Latest news with #Boyer
IOL News
2 days ago
- Health
- IOL News
Cloudy with a chance of penguin poo
Penguins may be nature's surprise climate helpers, thanks to their cloud-boosting droppings. Antarctica's icy wilderness is warming rapidly under the weight of human-driven climate change, yet a new study points to an unlikely ally in the fight to keep the continent cool: penguin poo. Published in Communications Earth & Environment, the research shows that ammonia wafting off penguin guano seeds extra cloud cover above coastal Antarctica, likely blocking sunlight and nudging temperatures down. Lead author Matthew Boyer, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Helsinki, said that lab studies had long shown gaseous ammonia can help form clouds. But "to actually quantify this process and to see its influence in Antarctica hasn't been done," he said. Antarctica is an ideal natural laboratory. With virtually no human pollution and scant vegetation - both alternative sources of cloud-forming gases - penguin colonies dominate as ammonia emitters. The birds' future, however, is under threat. Shrinking sea ice disrupts their nesting, feeding and predator-avoidance routines - making it all the more urgent to understand their broader ecological role. Along with other seabirds such as Imperial Shags, penguins expel large amounts of ammonia through droppings, an acrid cocktail of feces and urine released via their multi-purpose cloacas. When that ammonia mixes with sulfur-bearing gases from phytoplankton - the microscopic algae that bloom in the surrounding ocean - it boosts the formation of tiny aerosol particles that grow into clouds. To capture the effect in the real world, Boyer and teammates set up instruments at Argentina's Marambio Base on Seymour Island, off the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. Over three summer months - when penguin colonies are bustling and phytoplankton photosynthesis peaks - they monitored wind direction, ammonia levels and newly minted aerosols. When the breeze blew from a 60 000-strong Adelie penguin colony eight kilometers (five miles) away, atmospheric ammonia spiked to 13.5 parts per billion - about a thousand times the background level. For over a month after the birds had departed on their annual migration, concentrations stayed roughly 100 times higher, with the guano-soaked ground acting as a slow-release fertiliser. Particle counters told the same story: cloud-seeding aerosols surged whenever air masses arrived from the colony, at times thick enough to generate a dense fog. Chemical fingerprints in the particles pointed back to penguin-derived ammonia. Penguin-plankton partnership Boyer calls it a "synergistic process" between penguins and phytoplankton that supercharges aerosol production in the region. "We provide evidence that declining penguin populations could cause a positive climate-warming feedback in the summertime Antarctic atmosphere," the authors write - though Boyer emphasised that this remains a hypothesis, not a confirmed outcome. Globally, clouds have a net cooling effect by reflecting solar radiation back into space. Based on Arctic modeling of seabird emissions, the team believes a similar mechanism is likely at play in Antarctica. But the impact also depends on what's beneath the clouds. Ice sheets and glaciers also reflect much of the sun's energy, so extra cloud cover over these bright surfaces could trap infrared heat instead - meaning the overall effect hinges on where the clouds form and drift. Still, the findings highlight the profound interconnections between life and the atmosphere - from the Great Oxygenation Event driven by photosynthesising microbes billions of years ago to penguins influencing cloud cover today. "This is just another example of this deep connection between the ecosystem and atmospheric processes, and why we should care about biodiversity and conservation," Boyer said.
Indianapolis Star
3 days ago
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
State's best times and new records: Vote for track and field athlete of week from IHSAA regionals
IndyStar track and field athlete of the week, presented by YMCA of Greater Indianapolis, returns with top regional performers. Congrats to last week's winner, Riverside's Noah Wellington, who won with 14,950 votes. This poll will celebrate the best of Central Indiana track and field throughout the 2025 season. The poll will be open until noon Friday. Cast your vote at the bottom of the article: Girls track and field regionals: Results, Central Indiana qualifiers for state meet Boys track and field regionals: Results, Central Indiana qualifiers for state meet Omema Anyanwu, Zionsville: The senior ran the fastest 400 meters in the state this spring (54.76 seconds) to win the regional at Ben Davis. Anyanwu also took second in the 100 (12.02) and 200 (24.63). Jai Brown, Pike: The sophomore won the 100 hurdles (14.02 seconds) at Ben Davis and helped her team to a second-place finish in the 4x100 relay (48.43). Kya Crooke, Heritage Christian: The senior Arizona recruit won the 100 (11.99), high jump (6-0) and long jump (19-3) at the North Central regional. Sadie Foley, Carmel: The senior helped the Greyhounds 4x800 relay team to a regional meet record (9:10.68) at Lafayette Jeff. Top-ranked Carmel won the meet as Foley also set the regional record by winning the 1,600 meters (4:52.15) and was part of the 4x400 relay team that won the regional. Nadia Ford, Fort Wayne Carroll: The sophomore ran the fastest 200 meters in the state this year (24.02 seconds) to win the regional. Ford also won the 100 (11.90) and was part of Carroll's 4x100 relay winner (47.18). Nife Ogunleye, Brownsburg: The freshman helped Brownsburg to its first regional title with a victory in the 100 meters (11.86 seconds) and 200 meters (24.18). Both are top-five times in the state this season. Banner Barnes, Noblesville: The sophomore won the 800 meters (1:54.92) and 1,600 meters (4:17.19) to help the Millers to a regional championship at Lafayette Jeff. Phoenix Boyer, Bishop Chatard: The junior anchored the 4x400-meter relay team to a victory over North Central with a time of 3:14.09 (second-best in state history) to win the regional at Lawrence Central. Boyer took second in the 300 hurdles (37.06 second) just behind North Central's Denhm Holt (37.04). Boyer's time is the ninth-best in state history. Nick Dearman, Heritage Christian: The senior won the regional at Lawrence Central with a long jump of 23 feet, 5 ½ inches. That jump is the third-best in the state this spring. Rylan Hainje, Franklin Central: The junior helped the Flashes to the regional championship at Lawrence Central, winning the 110 hurdles (13.57 seconds) and 300 hurdles (37.04). His 110 hurdles time is the best in the state this spring and third all-time, and his 300 time the second best this spring and seventh best all time. Coleson Kugler, Wabash: The junior won the 200 meters at the Carroll regional by matching his school record (22.87 seconds). He also broke the school record in the 100 meters (10.80) and finished second. Kaleb Rasheed, Avon: The senior won the discus (188-3) to the help the Orioles to the regional championship at Plainfield. That marked the second-best distance at any regional in the state and fourth overall in the state this spring. IF POLL DOES NOT APPEAR, click here to vote.
