Espresso Knowledge #85 - Does recreational hunting help conversation and local economies? We don't know.

Scientists analyzed over a thousand studies on recreational hunting and its impact on conservation and people's livelihoods.

Papers often highlighted revenues that hunting generates, but not how the money benefits conservation and local communities. Researchers encourage future studies to fill these gaps, and thus develop more effective ways to help conservation and local economies.

Many papers showed how some hunting is sustainable, and some of it isn't.

Some papers showed that stopping hunting in South Africa and Namibia, for example, would harm conservation initiatives and local livelihoods as millions of dollars in hunting revenue would be lost.

But in Cameroon, for example, hunting did not provide enough revenue to support local communities.

Research also showed that managing habitats of one species helped others. For example, hunting white rhinos in South Africa generated enough revenue to incentivize landowners to conserve and restore rhinos and other wildlife as well as conserve the ecosystem. 

Original article:

Recreational hunting, conservation and livelihoods: no clear evidence trail

Original study:

Consequences of recreational hunting for biodiversity conservation and livelihoods

Espresso Knowledge #84 - Compostable coffee pod makes for environmentally friendly tasty brew

Chemist Zac Hudson has created a fully compostable coffee pod that breaks down in 35 days.

Every year, billions of single-use coffee pods end up in landfill. Plastic ones remain stable for centuries.

Most compostable pods hold few coffee grounds, and expose them to air, making for weak, stale brews. These pods feel like traditional plastic of regular pods. Customers can't differentiate and have been slow to adopt compostable pods.

NEXE coffee pod's outer jacket is made of bamboo. The pod looks and feels natural. The inner capsule is made of bioplastic. It holds lots of coffee grounds, and keeps out moisture, making fresh coffee. Bioplastics are made from wood or plants. Traditional plastics are made from fossil fuels. The NEXE bioplastic , developed by Hudson, breaks into carbon dioxide, water and organic material – leaving no plastic behind.

Currently compatible with Keurig K-Cup systems, NEXE will produce Nespresso-compatible pods shortly.

Original article:

UBC chemist helps create new compostable coffee pod

Espresso Knowledge #83 - Environmental friendly burials gaining ground amongst eco-conscious Americans

Green burials are increasingly available in America but some eco-conscious elders are unaware of this when planning for their deaths.

Researchers surveyed 20 environmentalists in an American city. They were over 60 years old, and identified as environmentalists. Despite green burials being available in the city for nearly a decade, most hadn't heard of it, and planned on cremation, viewing it as the eco-friendliest option. Green burials have bodies buried in a biodegradable containers or shrouds.

Supporters argue its more environmentally friendly and in line with how burials were done before the beginning of the funeral home industry. Preference for green burial is small but growing. People are realizing that burial choices can positively impact ecosystems.

Choices include burial pods that grow into trees, and human composting - a multi-week process that turns the body into soil.  Conservation green burial cemeteries double as protected nature preserves.

Original study:

‘Green’ burials are slowly gaining ground among environmentalists

Original paper:

The evolution of critical thermal limits of life on EarthUp in smoke or down with worms? older adult environmentalist’s discourse on disposal, dispersal, and (green) burial

Espresso Knowledge #82 - Some species are not adapting to rapid global warming fast enough

Many species will be unable to adapt to rapid global warming. 

Researchers compiled and analyzed the largest available database of heat tolerances for all types of organisms. They also studied how heat tolerance has evolved over time.

The study found that cold tolerance has evolved much faster that heat tolerance, particularly in mammals and birds, compared to reptiles, fishes plants.

Mammals and birds regulate their body temperature internally. Reptiles, fishes and plants use external heat sources to do so. Researchers think that heat tolerance has reached an evolutionary barrier. It is as if for some species, their ability to adapt to more heat has somehow stopped or drastically slowed down.

It means most species will be unable to adapt fast enough to unprecedented rates of global warming.

The study will help conservation managers create and protect areas that are refuges for biodiversity, protecting them from extreme high temperatures.

