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GoGreenNation news

The 10 biggest science stories of 2022 – chosen by scientists

News Feed
Sunday, December 18, 2022

From moon missions to fast-charging batteries and AI-sourced antibiotics, in no particular order, the year’s significant scientific developmentsThe year opened with a bang. Or rather, it didn’t. The successful film Don’t Look Up, in which a comet is found to be on a collision course with Earth, had been released just before Christmas 2021. In the bleak days of post-festive gloom, the news media were on an adrenaline high, chasing any and every story about potential asteroid collisions to cheer us all up. Five asteroids were to pass close to the Earth in January alone! Happily for the health and wellbeing of humanity, none was predicted to come within a whisker of hitting the planet. Nonetheless, the possibility of an asteroid colliding with Earth is a reality – the globe is covered in craters from previous impacts, and it is well known that 65m years ago, dinosaurs became extinct following the impact of an asteroid about 10km across. Can anything be done about saving us from this existential extraterrestrial threat? Fortunately, the international space community has taken the first steps towards reducing the risk of an asteroid catching us unawares. The joint Nasa- Esa mission Dart (Double Asteroid Re-Direction Test) was an ambitious attempt to alter the trajectory of a small asteroid (Dimorphos) as it orbited a slightly larger asteroid (Didymos), by sending a spacecraft to crash into it. In October, we learned that the mission had been even more successful than anticipated, and that the orbit of Dimorphos had changed – showing that we could, if given sufficient time, alter the path of an asteroid if it were on a collision course with Earth. Continue reading...

From moon missions to fast-charging batteries and AI-sourced antibiotics, in no particular order, the year’s significant scientific developmentsThe year opened with a bang. Or rather, it didn’t. The successful film Don’t Look Up, in which a comet is found to be on a collision course with Earth, had been released just before Christmas 2021. In the bleak days of post-festive gloom, the news media were on an adrenaline high, chasing any and every story about potential asteroid collisions to cheer us all up. Five asteroids were to pass close to the Earth in January alone! Happily for the health and wellbeing of humanity, none was predicted to come within a whisker of hitting the planet. Nonetheless, the possibility of an asteroid colliding with Earth is a reality – the globe is covered in craters from previous impacts, and it is well known that 65m years ago, dinosaurs became extinct following the impact of an asteroid about 10km across. Can anything be done about saving us from this existential extraterrestrial threat? Fortunately, the international space community has taken the first steps towards reducing the risk of an asteroid catching us unawares. The joint Nasa- Esa mission Dart (Double Asteroid Re-Direction Test) was an ambitious attempt to alter the trajectory of a small asteroid (Dimorphos) as it orbited a slightly larger asteroid (Didymos), by sending a spacecraft to crash into it. In October, we learned that the mission had been even more successful than anticipated, and that the orbit of Dimorphos had changed – showing that we could, if given sufficient time, alter the path of an asteroid if it were on a collision course with Earth. Continue reading...

From moon missions to fast-charging batteries and AI-sourced antibiotics, in no particular order, the year’s significant scientific developments

The year opened with a bang. Or rather, it didn’t. The successful film Don’t Look Up, in which a comet is found to be on a collision course with Earth, had been released just before Christmas 2021. In the bleak days of post-festive gloom, the news media were on an adrenaline high, chasing any and every story about potential asteroid collisions to cheer us all up. Five asteroids were to pass close to the Earth in January alone! Happily for the health and wellbeing of humanity, none was predicted to come within a whisker of hitting the planet. Nonetheless, the possibility of an asteroid colliding with Earth is a reality – the globe is covered in craters from previous impacts, and it is well known that 65m years ago, dinosaurs became extinct following the impact of an asteroid about 10km across. Can anything be done about saving us from this existential extraterrestrial threat? Fortunately, the international space community has taken the first steps towards reducing the risk of an asteroid catching us unawares. The joint Nasa- Esa mission Dart (Double Asteroid Re-Direction Test) was an ambitious attempt to alter the trajectory of a small asteroid (Dimorphos) as it orbited a slightly larger asteroid (Didymos), by sending a spacecraft to crash into it. In October, we learned that the mission had been even more successful than anticipated, and that the orbit of Dimorphos had changed – showing that we could, if given sufficient time, alter the path of an asteroid if it were on a collision course with Earth.

