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Research News
The EU Research team take a look at current events in the scientific news
maps air pollution
Air pollution affects all of us in our everyday lives to varying degrees, as we inhale toxins and particles that could adversely affect our health. Statistics underline the scale of the issue, with air pollution estimated to be responsible for around 5.5 million premature deaths in 2015.
The problem is particularly acute in cities, where around 80 percent of inhabitants are breathing air that is unsafe for humans. It’s hard to know which areas are worst affected though, whether you’re a local resident or a visitor.
Global tech giant Google is now taking steps to provide more information to the citizens of the Californian city of Oakland, releasing a map showing air quality information in fine detail, enabling people to identify the worst affected areas and avoid them where possible. The information was collected using sensors on top of Google’s Street View cars, with readings taken every 30 metres or so, from which researchers have been able to build a more detailed picture of air pollution levels across the city. This approach allowed researchers to achieve significantly greater spatial precision than previous techniques, which relied more on monitoring air quality from a single central point. This represents a significant step forward. “Air pollution varies very finely in space, and we can’t capture that variation with other existing measurement techniques,” said Joshua Apte, an Assistant Professor at the Cockrell School of Engineering and the lead author of a paper describing the results. “Using our approach and analysis techniques, we can now visualise air pollution with incredible detail. This kind of information could transform our understanding of the sources and impacts of air pollution.”
Research shows US vulnerable to ozone depletion
The population of central US states could be exposed to harmful levels of UV radiation during the Summer months, a new study reveals. Research from Harvard University shows that the protective stratospheric ozone layer is liable to erosion during the Summer, as specific chemical reactions cause ozone depletion, leaving people at greater risk from the effects of UV radiation.
Researchers know that the central US states have some particular characteristics that leave them vulnerable to ozone depletion during the Summer. The combination of the northerly flow of warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, together with heating and convergence over the Great Plains, often leads to the injection of water vapour into the stratosphere.
This means that the stratosphere over a number of US states, including Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska, is at higher risk of experencing certain chemical reactions that lead to ozone depletion. Stratospheric ozone concentrations are also vulnerable to temperature changes caused by storm systems over the Great Plains.
With these storms expected to increase in both frequency and intensity, researchers are looking to understand how they are likely to affect the earth’s climate. “Thunderstorms that hydrate the stratosphere can have significant local and regional impacts on Earth’s radiation budget and climate,” said Cameron R. Homeyer of the University of Oaklahoma, a co-investigator on the paper.
“This work demonstrates our increasing knowledge of such storms, using ground-based and airborne observations and evaluates their potential for depleting stratospheric ozone now and in the future. The results strongly motivate the need for increased meteorological and chemical observations of such storms.”
Inside the physiological secrets of sherpas Inside the physiological secrets of sherpas The vast majority of visitors to the Himalayas rely on local sherpas to guide them through the area and help minimise
risk. Along with their local knowledge and affinity for the mountains, sherpas also possess certain physiological attributes which mean they can cope better with the lowoxygen environment at high altitudes better than visitors to the area.
A new study sheds further light on the qualities which set sherpas apart and enable them to adapt so well to the high mountains. High altitudes have low levels of oxygen in the atmosphere – most visitors to the Himalayas need time to adapt and acclimatise to this, they may also require additional supplies of oxygen. The sherpas by contrast cope far better, and can spend extended periods of time at high altitudes without suffering adverse health effects. The Xtreme Everest 2 expedition set out to investigate these differences, following two groups as they climbed to Everest base camp at 5,300 metres – a group of lowlanders and a group of sherpas. Researchers from the University of Cambridge gathered data before the trip from the two groups, to provide a baseline measurement, then also took further muscle samples during the trip. The biochemical tests showed that sherpas were able to produce energy extremely efficiently, even when oxygen supplies were limited, while they also had lower levels of fat oxidation. “This shows that it’s not how much oxygen you’ve got, but what you do with it that counts,” says Professor Murray of the University of Cambridge, the senior author on the study. “Sherpas are really extraordinary performers, especially on the high Himalayan peaks. So there’s something really unusual about their physiology.”
