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Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Conservancy event blends nature, history and science in Union County
LEWISBURG — The Dale-Engle-Walker Property on Saturday was the place to learn about biodiversity, fossils and history. The Merrill W. Linn Land & Waterways Conservancy hosted the Living Landscape Program on the 137-acre property located at 1471 Strawbridge Road, Lewisburg. This event was in coordination with the Bucknell University Humanities Center and the Union County Historical Society. "We're all around nature, but we don't necessarily know exactly what we're looking at," Thom Rippon, of White Springs, said. "It's important to understand that, especially in the farming part of Union County. We're learning today about both the geology and biology of our wonderful land." Rippon, a member of the Conservancy, said he often participates in events like this. "It's all about preserving nature, understanding nature and conserving nature," Rippon said. Rippon and 25 people walked around the property to learn more about the geology, plants and wildlife and history of the land. Guest lecturers from Bucknell University were Dr. Beth Capaldi, Professor of Biology; Claire Campbell, Professor of History, History Department Chair, Affiliated Faculty in Environmental Studies & Sciences; and Dr. Jeff Trop, Professor of Geology. More than 410 million years ago during the Silurian Period, the Dale-Engle-Walker Property was a tropical marine setting with a reef. The nearby limestone quarry is made up of organic debris from this time period, according to Trop. Trop displayed limestone rocks with fossils in them as well as pointed out places in the 1793 house where fossils can also be located. He also explained that a few drops of acid on the limestone rocks can cause it to bubble and produce a sound and smell from the reaction. Letti Graboski, 11, of Danville, said she loves coming to the programs because of the nature walks. "The nature walks are calming," she said. Irmgard Seidl-Adams, of Lewisburg, said she is a frequent visitor to the property. The Dale-Engle-Walker is a "real gem" in Union County, she said. "The geology introduction was really nice, because I had no idea about the geology of this place," she said. "I've walked it many times. I love the plants on the ridge, but I had no idea. I'm happy with what we got." Capaldi said many large trees were part of Pennsylvania until it was forested. Those trees held a lot of communities: insects eating the foilage as well as birds eating them. "When forests are fragmented, it influences biodiversity by reducing it," Capaldi said. "It also changes ecosystem services. The ways that organisms can move naturally through normal, ecological processes of predation and competition are affected." Capaldi said the property has many unique plant communities on the limestone rocks that only grow in habitats like these. "When you go for a walk here, you're walking your dog or you're going to walk birds, there's a lot other things that are happening right behind the scenes, and that's one of the reasons why it's so valuable to us," Capaldi said. Campbell said early settlers in early 18th and 19th century believed that nature needed to be improved by humans. They believed it was "wasted" until humans applied effort, intellect, capital, technology and labor to improve the land from its wild state. She described it as a "sense of colonial entitlement, a sense of possibility of expansiveness and acquisition." Samuel Dale meant for the house to be impressive and a statement of ownership and possession. The Conservancy will host a second part to the Living Landscape Program in the fall. The date is to be determined.
New York Times
5 days ago
- Health
- New York Times
A Fungus Devastated North American Bats. A New Species Could Deliver a Killer Blow.