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Related News

Earth’s wildlife is closer to mass extinction than we think

A recent study has revealed that we are closer to a mass extinction of Earth’s wildlife than we think. Human destruction of global wildlife is occurring at an alarming rate. This is according to a new study published in the journal Biological Reviews last week. ALSO READ: Africa’s biodiversity: We can’t protect what we don’t know THE […] The post Earth’s wildlife is closer to mass extinction than we think appeared first on SAPeople - Worldwide South African News.

A recent study has revealed that we are closer to a mass extinction of Earth’s wildlife than we think. Human destruction of global wildlife is occurring at an alarming rate. This is according to a new study published in the journal Biological Reviews last week. ALSO READ: Africa’s biodiversity: We can’t protect what we don’t know THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD’S BIODIVERSITY IS AT STAKE According to a report in the Jerusalem Post defaunation, defined as “the global-scale decline of animal biodiversity” is a disturbing consequence of human life on Earth, the authors of the peer-reviewed study found. This level of mass extinction is tracked by the International Union for the Nature’s (IUCN) Red List conservation categories. According to the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species, approximately one quarter of the the world’s animal populations are under threat of extinction and about one percent have already been declared extinct. The study suggests that the IUCN report does not tell the full story. ALSO READ: Animal welfare organisations can apply for funding from Lottery again TRACKING POPULATIONS ARE AN INVALUABLE TOOL IN DETERMINING THE DECLINE IN SPECIES The authors of the study suggest that extinctions are the result of a progressive population decline which eventually reaches a “tipping point” after which time it cannot recover. ALSO READ: Cost of living crisis: How to save and still eat healthily “The circumstances that trigger the onset of these processes of decline can be multiple,” explained authors, “but they have in common an alteration in the interactions between environmental conditions and the traits that species have evolved to face those conditions – i.e., when patterns of natural selection change at rates that exceed a species’ ability to respond or adapt to such changes.” NOW IS A CRITICAL TIME TO INCREASE OUR CONSERVATION EFFORTS The study also suggests that focusing on and publicising the rate of biodiversity decline must be a universal priority. ALSO READ: Cape Town dam levels: Latest numbers after heavy rainfall This article was originally published by Angeline Schwan. The post Earth’s wildlife is closer to mass extinction than we think appeared first on SAPeople - Worldwide South African News.

Extinction
Animals
Crisis

More than 1,500 arrested at Extinction Rebellion protest in The Hague

Several Dutch celebrities among protesters, including Game of Thrones actor Carice van HoutenMore than 1,500 people were arrested during a protest by the Extinction Rebellion climate group in The Hague on Saturday, Dutch police said.Activists blocked a section of a motorway during the afternoon in protest against Dutch fossil fuel subsidies. Continue reading...

Several Dutch celebrities among protesters, including Game of Thrones actor Carice van HoutenMore than 1,500 people were arrested during a protest by the Extinction Rebellion climate group in The Hague on Saturday, Dutch police said.Activists blocked a section of a motorway during the afternoon in protest against Dutch fossil fuel subsidies. Continue reading...

Extinction
Activism
Climate

Extinct “Hotspot” Volcanoes Spill Secrets on Inner Workings of Volcanoes

Remnants of volcanoes strewn across Australia act as a map of the northward movement of the continent over an underlying “hotspot” within the Earth’s interior...

Remnants of volcanoes strewn across Australia act as a map of the northward movement of the continent over an underlying “hotspot” within the Earth’s interior...

Extinction

Butterfly behaviour shows ways to protect natural habitats in a rapidly changing world

Natural landscapes are continually transformed to make room for agricultural and urban developments – often at the expense of important habitats and species. That’s why, to avoid unnecessary species extinctions, it’s crucial to know which habitats to protect. In a recent paper we studied how changes to the landscape affected butterflies in a grassland area […] The post Butterfly behaviour shows ways to protect natural habitats in a rapidly changing world appeared first on SAPeople - Worldwide South African News.