Original study:

Will climate change outpace species adaptation?

Original paper:

The evolution of critical thermal limits of life on Earth

Espresso Knowledge #80 - Livestock guarding dogs protect flocks from wildlife, but at a cost

Genetic diversity of a species may not necessarily be a key indicator of extinction.

Livestock guarding dogs might not be so friendly to wildlife.

Dogs provide an alternative way to control predators without farmers relying on lethal methods like shooting or poisoning wildlife animals.

Researchers found that on average 34% of dogs chased wildlife animals and 10% killed them. Most harassed species weren't likely threats.  A majority were small mammals like badgers and large herbivores like impala. Dogs also chased or killed species at risk of extinction including cheetahs and leopards.  The study suggests finding balance between protecting livestock and protecting wildlife. In fact,  while dogs threaten wild birds in some places,  the same dog breeds have effectively penguins from red foxes in Australia. By keeping wild animals away from livestock, dogs limit disease transmission between them and grazing competition.

Vaccinate dogs to limit them transmitting diseases. Give them high quality food and training to reduce their chances of  preying on wildlife.

Original study:

DON’T FOCUS ON GENETIC DIVERSITY TO SAVE OUR SPECIES

Original paper:

The inflated significance of neutral genetic diversity in conservation genetics

Espresso Knowledge #81 - To conserve wildlife, stop focusing on genetic diversity & pay attention to habitat destruction

Genetic diversity of a species may not necessarily be a key indicator of extinction.

New research suggests focusing on habitat protection, not genetic diversity. Human activity threatens around one million species with extinction, some within decades.

How do we assess extinction risk?

Conservation geneticists believe that species genetically different from one another will have enough genetic diversity to survive adverse conditions. Species with little genetic diversity are fragile and will likely become extinct.

Researchers show that the relationship between genetic diversity and survival is often wrong. Most genetic diversity within a genome does not affect an individual’s ability to survive or reproduce. Stop fixating on genetic diversity and instead, focus on the bigger problem - habitat destruction.

Since 2000, we have lost around eight United Kingdoms in terms of wildlife habitat area. No habitat means no wildlife. No wildlife means no ecosystem services means us risking our own survival on Earth. 

Original study:

DON’T FOCUS ON GENETIC DIVERSITY TO SAVE OUR SPECIES

Original paper:

The inflated significance of neutral genetic diversity in conservation genetics

Espresso Knowledge #79 - Radio empowers Mali's women, but must include their personal and social relations

Access to information is important for Malian women's empowerment, and radio remains the key information source in the country, widely trusted.

But a new study shows radio programmes on women's empowerment should reflect their lives in relation to their families and communities, not independent of it. Researchers studied women-related radio programmes from 2018 to 2020, and spoke to listeners.

The study recommends not isolating women from their surrounding socio-cultural traditions. Listeners indicated that independence does not necessarily mean being on your own.  For example, younger women do find it empowering to make their own decisions but none want a future without a husband.

In fact, empowerment meant making decisions about their families and supporting communities. But we need balance. Programmes did portray women as in-laws, wives, mothers - but often in secondary positions, upholding social norms.  Also, programs must capture diverse perspectives of Malian women - more diversity means stronger empowerment. 

Original study:

Radio in Mali can empower women by remembering they are part of a social web

Original paper:

Radio as an empowering environment: how does radio broadcasting in Mali represent women’s “web of relations”?

Espresso Knowledge #78 - Misinformation produced on industrial-scale threatens democracies globally

Governments, public relations firms and political parties are producing misinformation on an industrial scale, and social media manipulation levels have soared. Out of 81 countries surveyed in a recent study, 93% deployed disinformation as part of political communication.

Organized social media manipulation campaigns were found in each of the countries surveyed. Governments and political parties spend millions working with private sector communications firms, youth groups and civil society organizations to spread propaganda, shape public attitudes, and suppress political participation. The toolkit consists of, for example, media manipulation, smear campaigns, online harassment, and troll attacks.