Piquing our curiosity
If there’s one characteristic that all scientists share then it’s curiosity, the desire to learn more about how the world works and gain new insights into fundamental laws. But is curiosity an innate characteristic, or can we all become more curious?
The leading science and technology company Merck has devoted a lot of energy to investigating this question. The company’s curiosity initiative measured and described curiosity in several countries, including the US, Germany and China, now they’re looking to continue their research. “Curiosity is our driving force and we now seek to empirically demonstrate that anyone can increase their own level of curiosity,” said Stefan Oschmann, CEO of Merck and Chairman of the company’s Executive Board. Scientific curiosity and the spirit of investigation are crucial to addressing major contemporary challenges, believes Oschmann. “We are convinced that along with optimism and confidence, curiosity can help find solutions to many of the greatest challenges facing mankind,” he stated. An experiment has been set up, in partnership with teams from Porsche Consuting and the Weizmann Institute of Science, to test certain practices designed to enhance curiosity and encourage investigation, which many businesspeople believe is central to commercial success.
“We’re living in a time of revolutionary business where curiosity is not a choice, but crucial to business success. Merck has given us a path forward, we are curious to participate and of course to learn the results of this experiment,” said Claus Lintz, a partner at Porsche Consulting.
A good nose for the flu
Research published recently in Science Immunology sheds new light on how the body responds to an influenza infection. Studies on mice shows that following an infection, the nose recruits immune cells with particularly long memories, which are then well-placed to watch for the virus and guard against its possible recurrence.
This type of cell, known as tissue resident memory t-cells, has now been found in the nose, which could prove relevant to efforts to improve flu treatment. Nasal spray vaccines could potentially be designed to increase the number of these T-cells in the nose, offering an effective way of protecting against influenza. These t-cells are present in specific tissues, and typically provide reconnaisance over the tissue.
“They’re basically sitting there waiting in case you get infected with that pathogen again,” said Lynda Wakim, an immunologist at the University of Melbourne. If a pathogen returns, the T-cells can then rapidly kill infected cells. The T-cells in the nose had longer memories than those in the lung, which could suggest that research into the nose should be a higher priority in terms of combatting influenza and protecting against other viruses and bacteria.
New questions on mouse models
The use of mice as model systems is a long-established method of scientific investigation, yet new research suggests they may not be as effective models for studying immune responses to disease as previously thought, findings which hold significant wider implications.
Researchers from the University of Bristol and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine studied the immune systems of wild mice, and compared them with those of mice bred in captivity.
A number of major differences were identified between the two groups. In particular, the wild mice had highly-activated immune systems, which could be due to their regular exposure to new infections - by contrast, laboratory-bred mice had slower immune systems. This area of research had been relatively neglected. “It’s remarkable that despite the enormous number of studies of laboratory mice, ours is the first in-depth study of wild mice immune systems,” said Professor Mark Viney from Bristol University’s School of Biological Sciences.
The project’s findings could lead researchers to re-examine the ways in which mice are used in laboratory studies, work which has historically underpinned the development of many different vaccinations and immune-based therapies.
Nevertheless, despite these findings, Professor Viney believes that mouse models will continue to be an important tool in research. “These results point to us having to be much more cautious in extrapolating from the lab to the wild, but laboratory mouse models will continue to be hugely important in biological and biomedical research,” he said.
Many of the people in prison are among society’s most vulnerable, so it may come as no surprise that a significant proportion are thought to suffer from some form of mental illness, including autism. However, the nature of the relationship between autism and violent crime is still not fully understood, a topic which has been addressed in a recent study.
The study, led by researchers from the University of Bristol together with a team from the Karolinksa Institute in Sweden, looked at data on over 290,000 people in Stockholm county in Sweden, of whom 5,739 had been diagnosed with autism. The researchers tracked the number of violent crime convictions among this group, from which new insights could be drawn.
