Scientists at Chicago’s famous Shedd Aquarium were stumped by the disappearance of anti-parasitic medications until they found the sneaky culprits — microbes.
“Shedd Aquarium’s quarantine habitats behind the scenes are a first stop for animals entering the building, allowing us to safely welcome them in a way that ensures outside pathogens are not introduced to the animals that already call Shedd home,” said Bill Van Bonn of Shedd Aquarium.
During the quarantine process, all the animals are bathed in water containing anti-parasitic chloroquine phosphate medication to treat a variety of illnesses. After adding the medication directly to the water, the aquarium staff measure its concentration.
“They need to maintain a certain concentration in the habitats to treat the animals effectively,” said microbiologist Erica Hartmann of Northwestern University. “But they noticed the chloroquine was mysteriously vanishing. They would add the correct amount, then measure it, and the concentration would be much lower than expected — to the point where it wouldn’t work anymore.”
Hartmann and her colleagues worked with Van Bonn to “catch the thief,” publishing a study that appeared recently in the journal Science of the Total Environment.
Together, they conducted microbial and chemical analyses of the saltwater aquarium systems. What they found was not just one thief but millions of microbes that were feasting on the nitrogen suspended in the water.
Scientists at Northwestern University worked with Shedd Aquarium to catch the invisible thief stealing the medicine from the animals’ pharmaceutical baths. Millions of microbes were identified as the culprits. (Testalize.me/Unsplash)
Hartmann, who noted that carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and phosphorous are the building blocks of life, said when the research team looked for the medicine, they found it had been degraded. “The piece of the molecule containing the nitrogen was gone. It would be the equivalent [of] eating only the pickles out of a cheeseburger and leaving the rest behind,” she said.
The team took samples from the water, the sides of the habitats and from pipes leading to and from the habitats. Testing these samples uncovered 754 different microbes. Hartmann pointed out that microbes live in water and on the surfaces of the habitats.
“If you have ever had an aquarium at home, you probably noticed grime growing on the sides. People sometimes add snails or algae-eating fish to help clean the sides. So we wanted to study whatever was in the water and whatever was stuck to the sides of the surfaces,” she said.
During the investigation, the scientists not only determined the microbial basis for the disappearance of the medicine but also identified the responsible microbes. Hartmann’s team cultured the microbes and fed them chloroquine as their only source of carbon, but the results were inconclusive. Next, they conducted a sensitive analytical chemistry study of the degraded chloroquine. “If the chloroquine was being eaten, we were essentially looking at the leftovers,” she said. “That’s when we realized that nitrogen was the key driver.”
Of all the microbes collected, the researchers identified at least 21 different suspects clinging to the inside of the habitats’ outlet pipes. Some of these microbes have never been studied before.
Hartmann said the pipes might need to be scrubbed or replaced to keep the chloroquine from disappearing. Also, regular switching between freshwater and saltwater may be a solution because microbes are typically sensitive to one or the other.
Rare endangered stingrays have been born in captivity for the first time in Europe.
The round ribbontail rays’ birth took place at the Wroclaw Zoo, Poland’s oldest zoo.
Zookeepers noticed a new baby ray in one of the tanks on Sept. 16. The newborn was quickly identified as a round ribbontail ray, about 11.8 inches in diameter.
“So far, only one birth of this species in the world has been documented — in Australia. Now, Zoo Wroclaw boasts of the offspring of round ribbontail rays,” the zoo said.
“It was easy to guess that if there is one, there are probably others as well, because there may be up to seven in a litter. A diver was sent into the Mozambique Channel tank … and found three more pups,” the zoo said on its website.
“When we caught the little rays and checked their condition, we were overjoyed. We waited six years for our rays to grow up and reproduce,” said Jakub Kordas, aquarium manager at the zoo.
A young round ribbontail ray in the Wroclaw Zoo in Poland. (Wroclaw Zoo/Zenger)
The zoo moved the baby rays to a smaller tank “to keep them safe,” so they can be monitored. Their first two weeks are crucial.
“After this period, we can already speak of success — the rays are doing well, they have adjusted their menu by rejecting shellfish in favor of herring and mackerel, and have even learned to express frustration by ‘blushing’ on the underside,” the zoo said.
Once they get bigger and are able to deal with other stingrays and sharks, the new additions will be available for public viewing. Till then, visitors can see their parents in the Mozambique Channel tank in the Afrykarium, an aquarium devoted to African animals.
Round ribbontail rays can be found in the Pacific Ocean, from Africa to Japan, mainly in coastal waters and coral reefs. An adult ray can reach a width of 9.8 feet and weigh up to 330 lbs.