Natural landscapes are continually transformed to make room for agricultural and urban developments – often at the expense of important habitats and species. That’s why, to avoid unnecessary species extinctions, it’s crucial to know which habitats to protect. In a recent paper we studied how changes to the landscape affected butterflies in a grassland area of South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province. The sheer speed at which landscapes are being transformed by human activity means that conservationists simply don’t have the time to gather detailed information on all the species in a particular region. That slows down conservation responses. It’s also not always possible to conserve entire landscapes and doing so is not always economically feasible. Butterflies are icons in the sky. On warm summer days we can watch them dance elegantly from flower to flower. But they aren’t just beautiful to look at. They are important pollinators, and are important in natural food chains. For scientists, they are sentinel species. By identifying how they interact with landscapes we gain a better understanding of how other insect species do, too. Our research offers a closer look at how butterflies interact with the landscapes they roam. This, in turn, allows us to delve into how conservation measures can be adopted to better protect butterfly communities against the effects of people changing natural habitats. We found that a variety of different grassland types, in addition to flower diversity, is important for butterflies. When it’s not possible to conserve whole grassland areas, a variety of smaller grassland patches can help protect butterflies and other insects against environmental transformation. This means that effective insect conservation is possible in areas earmarked for large-scale transformation – without sacrificing economic gain. The landscape Timber estates occupy a large proportion of the grassland landscape in the KwaZulu-Natal province, where we conducted our study. This leaves little habitat for grassland butterflies in some areas. To ensure that the biological impact of plantation forestry is minimised, forestry practitioners have moved towards leaving at least a third of natural grasslands untouched among timber plantations. This provides butterflies and other insects with enough habitat to roam the landscape while timber production continues in other sections. But this approach raises an important question: does it matter which grasslands are set aside for conservation? Or is one grassland much the same as another? The butterflies Many butterfly species roam in high-elevation habitats, like the Mistbelt Grasslands of KwaZulu-Natal province. The area also forms part of one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. A Geranium bronze butterfly settles on some flowers in the study area. Charl Deacon Inconspicuous species such as the Natal spotted blue (Azanus natalensis) and the Meadow blue (Cupidopsis cissus cissus), along with large and showy species such as the Mountain pride (Aeropetes tulbaghia), frequent grasslands in the region. A keen eye might even spot some magisterial species briefly darting over, like the Flying handkerchief (Papilio dardanus cenea). Strikingly, these species and their counterparts rarely enter timber plantation compartments; they rely on grassland habitats. We recorded and counted as many butterfly species as we could, allowing us to determine just how important natural grassland habitats are among plantation compartments. The results were clear – butterflies need grassland habitats to outlive human transformation. Not that simple There is a catch. Conserving only one or a few feature grassland types won’t protect all butterfly species. Our results show that grasslands of similar types vary considerably. Each grassland has a set of characteristics that defines them such as availability of sunlight during the day, resistance to fire outbreaks and richness of flowering plants. These characteristics are important for attracting particular butterfly species that would avoid another type of grassland. Butterflies are highly mobile insects. Many species rely on small elevation variations to complete their day-to-day tasks. In particular, butterflies move up and down the elevation gradient to avoid, or catch, more sun. This means it’s important for butterflies to have access to habitats at various elevations throughout the day. Butterfly population levels are also highly variable between seasons and from one year to the next. During times when feeding and breeding resources are scarce, butterfly populations may be more concentrated in areas where resources are more reliable. Resources are often more reliable in nature reserves, meaning that butterflies need to access them. When grassland patches among plantations are connected to nature reserves at the landscape level, they are more accessible to moving butterflies. This means that butterfly diversity is higher in grasslands that are close to, and connected to, neighbouring protected areas. All of this is important information because it can help in guiding decisions about where to focus grassland conservation efforts in the region. Next steps Our study shows that landscape variety is best and that taking this landscape-scale variety into consideration in conservation practices can greatly counteract human impact on natural systems. In viewing butterflies as sentinels in conservation, we can use this information to decide which grasslands to conserve, or restore, to better protect all their insect residents. Charl Deacon, Post-doctoral Research Fellow in Entomology, Stellenbosch University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The post Butterfly behaviour shows ways to protect natural habitats in a rapidly changing world appeared first on SAPeople - Worldwide South African News.

Extinction
Conservation
Forests

Avian flu vaccine for California condors approved amid fears of extinction

Vaccine gets emergency approval as ‘highly contagious’ virus sweeps through flocks of species on the brink of extinctionA new vaccine has been granted emergency approval to protect California condors from a deadly strain of avian influenza, federal officials said this week, amid attempts to pull the endangered species back from the brink of extinction.The emergency action underscores an outbreak that has alarmed the conservation community, who fear that condors, a vulnerable species that has spent decades in recovery, could be dealt a devastating blow. After first being detected in a deceased condor in late March, the illness has swept through the small flock of wild birds, which are closely monitored by agencies in the south-west. So far 21 condors have died, impacting eight breeding pairs, according to a statement issued by the US Fish and Wildlife service. Continue reading...