The study shows how social media manipulation of public opinion is threatening democracies globally. It highlights the need for the public to rely on trustworthy information about government policies and activities.

Social media companies must increase their efforts to flag misinformation and close fake accounts without requiring government intervention.

Original study:

Social media manipulation by political actors an industrial scale problem - Oxford report

Original paper:

Industrialized Disinformation: 2020 Global Inventory of Organized Social Media Manipulation

Espresso Knowledge #77 - Climate change makes for risky business

Businesses need to work more closely with climate scientists.  Otherwise, as new research shows, climate information can be misunderstood and used inappropriately, exposing businesses to significant risk.

New regulations require businesses to assess and disclose their vulnerability to climate change effects like drought and rising sea levels.

When assessing financial risk, businesses reference climate models, which are publicly available but difficult to understand. The methodology of these models is often unclear or proprietary.  Assessments are often done by non-experts who can draw wrong conclusions, giving businesses a false sense of security. 

Climate scientists can help businesses better understand these complex models - how they are set up, how changes in greenhouse gases are represented, and the time period being considered.

Scientists can help businesses see the tangible and practical value of climate models from a financial perspective and potentially decrease business risk and vulnerability. 

Original article:

Potential for misuse of climate data a threat to business and financial markets

Original study:

Business risk and the emergence of climate analytics

Espresso Knowledge #76 - Calgary Stampede horses looked after thanks to pioneering research

For the first time, a study has evaluated the welfare of bucking horses at rodeos.

Researchers observed how horses behaved at the Calgary Stampede Rodeo over three years. Horses with more exposure to rodeos were less averse compared to those less experienced.

But are the more experienced horses less averse because they have gotten used to the environment or have simply resigned to it? We don't know.

The study recommends ways to make horses more comfortable - for example, avoiding and modifying tight spaces with lots of people, to make them feel more secure. Researchers also noticed that horses felt uneasy when seeing spectators above their loading area. Acting on study recommendations, Stampede organizers added a tented structure to cover the area.

The work helps improve conditions of rodeos across Canada, and is building the next generation of veterinarians and animal handlers.

Original article:

UCalgary researchers publish first study on welfare of bucking horses at Calgary Stampede

Original study:

Effect of animal’s experience and rodeo procedures on behaviour of bucking horses at a large commercial rodeo in Canada

Espresso Knowledge #75 - Airplanes fight climate change by wind surfing

Transatlantic flights will soon be able to change their routes to take advantage of favourable jet stream winds, and save fuel.

The decision by UK's National Air Traffic Services is based on research showing that aircraft save up to 16 percent of fuel, reduce emissions and journey times if they use jet stream winds.

Researchers showed, for example, that the average allocated pathway as assigned by Air Traffic Service between New York and London is around 200 kilometres longer than the most efficient route based on jet streams. Using these winds reduces emissions by almost seven million kilograms over three months.

Route flexibility will help in large and immediate emissions cuts, helping aviation become more environment friendly.

The Air Traffic service is taking advantage of low air traffic due to COVID19 to try these new flight paths.

The hope is to make these changes permanent and help fight climate change.

Original article:

Transatlantic aircraft win freedom to surf winds following Reading study

Original study:

Reducing transatlantic flight emissions by fuel-optimised routing

Espresso Knowledge #74 - Different environments raise different species by changing brain circuits

How animals take in and react to information can often develop new species.

Researchers studies two closely related lineages of butterflies in Central and South American tropical forests. One species lives in deep forests, where lights are low.  Another lives around forest edges, where light is abundant. Both butterfly lineages had different brain morphologies. Deep-forest butterflies invested more in the visual processing region of the brain.

The butterflies aren’t separated by huge distances and are closely related to each other. But their brains have adapted to their distinct environments. It is this process that is allowing the butterflies become different species. Also, brain genetics differ in the butterfly lineages - especially the visual processing areas - indicating just how fast these differences are evolving.