“We know that some people with an autism diagnosis have challenging behaviour and may come into contact with the criminal justice system. However, whether having autism increases the risk of violence or not has not previously been clear,” explained Dr Ragini Heeramun, Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist at the Avon & Wiltshire Partnership NHS Mental Health Trust in Bristol.
The study found that while on the surface there did seem to be a higher risk of violent offending among people who had been diagnosed with autism, the picture became more complex when co-occuring conditions like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other conduct disorders were taken into account. Researchers found that the presence of these co-occuring conditions alongside autism, along with other factors like drug and alcohol misuse, were the most important indicators of the risk of violent behaviour, rather than autism in itself.
“Our findings, from the largest study to date, show that at the population level, autism in itself doesn’t seem to be associated with convictions for violent crimes. However, other conditions, such as ADHD, which can co-occur with autism, may increase such risks,” said Dr Heeramun.
Future vision of particle colliders
There’s plenty of life left yet in the Large Hadron Collider, but scientists at CERN always keep an eye on the future, and they’re already looking towards the next generation of particle colliders. The LHC itself took nearly three decades to build, so given that kind of timescale, plans need to be put in place now for its replacement.
The Future Circular Collider will be three times the size of the LHC when completed, giving scientists the opportunity to investigate even more powerful collisions. Developing it will be a complex task however, so hundreds of scientists met in Germany at the end of May to discuss plans for the accelerator. The FCCs circuit will extend to somewhere between 50-62 miles, significantly longer than the LHCs 17 mile circuit, while it will also have stronger magnets to enable collisions at up to 100 tera electron volts. That could allow researchers to identify particles even heavier than the Higgs Boson, which was discovered at CERN in 2012. The LHC itself will be upgraded in the mid-2020s, and it will continue to play a central role in physics research, yet further infrastructure development is essential to scientific discovery, and the next generation of machines could lead to new breakthroughs.
Bloodhound on the supersonic scent
The current official land speed record stands at 763mph, set back in 1997, now twenty years on a team of engineers are gearing up for a new attempt on the landmark. The Bloodhound SSC, touted as the world’s most advanced straight line racing car, will be driven for the first time at Newquay airport on 26 October, with the development team looking to gain some further key data on its performance.
The airport’s runway is not long enough to allow the Bloodhound to fully utilise its thrust, so the team plan more to evaluate the various systems in the car, before taking it out to South Africa next year for the attempt at the land speed record. The initial aim will be to raise the mark to 800mph, before getting to 1,000mph, although the test in Cornwall will not reach anything like those speeds, instead reaching around 200mph. Still, the Newquay trials will be a great opportunity to learn more about the car and showcase it to the public, while it will also provide an important landmark in terms of development. “It will be a big emotional moment for the team,” said chief engineer Mark Chapman. “We’ve gone from a computer design to an actual thing that will move down the runway. It will be a huge validation for the people who’ve stood by us all these years: it is happening.” “Newquay will demonstrate that the cockpit talks to the rest of the car, and the rest of the car talks to the cockpit – and the whole thing then talks to the outside.” Image credit © Flock London
This artist’s concept shows planet KELT-9b orbiting its host star, KELT-9. It is the hottest gas giant planet discovered so far. ©NASA/JPL-Caltech
Scalding Kelt sets new records
An exo-planet revolving around a star around 650 light years away, Kelt 9B has some remarkable characteristics, not least its temperature. The planet is extremely close to its star, and the nature of its orbit means that one side continuously faces it, with intense radiation leading to surface temperatures in excess of 4,300º C, which makes it the hottest giant planet ever found.
The planet itself was observed using two robotic telescopes, one based in Arizona, and the other just north of Cape Town. The Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescopes (KELT) were made using off-the-shelf components, costing only a fraction of more conventional observatories; observations from these telescopes showed a regular dimming of the starlight reaching Earth, indicative of the presence of a planet.
The planet’s unusual characteristics meant researchers were particularly careful in checking and describing it, as it was outside conventional expectations of what a planet would look like. “It’s like a star-planet hybrid,” says Drake Deming, a planetary scientist at the University of Maryland “A kind of object we’ve never seen before.”