National Observer
3 days ago
- Science
- National Observer
The weird way that penguin poop might be cooling Antarctica
This story was originally published by Grist and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration In December 2022, Matthew Boyer hopped on an Argentine military plane to one of the more remote habitations on Earth: Marambio Station at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, where the icy continent stretches toward South America. Months before that, Boyer had to ship expensive, delicate instruments that might get busted by the time he landed. 'When you arrive, you have boxes that have been sometimes sitting outside in Antarctica for a month or two in a cold warehouse,' said Boyer, a Ph.D. student in atmospheric science at the University of Helsinki. 'And we're talking about sensitive instrumentation.' But the effort paid off, because Boyer and his colleagues found something peculiar about penguin guano. In a paper published on Thursday in the journal Communications Earth and Environment, they describe how ammonia wafting off the droppings of 60,000 birds contributed to the formation of clouds that might be insulating Antarctica, helping cool down an otherwise rapidly warming continent. Some penguin populations, however, are under serious threat because of climate change. Losing them and their guano could mean fewer clouds and more heating in an already fragile ecosystem, one so full of ice that it will significantly raise sea levels worldwide as it melts. A better understanding of this dynamic could help scientists hone their models of how Antarctica will transform as the world warms. They can now investigate, for instance, if some penguin species produce more ammonia and, therefore, more of a cooling effect. 'That's the impact of this paper,' said Tamara Russell, a marine ornithologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who studies penguins but wasn't involved in the research. 'That will inform the models better, because we know that some species are decreasing, some are increasing, and that's going to change a lot down there in many different ways.' With their expensive instruments, Boyer and his research team measured atmospheric ammonia between January and March 2023, summertime in the southern hemisphere. They found that when the wind was blowing from an Adelie penguin colony 5 miles away from the detectors, concentrations of the gas shot up to 1,000 times higher than the baseline. Even when the penguins had moved out of the colony after breeding, ammonia concentrations remained elevated for at least a month, as the guano continued emitting the gas. That atmospheric ammonia could have been helping cool the area. The researchers further demonstrated that the ammonia kicks off an atmospheric chain reaction. Out at sea, tiny plantlike organisms known as phytoplankton release the gas dimethyl sulfide, which transforms into sulphuric acid in the atmosphere. Because ammonia is a base, it reacts readily with this acid. Ammonia wafting off the droppings of 60,000 birds contributed to the formation of clouds that might be insulating Antarctica, helping cool down an otherwise rapidly warming continent. This coupling results in the rapid formation of aerosol particles. Clouds form when water vapor gloms onto any number of different aerosols, like soot and pollen, floating around in the atmosphere. In populated places, these particles are more abundant, because industries and vehicles emit so many of them as pollutants. Trees and other vegetation spew aerosols, too. But because Antarctica lacks trees and doesn't have much vegetation at all, the aerosols from penguin guano and phytoplankton can make quite an impact. In February 2023, Boyer and the other researchers measured a particularly strong burst of particles associated with guano, sampled a resulting fog a few hours later, and found particles created by the interaction of ammonia from the guano and sulphuric acid from the plankton. 'There is a deep connection between these ecosystem processes, between penguins and phytoplankton at the ocean surface,' Boyer said. 'Their gas is all interacting to form these particles and clouds.' But here's where the climate impacts get a bit trickier. Scientists know that in general, clouds cool Earth's climate by reflecting some of the sun's energy back into space. Although Boyer and his team hypothesize that clouds enhanced with penguin ammonia are probably helping cool this part of Antarctica, they note that they didn't quantify that climate effect, which would require further research. That's a critical bit of information because of the potential for the warming climate to create a feedback loop. As oceans heat up, penguins are losing access to some of their prey, and colonies are shrinking or disappearing as a result. Fewer penguins producing guano means less ammonia and fewer clouds, which means more warming and more disruptions to the animals, and on and on in a self-reinforcing cycle. 'If this paper is correct — and it really seems to be a nice piece of work to me — [there's going to be] a feedback effect, where it's going to accelerate the changes that are already pushing change in the penguins,' said Peter Roopnarine, curator of geology at the California Academy of Sciences. Scientists might now look elsewhere, Roopnarine adds, to find other bird colonies that could also be providing cloud cover. Protecting those species from pollution and hunting would be a natural way to engineer Earth systems to offset some planetary warming. 'We think it's for the sake of the birds,' Roopnarine said. 'Well, obviously it goes well beyond that.'