In the winter of 2006, biologists in New York State got a gruesome surprise. As they surveyed colonies of hibernating bats, they discovered heaps of dead animals on the floors of caves and abandoned mines. The culprit was a fungus new to science. It caused white-nose disease, named for the fuzzy pale tendrils that sprouted from the nostrils of its victims. (The disease was originally known as white-nose syndrome, but was renamed in recent years.) The fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, or P. destructans, has spread from New York to 40 states and nine Canadian provinces. 'This is the most dramatic wildlife mortality event that's ever been documented from a pathogen,' said DeeAnn Reeder, a disease ecologist at Bucknell University. 'Millions and millions and millions of animals have died.' In recent years, bat experts have gained some guarded optimism. They have found ways to protect bats from white-nose disease and to help infected animals survive. But a new study published on Wednesday raised the possibility that North American bats could get slammed by a second wave of white-nose disease. An extensive genetic survey has found that Pseudogymnoascus destructans is actually two species native to Europe and Asia. Only one has reached North America. If the second one is introduced to the continent, it could start another devastating epidemic. 'It's like a reboot,' said Dr. Reeder, who was not involved in the study. 'I think it's terrifying, honestly.' The leader of the new study, Sébastien Puechmaille of the University of Montpellier, was still a graduate student studying bat conservation 17 years ago when his American colleagues at scientific conferences told him about a new plague. 'We'd be talking, and then they said, 'Yeah, we have these bats that are dying with something growing on them, possibly a fungus,'' Dr. Puechmaille recalled. Dr. Puechmaille and his European colleagues knew that European bats sometimes grew fuzzy white patches on their noses, too. But their infections weren't lethal, so researchers paid little attention to them. 'And then, very quickly, we found out that it was similar to what was found in North America,' Dr. Puechmaille said. That discovery led Dr. Puechmaille to dedicate his career to understanding the new fungus. He helped chart its range across Europe and as far east as South Korea. Yet nowhere in Europe or Asia did P. destructans cause mass die-offs like it did in North America. Dr. Puechmaille and his colleagues worked out the reason for this sharp contrast. The fungus originally evolved in Europe and Asia, where it developed a peaceful coexistence with bats over millions of years. The fungus only grows at the cool temperatures in a bat's hibernating body. It causes no lasting harm to the animals, which warm up in the spring and shed the fungus. When the bats leave their caves, they leave behind fungal spores that can infect new hosts the next winter. 'When the bat comes back in autumn, if it touches the wall with its wings or ears or anything else, then some spores get onto it, and the cycle starts again,' Dr. Puechmaille said. When P. destructans suddenly appeared in North America in the early 2000s, the bats there were ill-equipped to handle the new disease. As their immune systems struggled against the fungus, they woke up often during the winter and burned up their fat reserves. By the spring, many infected bats had starved to death. To reconstruct the deep history of P. destructans, Dr. Puechmaille enlisted a network of hundreds of volunteers to amass a collection of fungal samples. He and his colleagues then sequenced the DNA of more than 5,400 samples for clues into how the fungus evolved, and how it managed to reach North America. All the samples of P. destructans that scientists have studied in North America are nearly identical clones. They all must have descended from a single spore introduced to the continent, presumably not long before the discovery of the disease in 2006 in New York. Until now, scientists had little idea where exactly the North American fungus came from across the range of P. destructans, which stretches more than 5,000 miles. 'We had nothing to pin it down,' Dr. Puechmaille said. In their new study, Dr. Puechmaille and his colleagues discovered that the North American fungi closely match samples collected from bats hibernating in caves in the Podillia region of Ukraine. The analysis zeroed in on an 18-square-mile area as the most likely origin of the spore that started the North American epidemic. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, American spelunkers made contact with their Ukrainian counterparts and started exploring Podillia's maze of caves. Dr. Puechmaille speculated that spore-riddled mud could have stuck to a caver's gear and survived a trip back to the United States. That caver may have then unwittingly transported the spore to a New York cave on a boot or a rope, setting off a new epidemic. 'We do not want to blame people,' Dr. Puechmaille said. 'The only thing we wanted to do was to find evidence that there was definitely a movement between these regions.' The study not only clarifies the origin of the white-nose epidemic in North America but also raises serious concerns about a future outbreak. Dr. Puechmaille discovered that the fungal samples belonged to two genetically distinct groups. That means P. destructans is not one species, as originally thought, but two, called Pd-1 and Pd-2 for the time being. The two species split from a common ancestor roughly a million years ago. The range of Pd-1 extends throughout Europe as far east as the Ural Mountains in Russia. Pd-2 is less common in Europe, but also extends into Asia. The two species of fungi seem to specialize on certain species of bats, although Dr. Puechmaille's team has discovered some individual bats in Europe infected with both Pd-1 and Pd-2. The North American epidemic was caused solely by Pd-1. If Pd-2 reaches North America, Dr. Puechmaille warns, it could cause trouble as well. Bat species hit hard by Pd-1 might get pushed to extinction, and species that managed to resist Pd-1 could succumb to Pd-2. 'It's really important for conservation that we should set up some policies to prevent this second fungal pathogen from being transported to other continents, including North America,' Dr. Puechmaille said. People should not move cave equipment between countries, he said, and they should disinfect it between expeditions. 'A single spore is enough,' he warned.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Drone services offered by new Valley business