Newborn round ribbontail rays being fed in the Wroclaw Zoo in Poland. They are usually born in a litter, of up to seven rays. (Wroclaw Zoo/Zenger)
Breeding is difficult in captivity, due to their large adult size and nutritional requirements. They eat sand worms, shrimps, hermit crabs, clams, mussels and small fishes.
The species is listed as vulnerable on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Endangered Species. The organization reports the species has declined by at least 20 percent over the past 20 years.
The main threat to the ribbontail ray’s existence is the fishing industry. Rays are often caught in nets intended to catch other species. Another danger is climate change, as coral reefs, their main habitats, disappear.
An Andean condor — a threatened species — has been released back into the wild in Ecuador, South America, after recovering from injuries inflicted by poachers using a pellet gun.
“This morning, in the middle of the Andean countryside, south of Otavalo, the ‘Gualabi’ condor was released,” said the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment, Water and Ecological Transition in a statement published on its website. “The bird, a victim of illegal hunting, was rescued five months ago and had four pellets in its body, which prevented it from flying normally.”
The Ecuadorian government estimates that only 150 members of the species remain in the country, based on the results of the last national census of the Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) carried out in 2018.
Government officials said the efforts of nature lovers, conservationists and government workers ensured “the specimen received urgent clinical attention, and surgery was performed for the extraction of the pellets and rehabilitation.”
In preparing for the bird’s release, the Andean Condor Foundation team installed a satellite tracker, donated by the Bolivian Birds of Prey Research Program, on the back of the condor. This will allow its behavior to be monitored, contributing information for the conservation of the species.
A condor being released at a high altitude near the Laguna de Cubilche in the Andean countryside in Ecuador on Sept. 29, 2021. (Ministry of the Environment, Water and Ecological Transition of Ecuador/Zenger)
Video of the condor’s release was shared on social media by the ministry, captioning it (in Spanish): “The #Imbabura moors received Gualabi, an adult Andean condor, who was rescued in May after being wounded with 4 pellets in his body. Currently, in #Ecuador, 19 condors that have had rehabilitation and release processes are [being] monitored.”
In the video, conservationists are seen opening the animal carrier containing the wild bird. The condor gingerly exits and carefully gauges its surroundings before taking flight and soaring off into the distance, leaving the cheering team behind.
“The condor is a symbol of our country; it shows strength and courage. The presence of condors gives balance to the ecosystems of this area. I invite everyone to care for and conserve our wildlife,” said Ecuadorian Vice Minister for the Environment Bianca Dager Jervis.
“Without a coordinated [program] involving professionals from different areas and a strong technical and economic effort, this and other releases would not be possible,” said Martin Bustamante, secretary of the National Working Group of the Andean Condor and director of the Zoological Foundation of Ecuador.
In its social media post, the ministry also said those who had rescued the bird were specially recognized as “guardians of this species.”
They are most immediately threatened by human encroachment on their habitat. They are particularly at risk because their reproductive rates are relatively low compared to other species.
“From 2019 to this year, three condors have been rescued — approximately one per year,” ministry officials said.
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — the psychoactive substance that creates the “high” experienced by cannabis users — caused birth defects in laboratory mice in a recent study, piquing concerns over its possible effects on pregnant women and their babies.
Cannabis is the most common illicit drug consumed by pregnant women in countries where its use is restricted, according to The Company of Biologists, which publishes several scientific journals. Its increasing legalization is leading to increased use overall.
Until now, the effect of cannabis on embryonic development and the mutations it may cause, leading to defects or disease, have not been well understood, the publisher said.
“Several years ago, it was reported that THC could inhibit hedgehog signaling in cells grown in a dish,” said Robert Krauss of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. “We reasoned that THC might be an environmental risk factor for birth defects,” he said, “but that it would require additional risk factors, such as specific mutations in the genes required for hedgehog signaling, to induce these defects in mice.”
Hedgehog signaling is a pathway that allows various parts of an embryo to transmit information with signaling proteins to embryonic cells during prenatal development. It also plays a role in adults. Researchers have found that diseases associated with a hedgehog-signaling malfunction include cancer.
Women are advised not to consume cannabis while pregnant, but the damaging effects of THC on the embryo can take hold before they even know they’re pregnant. (Alicia Petresc/Unsplash)
“The THC concentration in cannabis is now very high,” Krauss said, calling for further epidemiological studies into its possible links to birth defects. “Women are already advised not to consume cannabis while pregnant, but our results show that embryos are sensitive at a very early period, before many women know they are pregnant. Cannabis consumption may therefore be inadvisable even when women are trying to get pregnant.”
