Skip to main content

Home/ Bobcat Research Institute 2025/ Group items tagged ecology

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
Sean Nash

What the Heck Is Seaweed Mining? | Hakai Magazine - 5 views

hakaimagazine.com/...hat-the-heck-is-seaweed-mining

remediation minerals rareearthelements seaweed mining geology ecology environment science Hakai kelp reclamation magazine HSR-2025 HSR environmental questions chemistry biology potential research idea botany

shared by Sean Nash on 29 Apr 24 - No Cached
  • “It’s pure chemistry,” Umanzor says. “Positive with negative, and then it just collects.”
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 03 May 24
       
      For those interested in chamistry topics, this looks really interesting.
Sean Nash

Add to the many afterlives of coffee grounds: Toxic cleanup - 0 views

www.anthropocenemagazine.org/...f-coffee-grounds-toxic-cleanup

coffee pollution toxins environment ecology toxicity bentazone pesticide HSR HSR-2025 potential research idea environmental botany science questions biology

shared by Sean Nash on 15 May 24 - No Cached
  • The experts selected onion plants to test out this idea, known for their high sensitivity to toxins in the environment. In beakers of water containing bentazone, they grew onion root tissue, called meristems, measuring its cell division and root growth as a sign of health. 
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 15 May 24
       
      One of the things I want VERY badly for our program... is a set of equipment for histology... where we can take things like onion root tips and lock samples in wax, slice them incredibly thin (microslices), and then be able to mount them onto slides for analysis.
Sean Nash

Study suggests 'biodegradable' teabags don't readily deteriorate in the environment and... - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...240528115039.htm

biodegradable teabags manufacturing ecology environment polylactic acid plastic cellulose soil potential research idea engineering biology chemistry environmental science HSR-2025 HSR

shared by Sean Nash on 01 Jun 24 - No Cached
  • The research looked at commonly available teabags made using three different compositions of polylactic acid (PLA), which is derived from sources such as corn starch or sugar cane.
  • The teabags were buried in soil for seven months, and a range of techniques were then used to assess whether -- and to what extent -- they had deteriorated.
  • The study also examined the impacts of the discs cut from the teabags on a species of earthworm, Eisenia fetida, which has a critical role in soil nutrient turnover as it consumes organic matter.
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • Researchers found that being exposed to three different concentrations of teabag discs -- equivalent to the mass of half, one and two teabags -- resulted in up to 15% greater mortality, while some concentrations of PLA had a detrimental effect on earthworm reproduction.
  • It used analytical techniques such as size exclusion chromatography, nuclear magnetic resonance, and scanning electron microscopy allowing scientists to examine not just how the teabags had changed visibly but also structurally.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 01 Jun 24
       
      This sort of work could be done by visual analysis alone with a rubric of sorts, but once data is derived, reaching out to a local lab might provide access to some of these tools for a tighter analysis and an even more convincing project,
  • we've shown that when it is not properly disposed of, for example after seven months in the soil, its molecular structure remains intact
  • But it is with immense frustration that I see alternative and substitute materials entering the market without clear guidance on how their benefits might be realised. Even if consumers understand how to dispose of these products only around half of households in the UK currently have access to the necessary waste streams for the type of composting required.
  • It is essential we learn from the mistakes we made with plastic materials by testing and labelling these novel materials in relation to the prevailing waste management infrastructure.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 01 Jun 24
       
      Again, when you find a call for more research (aka: "learning" in this case) it is a good sign that you have found an area ripe for more work to be done.
  • "In this study PLA-based teabags did not fully deteriorate, and it seems that composting worms may be harmed by them. The lack of clear labelling can lead to consumers disposing of teabags in their compost, where any limit to complete degradation of the material raises the potential for plastics to enter the soil when compost is added to the garden, with potential impacts on garden wildlife and uptake by food plants."
Sean Nash

Mysterious Underwater Acoustic World of British Ponds Revealed in New Study | Current S... - 1 views

currentsciencedaily.com/...sh-ponds-revealed-in-new-study

hydrophone sound survey pond potential research idea biology physics computer science environmental science HSR HSR-2023 HSR-2025

shared by Sean Nash on 11 Jun 24 - No Cached
  • The previously hidden and diverse underwater acoustic world in British ponds has been revealed by a team of researchers at the University of Bristol.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 11 Jun 24
       
      So... my immediate thought is: How cool would it be to do this here? One thing we DO have: PONDS. See if this *sounds* interesting. Get it? ;)
  • Acoustic monitoring has been shown to effectively survey birds and monkeys in rainforests, and marine mammals in the oceans. However, freshwater environments have remained largely unexplored despite their diverse soundscapes.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 11 Jun 24
       
