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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 21, 2024 at 9:35am

Worldwide, people were exposed to an average of 86 days of life-threatening temperatures in 2022, according to The Lancet Countdown report last year.

The number of people over 65 who died from heat rose by 85 percent between the periods 1991-2000 and 2013-2022, the leading medical journal added.

Climate change caused by humans burning fossil fuels is increasing heat waves and other extreme weather events.
On the current trajectory, the world is on track to warm about 2.7C above the pre-industrial average by the end of this century, according to Climate Action Tracker.

The Lancet Countdown projected that under a 2C warming scenario, about five times as many people will die from the heat each year by 2050.

Source: AFP and other news agencies
Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 21, 2024 at 9:34am

How extreme heat kills

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has calculated that heat kills at least half a million people every year but warns that the real figure could be up to 30 times higher.

How does extreme heat damage the body and how physical activity outdoors raises the risk?

In normal conditions, the body regulates its own temperature like a thermostat, holding it steady at about 36.8C (98.2F).

When outside heat rises, the body cools itself by raising blood-flow to vessels near the skin.

This emits heat at the surface, while perspiration also cools the outside of the body.

To ensure the correct functioning of the cells, enzymes and vital organs, the body's temperature must stay constant, whatever the external conditions.

During an outside activity such as workers working in fields, where people spend hours outdoors in the sun, "the body can quickly become exhausted and can no longer find the reserves of water needed to perspire". Then the kidneys, heart and brain risk overheating and "stop working".

When the body's natural thermostat is overwhelmed in this way, symptoms strike: fatigue, headaches, fever and broken sleep.

These can herald more serious effects, such as dehydration, which chokes off water to the vital organs.

The biggest risk is heatstroke, when the body's temperature exceeds 40C (104F) as the body has its limits. When the weather is too hot or when extreme heat is combined with physical activity, for example, the body can find itself unable to self-regulate.

Babies, the elderly, people with health problems and outdoor workers are most at risk.

The number of sweat glands in the body decreases with age, leaving the body less able to cool itself.

Several factors determine our reaction to heat: age, body mass, physical activity, genes. But when the heat is too strong, even young, healthy bodies can lack the energy to keep the temperature close to 37C.

The WHO warns that hot nights pose a particular health risk.

Nighttime heat gives the body no chance to cool down, leading to a rise in heart attacks.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 21, 2024 at 9:07am

Defunct satellites burning up in the atmosphere could damage the ozone layer

Communications companies such as Starlink plan to launch tens of thousands of satellites into orbit around Earth over the next decade or so. The growing swarm is already causing problems for astronomers, but recent research has raised another question: What happens when they start to come down?

When these satellites reach the end of their useful life, they will fall into Earth's atmosphere and burn up. Along the way, they will leave a trail of tiny metallic particles.

According to a study published last week by a team of American researchers, this satellite rain may dump 360 tons of tiny aluminum oxide particles into the atmosphere each year. The aluminum will mostly be injected at altitudes between 50 and 85 kilometers, but it will then drift down to the stratosphere—home to Earth's protective ozone layer.

What does that mean? According to the study, the satellite's contrail could facilitate ozone-destroying chemical reactions.

This could destroy the ozone layer that protects life on Earth.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024GL109280

https://www.space.com/air-pollution-reentering-space-junk-detected

https://theconversation.com/defunct-satellites-burning-up-in-the-at...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 21, 2024 at 9:05am

Four in five people want more climate action: UN survey

Four in every five people want their country to strengthen its commitments to addressing climate change, according to a global poll of 75,000 participants published this week.

The survey by the UN Development Program, Oxford University and GeoPoll posed 15 questions by randomized telephone calls to people in 77 countries representing 87 percent of the world's population.

The key finding was that 80 percent of respondents want their governments to increase efforts to fight against global warming.

Poorer countries beat this drum the loudest, with 89 percent in favor, though appetite is also high in the wealthy G20 nations (76 percent), according to the survey.

China (73 percent) and the United States (66 percent)—the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters—also saw a majority of respondents in favor of climate action.