Krauss and his colleagues at the Icahn School have co-authored a study published in the journal Development that tested whether THC worsens hedgehog-signaling problems. The scientists gave a single dose of THC to pregnant mice about one week after conception — equivalent to humans smoking cannabis. They then examined the embryonic development of the mice pups and found some carried a mutation caused by inefficient hedgehog signaling.
Pups without the mutation developed normally when exposed to THC, as did pups who carried the mutation but were not exposed to THC. However, pups who carried the mutation and were exposed to THC developed a severe brain and facial defect called holoprosencephaly, seen in 1 in 250 human babies, which includes a failure of the forebrain to divide into two distinct segments.
A mouse embryo grown six days outside the uterus with normal developmental markers. Scientists have discovered that healthy mouse pups exposed to THC develop normally, but those carrying a genetic mutation affecting hedgehog signaling can develop a severe brain and facial defect when exposed to THC. (The Weizmann Institute)
The defect occurs, the team found, because THC interferes with hedgehog signaling in the embryo when that signaling has been weakened by genetic mutation. “THC directly inhibits hedgehog signaling in mice, but it is not a very powerful inhibitor; this is presumably why a genetic predisposition is required for it to cause holoprosencephaly in mice,” said Krauss.
Further research, according to the scientists, could reveal other combinations that may have similar effects. “Many of the mutations found in human holoprosencephaly patients could conceivably synergize with THC,” said Krauss, who expects to conduct tests on non-psychoactive cannabidiol (CBD) in the future. Just like THC, Krauss said, “CBD inhibits hedgehog signaling in cells grown in a dish, but CBD appears to work differently.”
Harvard researchers say that medicinal applications of CBD — one of hundreds of components of cannabis that is derived directly from the hemp plant — are on the rise. However, it does not cause a “high” on its own.
“As CBD is widely available and often viewed as beneficial — or at least innocuous — it would be worth investigating this as well,” he said.
Why do women tend to sleep under a blanket and bring a sweater into work, while their male partners prefer a light cover and short sleeves?
Turns out there’s a scientific explanation, and it applies to birds and mammals alike.
Researchers from Tel Aviv University (TAU), University of Haifa and Tel Aviv Sourasky Tel Aviv Medical Center discovered a built-in difference between the heat-sensing systems of the two sexes.
It’s likely related to reproduction and parenting, and maybe even the need for “alone time.”
Eran Levin from the TAU School of Zoology and Steinhardt Museum of Natural History previously observed that male and female bats segregate during the breeding season, with the males taking up residence in cooler areas. The females give birth and raise their pups in warmer locales.
He and his colleagues found similar data in a comprehensive review of international research on the subject.
Then they did a statistical and spatial analysis of the distribution of dozens of bird and bat species in Israel between 1981 and 2018. The study included more than 11,000 individual birds and bats, from Mount Hermon in the north to Eilat in the south.
“Our findings suggest that females are found in higher ambient temperatures. We term this differential sex-related thermal preference and propose that it is a broad phenomenon common in many endotherms, acting as a significant force shaping dispersal, sociality and behavior of animals,” says the study, published in the journal Global Ecology and Biogeography.
The findings clearly demonstrate that males prefer a lower temperature than females, and that this preference leads to a separation between the sexes at certain times during breeding cycles.
“This difference between the females and males’ heat-sensing mechanisms is similar to the known differences between the pain sensations experienced by the two sexes, and is impacted by differences in the neural mechanisms responsible for the sensation and also by hormonal differences between males and females,” said Levin.
His TAU colleague and co-author Tali Magory Cohen said that in evolutionary terms, the separation between males and females reduces competition over resources and keeps away males who may be aggressive toward the babies.
Furthermore, she said, many female mammals must protect their offspring before the babies are able to regulate body temperature on their own, so adult females developed a preference for a relatively warm climate.
“We can say that this difference in thermal sensation did not come about so that we could argue with our partners over the air conditioning, but rather the opposite: It is meant to make the couple take some distance from each other so that each individual can enjoy some peace and quiet,” the researchers said.
“Look up,” renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson urges.
Now, during World Space Week, planetary scientists are doing just that — and much more.
Though professor Paul Kamoun is on planet Earth, heading the space technology and remote sensing laboratory at Jerusalem College of Technology, his gaze has drifted upward for the past 40 years.