LEWISBURG — Lewisburg resident Jason Wolfe has found a way to merge his interests in information science and drone technology into a business that can serve farmers and anyone with garden or hard-to-reach forestry needs. Wolfe launched Pleasant View Drone Services LLC in November 2024 and has been working with Bucknell's Small Business Development Center to better market his services to a broader customer base. 'Jason just recently connected with the center through a partner referral,' said center business consultant Amber Amato de Guerrero, 'and while we're early in the process, we see a lot of potential in what he's building. Our student team helped him explore industry benchmarks and brainstorm target niches, and we're now starting to work together on a marketing plan.' Wolfe has spent most of his life in the Valley, he said. 'In fact, my grandfather once had a dairy farm in Montandon.' He attended Penn State University, where he initially attended their Ag. School. His degree, however, was in information science technology. 'The way I've seen agriculture going was with a lot of technology, whether it was autonomous tractors or precision planting. That is the direction farming is heading as it becomes more efficient, relying on available technology.' That's how he had the dream of having a drone business. 'I had played around with drones before, as have many people with toy drones,' Wolfe said. 'But I was at a Penn State demonstration one day where they had a drone spraying crops. I thought that with progressive improvements to drone technology, this would be good for Pennsylvania in the northeast for use to take care of our crops.' Wolfe knew there were already aerial applications using helicopters and airplanes, 'but if you look at the general geographics of our fields, you have a powerline at one end or a tree line at the other or both. So, for a helicopter to start spraying smaller fields, they have to be 'top gun' pilots.' Wolfe has watched helicopters spraying and said, 'it's pretty interesting how close those guys come to tree lines and it is dangerous.' Thus, the idea for having a drone spraying business. 'I think it is a great technology,' Wolfe said. 'It's fast, efficient, precise. I can get into small fields and get above the trees.' Early on he began spraying for the spongy moth, better known as gypsy moths. There were homeowners looking to take care of their oak trees or trees on their properties. 'That is how I got started in the business, flying above trees, which is nerve-wracking for me because you can't see the drone at all times,' he said. Wolfe is the owner-operator-pilot, in command of one drone, for the time being, he said. 'It's hard to get some farmers right now to weigh in on this new technology,' Wolfe noted. 'But there are some progressive farmers out there who have purchased their own drones. But I specifically focus on drone applications.' Pleasant View Drones Services now provides spraying trees for caterpillars and gypsy moths and mosquitos. On the residential side, Wolfe said he can do lawn applications. 'I can put anything in my drone,' he said. 'Even grass seed and apply it across a wide area.' On the spray side, he said he can also treat plants. For more information, call 570-713-0224. Or check out the business on Facebook. A website is in the works, Wolfe said said.
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
State runner-up wrestler commits to major college program
GROVE CITY, Pa. (WKBN) – Grove City junior wrestler Hudson Hohman has committed to Bucknell University wrestling to further his academic and athletic careers after graduation. Hohman announced the commitment on social media on Saturday, April 19. The Grove City standout medaled in the 2025 PIAA Individual Wrestling Championships for Second Place in the 145 lbs weight class in March. Hohman is a three-time PIAA State Medalist throughout his high school career. He also earned placements as a Fargo All-American and Powerade All-American. This past season posted a record of 47-3 and owns a career record of 121-23. Bucknell is a Division I program that competes in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA). The Bison had five individual wrestlers qualify for the 2025 NCAA Championships. Bucknell as a team finished 5-12 on the season and fifth at the EIWA Championships. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
South China Morning Post
12-04-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Will Trump's tariffs lead to an emboldened Beijing in the Taiwan Strait?
The record American tariffs imposed on Beijing could serve as a stress test for its ability to withstand Western economic pressure in the event of a crisis in the Taiwan Strait such as armed conflict, analysts have said. Advertisement But they also cautioned that any final call in action relating to Taiwan remained a complicated political and military decision for Beijing, which regards the island as part of China, to be reunited by force if necessary. 'If the current tariff is sustained, and China is able to weather this difficult period, it will definitely boost Beijing's confidence in facing potential Western sanctions in a future cross-strait war,' said international relations professor Zhiqun Zhu, from Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. 'Regardless, Beijing has already taken US involvement and sanctions into account when preparing for the Taiwan scenario. The significance of any additional tariffs will be marginal,' he added. Washington has imposed tariffs of 145 per cent on Chinese imports so far, bringing the effective tariff rate to about 156 per cent – close to the punitive amount President Donald Trump previously threatened if Beijing were to attack Taiwan. Advertisement Like most countries, the United States does not regard self-governed Taiwan as an independent state. However, Washington is opposed to any unilateral change to the status quo and is committed to supplying arms for the island's defence.