Now that more is known about Kelt 9B, some observers have suggested this could lead on to further discoveries, and the discovery of a wider population of scalding hot gas giants.
Smart ships to navigate the high seas
The emergence of self-driving cars has been well documented, but they’re not the only form of transport which is set to be automated. Driverless trains are used on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in London, and there are plans to automate other routes to cope with rising demand, now plans have emerged for autonomous ships.
There is a clear commercial rationale for the development of autonomous ships. The US Coast Guard estimates that human error is the root cause of 96 percent of marine casualties, while there is a marked shortage of skilled personnel ready to work at sea, and those who do work there face the threat of modern piracy. Given this backdrop it’s perhaps unsurprising that many companies have been looking into the potential of autonomous ships, now a number of Japanese companies have outlined plans to build 250 self-navigating vessels. The shipping firms Mitsui OSK lines and Nippon Yusen are collaborating with shipbuilders, aiming to bring ‘smart ships’ into service by 2025. These smart ships will work differently to conventional vessels, using artificial intelligence to plot the safest, shortest and most fuel-efficient routes, potentially offering a far more efficient means of transporting goods to their destination.
Gamers to get sneak preview at E3 event
The annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) event has historically been an opportunity for video games developers to showcase their work and network with other industry professionals. The 2017 E3 event in Los Angeles will be different though, with 15,000 video games fans from around the world heading to the Californian city for a sneak preview of what gamers can expect to see in the year ahead.
This represents a new approach for the E3 conference, as the video games industry seeks to adapt to changing market conditions. In recent years some studios have broadcast showcases to fans online, helping to heighten interest in their products, now E3 is changing as well. “E3 originally was a retail conference, about connecting buyers with the publishers,” said Piers Harding-Rolls, of the consultancy IHS Markit. “The industry has changed significantly since then so E3 has to move with the times. It’s a process to make it much more publically available and it’s a good move – it keeps it relevant.”
Roving across Mars
The preparations for the first human mission to Mars are well underway, with plans to send astronauts to the planet by 2030, but how will people move around once they get there? NASA has unveiled a Mars rover concept, with space to carry four astronauts across the red planet.
It’s not expected that Mars will have particularly smooth roads, so the vehicle will have to be robust to deal with the terrain. The rover has six wheels to help it get over even large rocks, while other design features will help it maintain mobility.
The vehicle is equipped with a 700 volt battery and runs off solar power. At over 3 metres in height and 8 metres in length, the rover is quite a large vehicle, designed to protect astronauts and give them a safe environment from which to explore mars.
The vehicle is still at an early stage of development, yet it demonstrates NASAs determination to look ahead and anticipate future challenges, however far-fetched they might seem.
While there’s still much to be learned about Mars and its environment, some elements of the design may be incorporated in the eventual design, bringing the prospect of human habitation on Mars a step closer.
Orchestrating musical movement
It might be an otherwise imperceptible nod of the head, or a raised eyebrow, but body language is a crucial element of communication between performers and ensuring everybody in an orchestra keeps in time.
The movements and gestures that are commonly seen within an orchestra can help aid communication, all without saying a word. Now researchers at McMaster University in Canada have moved a step closer to unravelling the mysteries of musical communication.
The team used sophisticated technology to monitor and examine the movements of performers in two professional string quartets. They found that they were able to draw links between the body movements of one musician and the actions of another.
Many performers like to express themselves on stage of course, and researchers found that the extent of the body swaying was linked to the group’s perceptions of how well they were performing, something to bear in mind if you ever see a static string quartet during a performance.
This research could also lead to new insights into the importance of body language in other forms of social interaction. “Although we are often not consciously aware of it, non-verbal communications between people is common in many situations and influences who we like and who we don’t like,” explained Dan Bosnyak, a research director at McMaster’s LIVElab. “The methodology developed in this study could be useful for understanding many different types of group behaviour, such as understanding communication problems in autistic children, or determining the best crowd control procedures for an emergency evacuation.”