Vaccine gets emergency approval as ‘highly contagious’ virus sweeps through flocks of species on the brink of extinctionA new vaccine has been granted emergency approval to protect California condors from a deadly strain of avian influenza, federal officials said this week, amid attempts to pull the endangered species back from the brink of extinction.The emergency action underscores an outbreak that has alarmed the conservation community, who fear that condors, a vulnerable species that has spent decades in recovery, could be dealt a devastating blow. After first being detected in a deceased condor in late March, the illness has swept through the small flock of wild birds, which are closely monitored by agencies in the south-west. So far 21 condors have died, impacting eight breeding pairs, according to a statement issued by the US Fish and Wildlife service. Continue reading...

Extinction
Conservation

Suggested Viewing

Kaziranga

Nestled in India’s northeastern Assam district, Kaziranga National Park contains the world’s highest density of the endangered Asian one horned rhino. Long plagued by civil unrest, this park is also ground zero for poaching and illegal trade of rhhorn. The film focuses on the efforts of journalist Uttam Saikia, who begins to serve as a mediator between the park and local poachers.

Animals
Conservation
Extinction

Ser Manguezal

Ser Manguezal, created by Eliseu Cavalcante, was inspired by Josué de Castro's book "Of Men and Crabs" from 1967. De Castro was a Brazilian geographer, physician, writer and activist against world hunger. In his book, Castro envisions men as crabs, learning to walk in the mangroves. This relationship between them seems to unify and blend all together making the human being part of that specific biome. This film is part of an ongoing project that examines those who depend on the mangrove ecosystem to survive, and the delicate relationship between humans and this particular ecosystem. It seeks to recognize the hard-working crab hunters of the mangroves and make their work more visible, and to bring awareness about the importance of mangroves to the environment. Worldwide, 3,400 square kilometers (1,300 square miles) of mangrove forests were lost between 2000 and 2016, or about 2% of the global mangrove area (NASA). About 62% of the losses were due to direct human causes such as agriculture and aquaculture. Mangrove degradation is greater than the average for tropical and subtropical forest loss.

Water
Conservation
Plants

Eryngium Proteiflorum

Exists the ideal space-time with appropriate conditions for each organism fulfills its life cycle. Exists places to be fully habitats: The Eryngium Proteiflorum is an endangered endemic flower of the Mexican Transverse Volcanic Axis. Every being has its own space and time and the reflection on the human right to alter it takes relevance in a historical moment where protecting biodiversity can be a deadly battle, where the lives of those who fight for prevention are being taken, every human has its own metaphorical Eryngium. It is not just about a flower, it is about the idea that we can posses anything we want without considering its destruction. This film honors those who have no voice and whose future is plunging into extinction.

Culture
Plants
Extinction

Giants of Big Sur: California Condor Stories Part 2: Leading the Way with Non-Lead

Through experiencing the work of Ventana Wildlife Society, Ross comes to understand the greatest threat to condors is lead ammunition. Ross meets Mike Stake, Non-Lead Ammunition Program Manager, who takes him to meet with a rancher in a key condor area to better understand these complex issues. Through responsible gun use, California condor recovery is achievable. We thank hunters and ranchers who switched to using non-lead ammunition.

Conservation
Extinction
Pollution

Giants of Big Sur: California Condor Stories Part 1: Return to the Wild

Go behind the scenes with Wilderness Documentarian Ross Thomas as he learns the amazing and inspiring stories of the critically endangered California condor. Ross meets the Ventana Wildlife Society experts who have been working since 1997 to restore these majestic giants to the wild Big Sur coast. Ross’s epic journey begins with a once-in-a-lifetime visit with Senior Wildlife Biologist and California Condor Recovery Program Manager, Joe Burnett, to a wild condor’s nest deep in the Big Sur wilderness. Ross witnesses the intimate interaction between a condor parent and its new chick in the crown of a giant redwood tree. Ross then travels with Joe to see the Condor’s Big Sur sanctuary, which was destroyed by the Dolan Fire in 2020.

Conservation
Extinction
Pollution

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