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Sean Nash

Bee body mass, pathogens and local climate influence heat tolerance - 1 views

phys.org/...body-mass-pathogens-local.html

climatechange climate bees heat pathogens size mass HSR HSR-2025 science environmental questions biology potential research idea

shared by Sean Nash on 07 May 24 - No Cached
Sean Nash liked it
  • "But few studies have examined biotic impacts, such as pathogen infection, on thermal tolerance in natural populations in combination with abiotic factors," she explained.
  • examined bee physical traits—such as sex differences in body mass—to understand how these traits interact with environmental conditions, pathogens and other factors
  • They found that variation in heat tolerance was influenced by size, sex and infection status of the bees. "Small-bodied, ectothermic—or cold-blooded—insects are considered to be highly vulnerable to changing climate because their ability to maintain proper body temperature depends on external conditions,"
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • researchers hypothesized that the bees' heat tolerance would increase with body size; that male heat tolerance would increase with ambient temperatures above ground whereas female heat tolerance would increase with sandier soils; and that parasite infection would reduce heat tolerance
  • To test these hypotheses, the researchers collected squash bees from 14 sites across Pennsylvania that varied in mean temperature, precipitation and soil texture. They measured individuals' critical thermal maximum—the temperature above which an organism cannot function—as a proxy for heat tolerance
  • Although both sexes showed a positive correlation between heat tolerance and size, male squash bees had a greater change in their critical thermal maximum per unit body mass than females, suggesting that there may be another biological trait influencing the impact of body mass on heat tolerance that differs between the sexes
  • Sean Nash on 07 May 24
     
    There is a strong feasibility element to this sort of work. Being invertebrates, there would be no problem collecting large numbers of bees from the environment for testing. Now... how that is typically done in other research studies... is something to dig into. The challenge here would be the observation/measurement of parasites (like the trypanosomes mentioned here). It might be worth digging into microdissection methods and techniques that others have reported on when working with pollinators and other small insects. It might not be impossible, even in our lab, but it would definitely be a (good) challenge and perhaps something we could find an expert to help us with.
Sean Nash

Microwaving an insecticide restores its mosquito-killing power - 0 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
  • “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...
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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....."
Sean Nash

New fabric makes urban heat islands more bearable | ScienceDaily - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...240613161204.htm

HSR HSR-2025 science environmental engineering physics biology potential research idea

shared by Sean Nash on 15 Jun 24 - No Cached
  • This year has already seen massive heatwaves around the globe, with cities in Mexico, India, Pakistan and Oman hitting temperatures near or past 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit).
  • In tests under the Arizona sun, the material kept 2.3 degrees Celsius (4.1 degrees Fahrenheit) cooler than the broadband emitter fabric used for outdoor endurance sports and 8.9 degrees Celsius (16 degrees Fahrenheit) cooler than the commercialized silk commonly used for shirts, dresses and other summer clothing.
  • "You can save a lot of cooling, electricity and energy costs because this is a passive process," Sui said.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Spectrally engineered textile for radiative cooling against urban heat islands. Science, 2024; 384 (6701): 1203 DOI: 10.1126/science.adl0653
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 15 Jun 24
       
      I'm not yet convinced of the feasibility of this one, but this might provide a spark for someone. Some types of materials engineering like this is done on a nanoscale, which may not be the best for what we can do... but I believe there is space here for exploring composite materials with different properties to engineer better outcomes than what we're currently dealing with.
  • Sean Nash on 15 Jun 24
     
    "With applications in clothing, construction and food storage, the new textile reduces heat from both the sun and thermal radiation from nearby buildings"
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