Fox Sports
28-05-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
49ers make a switch at punter, signing Thomas Morstead and cutting Mitch Wishnowsky
Associated Press SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers made a switch at punter on Wednesday, signing veteran Thomas Morstead and cutting Mitch Wishnowsky after six seasons in the role. The switch at punter is one of several made this offseason by the 49ers to overhaul a special teams unit that struggled last season, leading to the firing of coordinator Brian Schneider. Brant Boyer was hired after spending the previous nine seasons in that role with the New York Jets and has now brought in a punter and a kicker he worked with in the past. San Francisco signed kicker Greg Joseph earlier this month to compete with Jake Moody. The 39-year-old Morstead spent the past two seasons playing for Boyer with Jets after spending most of his career with the New Orleans Saints. He averaged 47.2 yards per punt last season with a 40.7 yard net average. He has averaged 46.8 yards per punt with a 41.5 yard net average in 255 games. He was a second-team All-Pro and made the Pro Bowl in 2012 for New Orleans. Wishnowsky was a fourth-round pick by San Francisco in 2019 and was one of the better punters in the league at pinning opponents deep before a back injury sidelined him for the final eight games last season. He ranked third out of 38 punters with at least 150 attempts since 2019 with 45.2% of his punts getting downed inside the 20. He averaged 45.6 yards per punt with a 40.7 yard net average in 92 games. He averaged 45.2 yards per punt last season with his 36.3-yard net average ranking last among 34 punters with at least 20 attempts. San Francisco also signed linebacker Chazz Surratt to a one-year deal and waived linebacker DaShaun White to make room on the roster. Surratt was drafted in the third round in 2021 by Minnesota and spent the past three seasons with the Jets where he played for both Boyer and current Niners defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. Surratt had 18 tackles on defense and 10 more on special teams last season. ___ AP NFL: recommended
San Francisco Chronicle
28-05-2025
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
49ers make a switch at punter, signing Thomas Morstead and cutting Mitch Wishnowsky
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers made a switch at punter on Wednesday, signing veteran Thomas Morstead and cutting Mitch Wishnowsky after six seasons in the role. The switch at punter is one of several made this offseason by the 49ers to overhaul a special teams unit that struggled last season, leading to the firing of coordinator Brian Schneider. Brant Boyer was hired after spending the previous nine seasons in that role with the New York Jets and has now brought in a punter and a kicker he worked with in the past. San Francisco signed kicker Greg Joseph earlier this month to compete with Jake Moody. The 39-year-old Morstead spent the past two seasons playing for Boyer with Jets after spending most of his career with the New Orleans Saints. He averaged 47.2 yards per punt last season with a 40.7 yard net average. He has averaged 46.8 yards per punt with a 41.5 yard net average in 255 games. He was a second-team All-Pro and made the Pro Bowl in 2012 for New Orleans. Wishnowsky was a fourth-round pick by San Francisco in 2019 and was one of the better punters in the league at pinning opponents deep before a back injury sidelined him for the final eight games last season. He ranked third out of 38 punters with at least 150 attempts since 2019 with 45.2% of his punts getting downed inside the 20. He averaged 45.6 yards per punt with a 40.7 yard net average in 92 games. He averaged 45.2 yards per punt last season with his 36.3-yard net average ranking last among 34 punters with at least 20 attempts. Surratt was drafted in the third round in 2021 by Minnesota and spent the past three seasons with the Jets where he played for both Boyer and current Niners defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. Surratt had 18 tackles on defense and 10 more on special teams last season. ___