As world leaders decide on the next round of pledges under the Paris Agreement by 2025, these results are undeniable evidence that people everywhere support bold climate action.

A majority of respondents in 62 of the 77 countries surveyed said they supported a quick transition away from fossil fuels to clean energy.

Worries about global warming have also increased, the survey found, with 56 percent saying they think about climate change at least once a week.

Over half (53 percent) of those surveyed said they were more worried about climate change than last year, compared with 15 percent who said they were less worried.

More than two-thirds of survey respondents (69 percent) said that global warming had impacted their life decisions, such as where to live or work and what to buy.

Source: AFP and other news agencies.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 21, 2024 at 8:33am

Turning infrared light visible: New device uses 2D material to up-convert infrared light

The human eye can only see light at certain frequencies (called the visible spectrum), the lowest of which constitutes red light. Infrared light, which we can't see, has an even lower frequency than red light. Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have now fabricated a device to increase or "up-convert" the frequency of short infrared light to the visible range.

Up-conversion of light has diverse applications, especially in defense and optical communications. In a first, the IISc team used a 2D material to design what they call a non-linear optical mirror stack to achieve this up-conversion, combined with widefield imaging capability. The stack consists of multilayered gallium selenide fixed to the top of a gold reflective surface, with a silicon dioxide layer sandwiched in between.
Traditional infrared imaging uses exotic low-energy bandgap semiconductors or micro-bolometer arrays, which usually pick up heat or absorption signatures from the object being studied.

Infrared imaging and sensing is useful in diverse areas, from astronomy to chemistry. For example, when infrared light is passed through a gas, sensing how the light changes can help scientists tease out specific properties of the gas. Such sensing is not always possible using visible light.
However, existing infrared sensors are bulky and not very efficient. They are also export-restricted because of their utility in defense. There is, therefore, a critical need to develop indigenous and efficient devices.

The method used by the IISc team involves feeding an input infrared signal along with a pump beam onto the mirror stack. The nonlinear optical properties of the material constituting the stack result in a mixing of the frequencies, leading to an output beam of increased (up-converted) frequency, but with the rest of the properties intact. Using this method, they were able to up-convert infrared light of wavelength around 1550 nm to 622 nm visible light. The output light wave can be detected using traditional silicon-based cameras.

 Jyothsna Konkada Manattayil et al, 2D Material Based Nonlinear Optical Mirror for Widefield Up‐Conversion Imaging from Near Infrared to Visible Wavelengths, Laser & Photonics Reviews (2024). DOI: 10.1002/lpor.202400374

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 21, 2024 at 8:29am

Researchers discover why people who lack a specific blood group are genetically predisposed to be overweight or obese

A team of international researchers has discovered that people with a genetic variant that disables the SMIM1 gene have higher body weight because they expend less energy when at rest.

SMIM1 was only identified 10 years ago, while researchers were searching for the gene encoding a specific blood group, known as Vel. One in 5,000 people lack both copies of the gene, making them Vel-negative. The findings from the new research suggest that this group is also more likely to be overweight, a conclusion that could one day lead to new treatments.

The study found that people without both copies of the gene have other measures linked to obesity, including high levels of fat in the blood, signs of fat tissue dysfunction, increased liver enzymes as well as lower levels of thyroid hormones.

SMIM1 absence is associated with reduced energy expenditure and excess weight', Med (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.medj.2024.05.015. www.cell.com/med/fulltext/S2666-6340(24)00219-8

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 21, 2024 at 8:23am

Improving crops with laser beams and 3D printing

A demonstration of how new technologies can be used in 21st century crop breeding comes from just published research that combines laser scanning and 3D printing to create a detailed 3D model of a sugar beet plant.

Taking the next step beyond having genetic information to guide intelligent breeding, the 3D plant models here capture the essential characteristics of the above-ground parts of the sugar beet plant and can be used for AI-assisted crop improvement pipelines. The sugar beet plant models are reproducible and fit for field use.