The study urges us to protect tropical forests - there are diverse environments within them, each supporting multiple species in small areas. Protect environmental diversity to protect species diversity.

Original article:

All in the head? Brains adapt to support new species

Original study:

Neural divergence and hybrid disruption between ecologically isolated Heliconius butterflies

Espresso Knowledge #73 - Museum's frozen bat tissue collection key to future coronavirus pandemic vaccine

Researchers are studying frozen bat tissue samples stored at Canada's Royal Ontario Museum to potentially stop the next coronavirus pandemic.

By identifying each type of coronavirus found in bats, researchers will develop vaccines that could be ready for the next pandemic. The past two decades have seen three coronavirus epidemics in humans: SARS in 2003, MERS in 2012, and now COVID19. All the viruses appear to be related to viruses found in bats. Given that humans are increasingly encroaching on wildlife habitats, there are more opportunities for animal-to-human virus transmission.

The study is prepare for such eventualities by developing vaccines for diverse coronaviruses present in nature, particularly focusing on those found in bats. The Royal Ontario Museum has thousands of frozen bat tissue collections from 30 countries.

Researchers will study the genetic code of these frozen tissue samples to identify potential coronaviruses, isolate their genes, and create vaccines.

Original article:

Bats may hold the key to vaccines for future pandemics

Espresso Knowledge #72 - Wind transports phosphorous onto ice sheets, and helps melt them faster

Researchers discovered that phosphorus containing minerals may be driving the rapid growth of algae or algal blooms on the Greenland ice sheet.

The sheet's western margin has developed massive areas of algal blooms known as the Dark Zone. As algal blooms grow they darken the ice surface, decreasing the ability to reflect sunlight, causing more melting ice and faster rising sea levels.

Phosphorus is a key nutrient for algae. Researchers found that a phosphorous containing mineral is being blown onto the sheet from local rock outcrops, fuelling the Zone's algal bloom. As land dries even more under climate change, researchers expect more dust being transported and deposited on the Sheet, further fuelling algal blooms.

Over the last quarter century, the Sheet has increased its surface melting and water runoff by about 40 %.

The study will help better predict where future algal blooms occur and help better understand their role in ice sheets melting.

Original article:

Blowin' in the wind: the mineral dust linked to ice melt

Original study:

Mineral phosphorus drives glacier algal blooms on the Greenland Ice Sheet

Espresso Knowledge #71 - Our pandemic-related shift to digital activities harms the environment

Researchers estimate that internet usage increased by up to 40% globally when countries issued stay-at-home orders from January to March 2020 as COVID19 spread.

The increase triggered a massive demand for electricity to support data transmission and running hardware, water to cool these systems, and land to house them.

We may have reduced travel related carbon emissions, for example, but our shift to digital has not necessarily been clean. If the current situation continues though 2021, we will need a forest twice as big as Portugal to offset the millions of tons of emitted greenhouse gases.

Big Tech must reduce their environmental footprint, be transparent about their environmental impact and find ways to curb them.

We must also be responsible consumers. For example, if 70 million users lowered their streaming video quality, it could reduce monthly greenhouse gas emissions equivalent of eliminating 6% of monthly coal consumption in America.

Original article:

Surge in digital activity has hidden environmental costs

Original study:

The overlooked environmental footprint of increasing Internet use

Espresso Knowledge #70 - Cambridge skeletons tell tales of rough lives and social inequality

Bones of Cambridge city's medieval residents tell stories of rough lives and social inequality.

Researchers studied hundreds of skeletons from different burial sites -  a graveyard for working people, a hospital for the infirm and destitute, and a friary with wealthy donors and clergy. 

The 10th to 14th century old remains show signs of skeletal trauma. This measures hardship levels endured in life. X-rays tell us that males had more fractures than females across all social classes.  Working people had more fractures, compared to those in the hospital and friary. The former spent long working days doing heavy labour. But medieval life was tough. For example, researchers found violence-related skeletal injuries across both sexes and all social classes.

