Burning issue: study finds fire a friend to some bees, a foe to others

Native bee species the megachile aufrions.
Photo Credit: Kit Prendergast

New Curtin University research has found the impact of bushfires and prescribed burns on global bee populations is highly varied, with some species benefiting from fire while others face severe risks.

The study, led by Adjunct Research Fellow Dr Kit Prendergast from Curtin’s School of Molecular and Life Sciences, examined 148 studies from around the world to understand how fire impacts bees.

The review considered the severity, frequency and duration of fires, along with the different characteristics of bees, such as where they nest, their body size, how specialized their diet is and whether they live alone or in groups.

Dr Prendergast said while declining pollinator numbers are being increasingly recognized as a major threat to biodiversity and sustainability, little was known until now about how they respond to fires that are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change and land management practices.

Air Pollution Can Contribute to Obesity and Diabetes

The most significant sources of fine air pollutants include exhaust fumes from cars, industrial plants and heating systems, as well as emissions from construction sites and forest fires.
Photo Credit: Uvi D

Long-term exposure to fine air pollution can impair metabolic health by disrupting the normal function of brown fat in mice. A study co-led by the University of Zurich shows that this occurs through complex changes in gene regulation driven by epigenetic mechanisms. The results demonstrate how environmental pollutants contribute to the development of insulin resistance and metabolic diseases.

There is growing evidence that air pollution is not just harmful to our lungs and heart, but also plays a significant role in the development of metabolic disorders like insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. A new study co-led by Francesco Paneni, professor at the Center for Translational and Experimental Cardiology of the University of Zurich (UZH) and the University Hospital Zurich (USZ), and Sanjay Rajagopalan, professor at the Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, now sheds light on the topic.

Novel Metal Alloy Withstands Extreme Conditions

Alloy production by means of arc melting in the material synthesis lab of the Institute for Applied Materials – Materials Science and Engineering.
Photo Credit: Chiara Bellamoli, KIT

A new material might contribute to a reduction of the fossil fuels consumed by aircraft engines and gas turbines in the future. A research team from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) has developed a refractory metal-based alloy with properties unparalleled to date. The novel combination of chromium, molybdenum, and silicon is ductile at ambient temperature. With its melting temperature of about 2,000 degrees Celsius, it remains stable even at high temperatures and is at the same time oxidation resistant.

High-temperature-resistant metallic materials are required for aircraft engines, gas turbines, X-ray units, and many other technical applications. Refractory metals such as tungsten, molybdenum, and chromium, whose melting points are around or higher than 2,000 degrees Celsius, can be most resistant to high temperatures. Their practical application, however, has limitations: They are brittle at room temperature and, in contact with oxygen, they start to oxidize causing failure within a short time already at temperatures of 600 to 700 degrees Celsius. Therefore, they can only be used under technically complex vacuum conditions – for example as X-ray rotating anodes.

Green Energy and Innovation Can Increase Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The introduction of renewable energy sources in developing Asian countries may lead to a short-term increase in greenhouse gas emissions.
Photo Credit: Nicholas Doherty

Scientists at Ural Federal University have found that the introduction of renewable energy sources (RES) and technological innovations in developing Asian countries can lead to a short-term increase in greenhouse gas emissions. The reason is the effect of rebound and insufficient effectiveness of regulatory systems. This calls into question the effectiveness of current measures to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, the researchers believe. They wrote on this topic in an article in the journal Energy Economics.

"In Asia, more efficient coal-fired power plants or cheaper solar energy can lower electricity prices, leading to increased energy consumption by industry and households in general. Although innovations reduce CO₂ emissions in the short term, they actually increase emissions in the medium and long term, as efficiency gains drive growth in industrial activity and energy demand. This is a classic rebound effect: efficiency stimulates economies of scale, negating the initial environmental benefits," explained Kazi Sohag, co-author of the paper and head of the UrFU Laboratory of Economic Policy and Natural Resources.

Old Puzzle around Protein Distribution in Plant Cells Solved

Lei Zhang works with the plant Arabidopsis.
Photo Credit: © RUB, Marquard

How lipids in the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum of plant cells interact with proteins to organize the first step of protein transport has long been an unsolved mystery. A research team at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, led by Professor Christopher Grefen, has uncovered how a lipid switch in plant cells directs proteins to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) – the gateway to the cell’s secretory pathway. The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

Researchers find key to stopping deadly infection

When rotavirus enters a cell without the FA2H enzyme, it becomes trapped in pockets called endosomes (indicated by red arrows). This prevents the virus from infecting the rest of the cell.
Image Credit: Ding Lab/WashU Medicine

Rotavirus causes severe dehydrating diarrhea in infants and young children, contributing to more than 128,500 deaths per year globally despite widespread vaccination efforts. Although rotavirus is more prevalent in developing countries, declining vaccination uptake in the United States has resulted in increasing cases in recent years.