All the research information, data, methodology, as well as the 3D printing files are freely available. Crop management is gaining much needed tools, and, of course, everyone can now print their own 3D sugar beet plant (Minimum maintenance required.) The sugar beet plant 3D model and its validation are presented in a  new publication    in the journal GigaScience.

Jonas Bömer et al, A 3D printed plant model for accurate and reliable 3D plant phenotyping, GigaScience (2024). DOI: 10.1093/gigascience/giae035

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 20, 2024 at 11:12am

Personalized cancer vaccines are coming
The same mRNA technology that underpins COVID-19 vaccines could train the immune system to attack cancer cells. In a small trial, mRNA treatment in combination with an established immunotherapy nearly halved the risk of melanoma recurrence, compared with the immunotherapy on its own. We have the first proof of concept that these things can work, says cancer immunologists. Now, we just need to make them better. Key to this will be to predict which of the cancer cells’ mutant proteins — unique to each person and cancer type — the vaccine needs to target.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01717-x?utm_source=Live+...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 20, 2024 at 9:24am

She recommends that travelers be more considerate in their choices of holiday destinations and reflect on the impact of their activities on the environment.

"Tourism should be defined by the local community, with decision-making controlled at the lowest level and an emphasis on the interrelationships between people, place, ecology and all living things. We need to slow down—stay longer, stay local, be thoughtful with our holiday choices," she says. "There are so many resources out there like Rise Travel Institute or The Travel Foundation that shed light on sustainable, responsible and just tourism.
It's about respecting the destination, looking out for codes of responsibility, and making yourself aware of the culture and what challenges the communities you're visiting are facing. I encourage people to try being more conscious on their next trip—stay in one place longer, travel more slowly, go for nature walks, engage with the culture, try to leave the destination a better place than how you found it."
Tourism Research Australia forecasts that over the next five years, domestic travel will see only moderate growth, largely due to increased competition from international outbound travel, which is set to continue to climb.

The tourism industry contributes 8% of total global carbon emissions, yet the Tourism Panel on Climate Change—an international body of climate scientists and tourism experts—focuses on profit-first climate-resilient tourism, rather than addressing the contribution of the industry to environmental destruction.
Dr. Higgins-Desbiolles says it's up to everyone to make more environmentally conscious travel decisions.

"We must see all governments willing to legislate and regulate tourism better. For example, France has passed legislation banning short-haul flights—the transport method contributing the second most to emissions—when a train journey of less than 2.5 hours is available," she says.

"Meaningful change is needed at every level; governments, organizations and travelers need to put their focus towards sustainable and climate-just tourism."

Freya Higgins-Desbiolles, The end of tourism? Contemplations of collapse, Journal of Tourism Futures (2024). DOI: 10.1108/JTF-11-2023-0259

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 20, 2024 at 9:22am

Travelers urged to keep it local in the name of sustainable tourism

From rolling vineyards to stunning beaches, there's no shortage of beauty to discover in our own backyards.

A tourism expert from the University of South Australia is urging travelers to support local destinations and experiences close to home, instead of long-haul international trips, to lessen the impacts of tourism on the environment.

Adjunct Senior Lecturer in Tourism Management Dr. Freya Higgins-Desbiolles says we should be considering more localized travel and doing everything we can to reduce unnecessary emissions.

She says space travel, private jet travel and mass travel to far off and remote and extreme environments are "unethical" and contribute to a culture of privileged over-consumption.

"In these conditions, it is hard to justify tourism . We have to question our use of cruising or flights in our tourism consumption," she says.

We need to create a cultural shift that sees tourism consumption as a luxury to be savored and not something we can have every year or multiple times a year, like many have come to expect in the Global North. Shifting to an appreciation of local leisure and domestic travels and lower expectations of long-haul international travel is a must.

The Global North, i.e., the northern hemisphere, is responsible for 92% of global emissions.

Dr. Higgins-Desbiolles outlines how tourism is contributing to the depletion of natural resources, pollution, over-consumption and environmental destruction.

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