      BOOM. Again, "relatively unexplored" is super exciting verbiage to me. Acoustics. Hydrophones. Is this feasible? Is the equipment affordable? If not, could we borrow one? Dig into it. What are the possibilities?
  • analysis of the audio files revealed clear daily acoustic activity cycles in each pond
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 11 Jun 24
       
      Aside from the exploratory surveys you would do just to see "what's out there" and assess what we CAN learn from listening to a pond, you could make it experimental by comparing ponds you've assessed the health of by other means. In other words, do acoustic comparisons between two ponds correlate with what you find by doing a macroinvertebrate sampling? I really LIKE the possibilities in this one!
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • Typically, a nocturnal chorus is made by aquatic insects that compete to attract mates by producing strange scratching sounds as they rub their genitals against their abdomens. During the daytime, however, aquatic plants dominate the underwater orchestra with rhythmic whining and ticking sounds produced as tiny oxygen bubbles are released by plants respiring in the hot sun.
  • Using this acoustic method, the presence of species, and a determination of ecological health, can be inferred simply by listening to the natural world without disturbing the environment or harming the plants and animals within it.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 11 Jun 24
       
      Here is the obvious value proposition if you could work this out.
  • Publication: Jack A. Greenhalgh, et al., Diel variation in insect-dominated temperate pond soundscapes and guidelines for survey design, Freshwater Biology (2023). DOI: 10.1111/fwb.14092.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 11 Jun 24
       
      BEST THING YET: Here is the FULL TEXT of the actual research paper!
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 11 Jun 24
       
      Here is the FULL TEXT of the actual research paper!
Sean Nash

Q. What's the greener building material, fungus or concrete? - 0 views

www.anthropocenemagazine.org/...ng-material-fungus-or-concrete

fungi concrete electricity ecology environment green building materials science fungus HSR-2025 HSR environmental questions engineering physics chemistry biology potential research idea

shared by Sean Nash on 06 Jun 24 - No Cached
  • Sean Nash on 06 Jun 24
     
    This is more of a broad idea re: the use of living things as building materials - not so much detail in this specific article
Sean Nash

Microwaving an insecticide restores its mosquito-killing power - 1 views

www.sciencenews.org/...to-microwave-insecticide-spray

deltamethrin pesticide mosquito insecticide DDT crystals crystalline structure biochemistry environment evolution ecology chemistry heat potential research idea biology engineering environmental science HSR HSR-2023 HSR-2025

shared by Sean Nash on 11 Jun 24 - No Cached
  • Heating an insecticide can give it new life.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 11 Jun 24
       
      Wait... what?
  • Microwaving the insecticide deltamethrin rearranges its crystal structure but doesn’t change its chemical composition. The rearrangement renews deltamethrin’s ability to kill mosquitoes that have become resistant to the insecticide, researchers report April 21 in Malaria Journal.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 11 Jun 24
       
      Seems like potential feasibility
  • The microwave worked just as well, but Kahr cautions that people shouldn’t use the same microwave for heating food and insecticides.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 11 Jun 24
       
      Ha! Oh really??
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • insecticide resistance is a growing problem
  • It is encouraging that heated insecticide killed highly resistant mosquitoes, says Hemingway, who directs the Infection Innovation Consortium, a public-private effort to find new ways to combat infectious diseases. But, she says, “this is not something we can take and use that tomorrow.”
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 11 Jun 24
       
      OK.... this is how you can find an opening (not saying THIS ONE is necessarily, but, when you see language like: "we can't really do it just yet," that is a screaming opportunity to see what we MIGHT be able to add to that. We would just want to get early approval from the fair re: hazardous substances. I think we could.
  • It’s not certain that the heat-treated deltamethrin would retain its more potent crystal structure through the net-making process.
  • Kahr’s team is working on incorporating the heat-treated crystal into nets.
  • “There are all kinds of social and cultural things that you could propose from a scientific perspective that wouldn’t be welcomed by a community of homeowners.”
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 11 Jun 24
       
      Another positive...
  • Kahr and colleagues previously discovered that heating deltamethrin changed its crystal structure, which let it work faster
  • Sean Nash on 11 Jun 24
     
    "Wait, what? Do say more....."
Kylie John

Artificial light is a deadly siren song for y | EurekAlert! - 0 views

www.eurekalert.org/...1048823

HSR-2025 HSR environmental behavioralscience

shared by Kylie John on 16 Jul 24 - No Cached
  • News Release 3-Jul-2024 Artificial light is a deadly siren song for young fish Reports and Proceedings Society for Experimental Biology image: Light pollution at night over aquatic habitats in French Polynesia. view more  Credit: Jules Schligler New research finds that artificial light at night (ALAN) attracts larval fish away from naturally lit habitats, while dramatically lowering their chances of survival in an “ecological trap”, with serious consequences for fish conservation and fishing stock management.
1 - 9 of 9
Showing 20▼ items per page