Experts sound alarm over insects laying massive amounts of eggs: 'It's very concerning'
Science Daily reported that the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory have developed computer models that are predicting the changing climate is accelerating the population growth of the spongy moth, an invasive species that is causing extensive damage to North American forests.
The report found that the models are much better than those that don't account for the climate.
Hotter, drier conditions in North America will limit the growth of a fungus — also invasive to the continent — that infects the spongy moth with pathogens that spread among the population, limiting the number of moths in an area before they can do too much damage.
A warmer climate means there will be less fungus growth, so the destructive moths will lay more eggs and reproduce more quickly, resulting in increased defoliation of trees.
The research in this case shows that incorporating information about climate conditions helps scientists make better predictions about what the future holds for the ecology of different regions.
These computer models account for multiple organisms in an ecosystem and how they interact with each other. This is important for researchers to predict the impact of rising global temperatures, which are causing domino effects in ecosystems and accelerating faster than previously predicted.
Most studies about the changing climate look at individual species of plants and animals. "A small amount of climate change can have a big effect when you compound it across multiple species," Greg Dwyer, professor of ecology and evolution, said. "So, computer models are crucial for understanding the effects of climate change on species interactions."
Researchers are telling us that we are not worried enough. The warming of the planet and drier conditions are affecting fungal infection rates, causing them to drop dramatically. This drop will cause moth populations to increase dramatically, which will result in the destruction of more trees. Weather conditions in recent years have exacerbated the problem, increasing the number of spongy moth outbreaks.
"Our projections were pessimistic, but probably not pessimistic enough. It's very concerning," Dwyer said.
Do you think America is in a housing crisis?
Definitely
Not sure
No way
Only in some cities
Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.
In order to control the population of the spongy moth in North America and limit the destruction of trees, we can take action to combat rising temperatures by making changes in our day-to-day lives. By adopting more sustainable habits, we can help. Reducing waste and being more informed about the products we buy are important components. Supporting clean energy such as solar power is another step we can take.
These actions can keep invasive species under control as well as create a healthier planet.
Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Pore no more: US scientists develop real-time defect detection for 3D metal printing
Scientists from the federally funded Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois and the University of Virginia have developed a new approach for detecting defects in metal parts produced by 3D printing. By combining artificial intelligence (AI), X-ray imaging, and thermal imaging, this approach could pave the way for real-time self-correcting systems in the future. 3D printing of metals involves a method called laser powder bed fusion, where you build objects layer by layer by melting metal powder with a laser. However, a big issue in this process is defects, especially keyhole pores, which are tiny holes that form when the laser melts too deeply. These pores weaken the final object, which is a significant concern when printing high-performance parts, such as rocket nozzles or surgical implants. Keyhole pores also pose a significant challenge as they compromise the structural integrity of printed parts. These tiny voids form when excessive laser energy creates deep, narrow holes that trap gas, leading to internal cavities as the metal solidifies. Recurrent microscopic keyhole pores can act as stress concentrators, increasing the risk of cracks or failure under pressure. This is particularly hazardous in critical applications, such as aerospace, automotive and medical devices, where part reliability is crucial. Detecting and preventing keyhole pores is therefore vital in ensuring the performance, safety, and durability of additively manufactured metal components. To help achieve this, researchers developed a method to identify and predict these pores real-time using a combination of thermal imaging, X-ray imaging, and machine learning. This new process utilizes powerful X-rays (from a government laboratory) to capture snapshots of what was happening inside the metal as it was being printed. A camera also recorded thermal images (from the surface) at the same time. Then, a trained AI model was used to teach it how specific surface heat patterns predict pore formation. Once trained, the model could detect when a pore was forming just from the thermal image, with extremely high accuracy and within milliseconds. Thermal cameras are already installed on several 3D printers. However, until now, they couldn't reliably spot internal defects. The new method developed by the collaborative team of scientists utilizes existing cameras and AI to instantly detect flaws, eliminating the need for expensive X-rays every time. "Our approach can readily be implemented in commercial systems. With only a thermal camera, the machines should be able to detect when and where pores are generated during the printing process and adjust their parameters accordingly," said Kamel Fezzaa, a physicist at Argonne and a member of the scientific team. Eventually, this technology could be paired with automatic corrections, such as adjusting the laser or reprinting a layer, to fix problems as they occur. This makes 3D printing more reliable for mission-critical parts. It could reduce waste, save money, and increase safety. "Our X-ray beams are so intense that we can image more than a million frames per second," added Samuel Clark, another physicist at Argonne. "Next, the researchers will develop sensing technologies that can detect other types of defects that occur during the additive manufacturing process. The goal is to create a system that not only detects defects but can enable repairs during 3D printing," a release by the U.S. Department of Energy stated. The study has been published on the website DOE Pages.