New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has identified a key step that enables rotavirus to infect cells. The researchers found that disabling the process in tissue culture and in mice prevented infection. This discovery opens up new avenues for therapeutic intervention to treat rotavirus and other pathogens that rely on the same infection mechanism.

“Rotavirus kills infants and children, young people who never had a chance at life,” said Siyuan Ding, an associate professor of molecular microbiology at WashU Medicine. “That’s why we want to develop effective therapeutics, even though we already have vaccines that we can use. Not all kids receive the vaccine, and this virus is very infectious. Once a child has the virus, there’s currently no treatment; we can only manage the symptoms.”

SwRI produces, evaluates sustainable aviation fuel made from e-fuel

A multidisciplinary team at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) produced, characterized and tested standard jet fuel along with two sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), including one developed at SwRI, through an internally funded project. A custom jet engine test stand was used to gather emissions and particulate data.
Photo Credit: Southwest Research Institute

Southwest Research Institute produced a batch of blended sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) through a refinery process that started with electrofuels or e-fuels made from carbon dioxide and green hydrogen. Using internal research funding, a multidisciplinary team produced and characterized the SAF, along with two other commercially available fuels, before collecting emissions and particulate data to support the aviation industry’s emissions goals.

“Aviation is difficult to decarbonize due to the fuel density and power required for flight,” said Francesco Di Sabatino, a group leader in SwRI’s Mechanical Engineering Division. “With this project we’re gathering important data for conventional fuel and two different SAFs.”

Conventional jet fuel is made from petroleum that burns inside a jet engine. Fueling jets with SAF could help reduce carbon emissions. Worldwide air travel accounts for 2% of all carbon emissions, and 12% of all carbon emissions from transportation. The team tackled three focus areas — production, characterization and testing.

Researchers discover of a new type of diabetes in babies

Photo Credit: Rene Terp

Advanced DNA sequencing technologies and a new model of stem cell research has enabled an international team to discover a new type of diabetes in babies.

The University of Exeter Medical School worked with Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in Belgium and other partners to establish that mutations in the TMEM167A gene are responsible for a rare form of neonatal diabetes.

Some babies develop diabetes before the age of six months. In over 85 per cent of cases this is due to genetic mutation in their DNA. Research led by the University of Exeter found that in six children with additional neurological disorders such as epilepsy and microcephaly identified alterations in a single gene: TMEM167A.

To understand its role, ULB researcher Professor Miriam Cnop’s team used stem cells differentiated into pancreatic beta cells and gene-editing techniques (CRISPR). They found that when the TMEM167A gene is altered, insulin-producing cells can no longer fulfill their role. They then activate stress mechanisms that lead to their death.

New hope for MS

Micah Feri (left) and Seema Tiwari-Woodruff.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of University of California, Riverside

Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is a chronic autoimmune disease affecting more than 2.9 million people worldwide. It occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the myelin sheath, the protective insulation around nerve fibers, causing disruption of nerve signals between the brain and body. Symptoms can include numbness, tingling, vision loss, and paralysis.

While current treatments can reduce inflammation, no therapies yet exist to protect neurons or restore the damaged myelin sheath. Researchers have now taken a major step forward in the development of such a therapy, supported by funding from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. They have identified two compounds that could remyelinate damaged axons.

Published in the journal Scientific Reports, the research, led by Seema Tiwari-Woodruff, a professor of biomedical sciences at the University of California, Riverside, School of Medicine, and John Katzenellenbogen, a professor of chemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, or UIUC, was made possible through two National MS Society funding programs: a traditional investigator-initiated grant and the Society’s Fast Forward commercial accelerator program.

Raging winds on Mars

Images of dust devils, whirlwinds of dust that are blown across Mars’ surface.
Image Credit: ESA/TGO/CaSSIS for CaSSIS
(CC BY SA 3.0 IGO)

On Mars, dust devils and winds reach speeds of up to 160 km/h and are therefore faster than previously assumed: This shows a study by an international research team led by the University of Bern. The researchers analyzed images taken by the Bernese Mars camera CaSSIS and the stereo camera HRSC with the help of machine learning. The study provides a valuable data basis for a better understanding of atmospheric dynamics, which is important for better climate models and future Mars missions.

Despite the very thin Martian atmosphere, there are also winds on Mars that are central to the climate and the distribution of dust. The wind movements and the whirling up of dust also create so-called dust devils, rotating columns of dust and air that move across the surface. In images of Mars, the wind itself is invisible, but dust devils are clearly visible. Due to their movement, they are valuable indicators for researchers to determine the otherwise invisible winds.