The work shows how different classes of medieval Cambridge experienced dangers of daily life. The university was just beginning around 1209, and Cambridge was home to artisans, merchants and farmhands.

Original article:

Inequality in medieval Cambridge was ‘recorded on the bones’ of its residents

Original study:

Medieval injuries: Skeletal trauma as an indicator of past living conditions and hazard risk in Cambridge, England

Espresso Knowledge #69 - Resilience of rural communities fights back COVID19

Since March 2020, Newfoundland's Bonne Bay Cottage Hospital Heritage Corporation has run a meals-on-wheels program for seniors and residents who are self-isolating.

The program helps Norris Point, where residents often drive over 100 kilometres for groceries, and the elderly are vulnerable to food insecurity.

Pre-pandemic, the old Cottage Hospital ran a community kitchen program with free cooking classes. As COVID19 worsened, funding for cooking classes was repurposed for meals-on-wheels.

Scholars highlight how the organization's response to COVID19 holds valuable lessons for Canada's rural and remote regions. Its ability to provide free, high-quality meals rests on strong volunteer and business networks from before, and a management that adapted quickly to COVID19. The old hospital provides a physical space for local activities and is meaningful to the residents, who actively reinvest in their own community.

Resilience is built on the social and physical skills of rural communities.

Original article:

Local meals-on-wheels program helps rural seniors cope with COVID-19 isolation

Espresso Knowledge #68 - Timing matters when debunking false news - correct after reading

Researchers found that fact-checks work better after people read false headlines, compared to when fact-checks precede the headline or accompany it.

Participants rated news headlines for accuracy. Some were true, some had been debunked.

One group saw true and false labels before, during, and after reading headlines. Another group didn't. A week later, without true false labels, participants rated the same headlines again.

Debunking a claim after they were exposed to it proved the most effective. It may be due to our ability to retain both false information and corrections simultaneously. We might not be able to ignore false headlines, but are willing to update our beliefs about them. Results might have been different if participants had not rated headline accuracy when reading them — for example, if they were simply scrolling news feeds.

The work will help social media platforms and content providers label and limit the flow of misinformation.

Original article:

To combat false news, correct after reading

Original study:

Timing matters when correcting fake news

Espresso Knowledge #67 - Artificial Intelligence needs the human touch in an increasingly digital & AI-heavy world

The Maia Chess engine uses open-source artificial intelligence software to accurately predict how humans of different skill levels play chess and points out mistakes a player should work on to improve their game.

The researchers who developed Maia hope that their work is a step towards creating better human-AI interactions in an increasingly digital and AI-heavy world.

Researchers converted how humans play and the mistakes they make into computer code to design Maia. The program played 12 million human games of varying levels.

Instead of trying to win each time, Maia tries to match human plays, accurately mimicking and predicting human moves and mistakes, helping players improve their game.

The work shows just how important the human element is when designing AI systems - they are easier to work with and learn from when built with human interaction, collaboration and improvement in mind.

Original article:

To err is not just human: U of T researchers develop AI that plays chess like a person

Original study:

Aligning Superhuman AI with Human Behavior: Chess as a Model System

Espresso Knowledge #66 - Foraging humans, birds & mammals living in same area have similar behaviours

Foraging human populations, birds, and mammals, all living in the same area, behave similarly.

Researchers analyzed data from over 300 locations globally, observing behaviours of foraging humans together with other mammal and birds living in the same place. For almost all behaviours, including foraging, reproduction, and social, humans were more likely to behave similarly to most birds and mammals living in the same place than those elsewhere.

For example, environments where humans get a large portion of their calories from hunting have more carnivorous mammals and birds than elsewhere. At locations where humans have children later, local mammals and birds are similarly, on average, older when they first reproduced than mammals and birds living in places where humans reproduce early.

Knowing environmental conditions of a place helped predict what behaviours to expect there. But we still don't know which environmental factors are important for which behaviours or how they are linked.

Original article:

The environment shapes behaviour

Original study:

Local convergence of behavior across species