San Francisco Chronicle
a day ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Study says California is overdue for a major earthquake. Does that mean ‘the big one' is coming?
Unlike other earthquake-prone places around the planet, California is overdue for a major quake, according to a recent study. But that doesn't mean a catastrophic event like the 1906 San Francisco earthquake is on the verge of striking. 'A fault's 'overdue' is not a loan payment overdue,' said Lucy Jones, founder of the Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society and a research associate at the California Institute of Technology, who wasn't part of the work. The new study reported that a large share of California faults have been running 'late,' based on the expected time span between damaging temblors. The researchers compiled a geologic data set of nearly 900 large earthquakes on active faults in Japan, Greece, New Zealand and the western United States, including California. Faults are cracks in the planet's crust, where giant slabs of earth, known as tectonic plates, meet. The Hayward Fault is slowly creeping in the East Bay and moves around 5 millimeters per year, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. But sometimes plates get stuck and pressure builds. Earthquakes occur when plates suddenly slip, producing a jolt of energy that causes the ground to shake. Scientists study ruptured rock layers deep beneath the surface to estimate when large earthquakes occurred in the past. In the new study, the authors collected data stretching back tens of thousands of years. For a region spanning the Great Basin to northern Mexico, this paleoearthquake record stretched back about 80,000 years. For California, the record extended back about 5,000 years. The scientists used these records to calculate how much time typically passes between large surface-rupturing earthquakes around the planet. The average interval was around 100 years for some sites on the San Andreas Fault; it was 2,100 years on the less famous Compton thrust fault beneath the Los Angeles area. About 45% of the faults analyzed for California are running behind schedule for a major earthquake, meaning that more time has passed since the last large quake on a fault than the historical average. In the other regions studied, this statistic ranged from 9% to 18%. The researchers' analysis only included large surface-rupturing earthquakes. It didn't include the magnitude 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, which was below the magnitude 7 threshold that the study authors used for quakes on the San Andreas Fault. The authors associated seismic punctuality with slip rates, or how fast the two sides of a fault move past each other. 'Our analysis showed that the faster the faults are moving, the more likely it is that they will appear overdue,' said study author Vasiliki Mouslopoulou, a senior scientist at the National Observatory of Athens, in Greece. In tectonically active California, the San Andreas Fault has a particularly high slip rate. The Pacific and North American plates slide past each other an average of more than inch per year in some spots. 'Faults in California are among the fastest-slipping faults in the world,' Mouslopoulou said, adding that other factors are also probably contributing due to the pattern of chronically late large earthquakes. Previous studies had also shown that seismic activity has been unusually subdued in California, compared with paleorecords. A 2019 study reported that there's been a 100-year hiatus in ground-rupturing earthquakes at a number of paleoseismic sites in California, including on the San Andreas and Hayward faults. The authors of the 2019 study treated large earthquakes at these sites as independent events, akin to flipping pennies and counting how many turn up heads. They calculated a 0.3% probability that there'd be a 100-year hiatus in ground-rupturing quakes across all the California sites. Scientists have suggested that there could be earthquake 'supercycles,' with large quakes occurring in clusters, with less active periods in between. 'There are these longer-term, decadal, century-long ups and downs in the rate of earthquakes,' Jones said. Potentially, California is in a quiet time and large earthquakes are currently less likely. Katherine Scharer, a U.S. Geological Survey research geologist who wasn't part of the new research, commended the authors of the study, explaining that compiling the paleoseismic records was a 'tremendous amount of work' and will enable more scientists to investigate earthquakes. California's relatively sparse big earthquake activity could be connected to the geometry of its faults. While the analyzed faults in California were more or less in line with each other, those in other regions resembled 'a plate of spaghetti,' Scharer said. 'From the study, I think you would say that the main California faults are mechanically different somehow than the averages from these other places,' Glenn Biasi, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey, who wasn't part of the new work. Biasi emphasized that it's impossible to say if California's faults are truly overdue for a big earthquake. 'The faults slip on their own schedule and for their own reasons,' Biasi said. Scientists can't accurately predict large earthquakes in advance but paleoearthquake data could help. The authors of the new study found that, excluding California's recent lack of large earthquakes, faults around the entire planet have generally produced surface-rupturing quakes at intervals expected from paleoearthquake and historic records. Considering such data could improve earthquake forecasts, Mouslopoulou said.
