he answered. “Some sort of contamination issue,” I replied. My husband’s face fell. “Are you OK? You look a bit peaky,” I said.

“Actually, I feel a bit sick,” he said.

There was, of course, no email, and I am a terrible wife. For the past few years, I’ve been writing a book, This Book May Cause Side Effects, about how our thoughts influence ill health. You may have heard of the placebo effect, when positive expectations lead to positive health outcomes. But my interest is in its evil twin. The nocebo effect occurs when dismal expectations lead to negative health outcomes. The phenomenon can create, exacerbate and prolong symptoms. When these symptoms coalesce, people become ill – not from disease, but from the intimate relationship that exists between mind and body.

archive link

The health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., says he wants to understand what causes autism. It’s a perfectly laudable goal and one that scientists have been pursuing for decades. But after announcing a large new federal study on the topic, he made a shocking choice by bringing in the vaccine critic David Geier as a researcher.

In the scientific community, Mr. Geier is infamous for the deeply flawed studies he conducted with his father, Mark Geier, claiming that vaccines cause autism. Researchers have long called attention to the serious methodological and ethical defects in their work.

The Geiers once created an illegitimate review board for their research, composed of themselves, family members and business associates. They also promoted the drug Lupron, used for chemical castration and prostate cancer, as a supposed treatment for autism, charging $5,000 to $6,000 monthly for unproven therapies. As a result, Mark Geier’s medical license was ultimately revoked or suspended by all 12 states in which he was licensed, and David Geier was fined for practicing medicine without a license.

Because of David Geier’s track record and the fact that Mr. Kennedy has said he believes that autism is caused by vaccines, many public health experts think that the upcoming study may echo the same flawed science. We’ve broken down the anti-vaccine research playbook to help you spot the telltale signs of shoddy studies and show why Mr. Geier is such a divisive choice.

An interesting look at chirality and possible outcomes of mucking about too much with life itself.

Globally, human excreta are a huge untapped source of nutrients. Now, a new perspective paper makes the case that biochar could help to unlock it.

The PNAS paper shows that human waste contains over 20 billion kilograms of nitrogen, almost 3 billion kilograms of phosphorus, and 6 billion kilograms of potassium annually. Urine alone contains the equivalent to 17% of global annual nitrogen needs, and up to 25% of potassium demand as well.

Extracting these valuable agricultural nutrients from waste products could help to build a powerful circular nutrient bioeconomy, the researchers believe: food becomes waste, which helps to grow food again, instead of being discarded and lost.

One can't help but wonder if the process could also use condensers to turn the water vapor back into grey water perfect for irrigation.

Or, you know, golf courses in the desert.

Seems the answer is no.

But as much as anything else, this is a shitpost because the vaccine names could not get any more Amazon dropshipper.

There are, however, two effective and Food and Drug Administration–approved vaccines that get the body to produce antibodies against chikungunya, Jones says, and these lower the risk of infection. One, called IXCHIQ, uses a weakened, noninfective form of the virus. The other vaccine, VIMKUNYA, is based on viruslike particles.

Buy two vaccines, get 5% off. Click here for coupon.

Live Science: Tardigrades Apparently Do Huge Poops.
Because as requested by YoiksAndAway: “This deserves its own post.”

Imgur mirror.

https://archive.is/Bydus

When Bonnie hears the opening bars of the Verve’s Bitter Sweet Symphony, she is transported back to 1997. But it isn’t a joyful memory that comes to mind; it is the painful recollection of driving home from school and seeing the sheriff changing a lock on her house.

Then a teenager, Bonnie and her family were about to be evicted. And the Verve’s song was everywhere.

“It was a big hit at the time, and it just seemed to be playing all the time, in takeaway shops and shopping centres, on the radio in the car. I just couldn’t get away from this song,” she says.

To this day the 46-year-old who lives in Canberra, Australia, says she will change the radio or leave the location where the song is playing to avoid hearing it. “The lyrics of this song too closely described our situation,” she says.

Bitter Sweet Symphony was the recessional at my first wedding. I'm pretty certain neither of us (both trancewhore ravers) had bothered listening to the lyrics when we made that selection.

Archive link: https://ghostarchive.org/archive/A4sq8