Forbes
2 days ago
- Forbes
University Of Chicago Receives $21 Million Gift For Quantum Medicine
The University of Chicago is establishing a new center on quantum biology and medicine, thanks to a ... More $21 million gift by Thea Berggren. The University of Chicago has been given a $21 million private donation to establish a new center focused on merging quantum engineering with biology in the search for medical breakthroughs. The gift is from philanthropist Thea Berggren, who will be recognized by naming the the initiative the Berggren Center for Quantum Biology and Medicine. 'The establishment of the Berggren Center reflects a commitment to a powerful idea: that the deepest scientific insights often emerge when we bring distinct disciplines together in bold new ways,' said University of Chicago President Paul Alivisatos, in a news release. 'Combining quantum engineering with medicine, the work of the center stands to transform our understanding of health and disease. Housed within the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, the new center will be an interdisciplinary effort that brings together quantum physicists, engineers and clinicians. Those investigators will attempt "to harness the power of quantum engineering — capable of the most sensitive measurements known to science — to peer inside the human body in unprecedented ways." The goal is to develop new diagnostic tools and therapies that will be more finely tuned, offering the chance of personalized interventions for diseases like cancer. Those goals have recently come within reach because of advances in quantum science that enable very precise measurements of molecular and cellular activity within the human body. Through the use of quantum sensors, researchers can now observe biochemical activity that has not been detectable via prior imaging techniques, making it possible to translate quantum advances into clinical solutions. The center will be co-directed by Greg Engel, Professor in the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and the Department of Chemistry and Julian Solway, the Walter L. Palmer Distinguished Service Professor for Medicine and Pediatrics and the Director of the university's Institute for Translational Medicine. The pair have previously collaborated on research concerning the use of quantum imaging tools. 'Fusing quantum physics and medicine is no small feat, but it opens the door to tools and discoveries we never thought possible,' said Engel. 'This gift will help unite two very different scientific cultures in a common mission to improve human health.' The University of Chicago has become a global leader in quantum science and engineering, serving as the hub of the Chicago Quantum Exchange, a multi-partner international effort that is advancing the quantum future. The University also is part of a research and development ecosystem that includes one of the biggest quantum testbeds in the country; the first U.S. business incubator focused exclusively on quantum; and the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, which will be built on Chicago's South Side. The Berggren gift includes both endowed funds and money for current support. It will be used to fund several activities, including fellowships to train interdisciplinary scholars, technical development projects, and conferences brining together scholars in quantum biology and medicine. 'During a visit to the Atacama Desert, I engaged with astronomers from around the world, and all were inspired by how quantum mechanics is shaping the future, said Berggren in the university's announcement. 'That moment sparked a different question: What if we applied the same quantum principles to cellular physiology and pathology? The potential to transform medicine and how we understand and treat disease is extraordinary, and the University of Chicago is the ideal place to bring this vision to life.'