Climate change, drug development and Israel’s moon mission are just three areas that keep his eyes trained on outer space.
With a PhD in earth and planetary sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the French-born Kamoun worked on more than 150 projects with NASA, European space agency ESA and French space agency CNES.
Paul Kamoun has worked on more than 150 projects with NASA, European space agency ESA and French space agency CNES. (Courtesy of JCT)
He handles international business development for Swiss company SpacePharma, whose miniature made-in-Israel laboratories take advantage of gravity-free outer space for the development of new drugs.
He was also an independent telecommunications consultant for the privately funded SpaceIL Beresheet spacecraft to the moon in April 2019, which crash-landed, and hopes to send an experiment aboard Beresheet 2 in 2024.
Perhaps most urgently, Kamoun is studying the causes and consequences of climate change using satellite imagery.
Who and what are responsible?
It has been documented that mass industry and fossil fuels play a role in consequences such as global warming and polar ice cap melting, Kamoun said.
However, what’s not known is the extent of manmade causes or how they compare to natural causes such as the sun’s cycle, the Earth’s behavior and the interaction between the atmosphere and the ocean.
“There is no doubt that there is global warming. But we don’t have enough data to quantify the causes with scientific accuracy. We need to accumulate about 30 years of satellite data to do that, and we have about 15 years of data so far,” Kamoun said.
“We are not able to say that the contribution of man to global warming is exactly this or that. If we had that data in our hands, all the countries of the world would more likely reach a consensus about what to do,” said Kamoun.
He encourages his students to design next-gen satellites to discover more about the Earth and space, and how to use satellite data to improve our world.
Big technology, small budget
Advanced space technologies are a specialty in Israel, despite its modestly funded space program.
“NASA has huge budget of more than $23 billion for 2021, while Europe altogether has about a $5 billion yearly space budget, and Israel… maybe $20 million,” Kamoun said. “What can you do with that kind of budget? You can make great technology for space programs, both inside and outside Israel.”
For example, he said, Ramon Space is developing high-power processors for supercomputing in space. Elbit Systems is developing highly advanced electro-optics solutions for space among other applications.
“It’s hard to compare the number of satellites or space missions with players like NASA, but you can compare the technology — and ours is top level,” Kamoun said.
A technician loads SpacePharma’s DIDO-3 satellite for micro-gravity research into the launcher. (Courtesy of Paul Kamoun)
Israeli scientists have had fruitful collaborations with NASA, he said, “although not as much as could be done and not very visible.”
NASA provided, for instance, important means of communication for Beresheet 1. And many Israeli scientists are collaborating with U.S. counterparts to prepare NASA’s future moon and Mars missions, he said.
The Jerusalem region imaged by VENuS, the first cooperative Earth observation program of Israel and France. (Courtesy of CNES France)
Some of Kamoun’s graduate students are examining digital satellite images from VENuS, the first cooperative Earth observation program of the Israel Space Agency and France’s CNES.
The uses of such imagery are almost endless, said Kamoun. For now they are focused on identifying the evolution of vegetation and water in northern Israel.
Plans for Israel’s next moon mission
Kamoun hopes to have his students design physics and electro-optics experiments for Beresheet 2, which will include two ultralight lunar landers and an orbiter that will circle the moon for several years and host experiments from students.
One possibility is an onboard physics experiment relating to Einstein’s theory of relativity.
“Another idea is to design and attach a small camera or sensor on the landers, to help find the best place to land during descent and then to take images during and after landing,” said Kamoun.
He will have to scramble to make SpaceIL’s November deadline for proposals for experiments to fly on Beresheet 2.
“It’s complicated: You need to find a good scientific case, design the right instrumentation to solve the scientific question, and find the funding for it. Usually governments take care of the money. But in privately funded missions like Beresheet, financing is as tricky as the science project itself,” he said.
Last selfie taken by Beresheet before its crash landing on the moon, April 11, 2019. (Courtesy of SpaceIL/IAI)
First drug factory in orbit
Kamoun’s experiences in space programs of the United States, Europe and parts of Asia made him the natural choice to lead international business development for SpacePharma.
Based in Switzerland with R&D and business development in Israel, SpacePharma capitalizes on the fact that the physical, chemical and biological conditions in space offer unique conditions for drug development.
SpacePharma’s portable lab allows big pharma and independent scientists alike to develop experiments and products in space.
“It’s already been in space five times, and we have two more missions coming up in the next five months, including one with Israeli astronaut Eytan Stibbe,” said Kamoun.
Stibbe is expected to take 44 experiments on next year’s mission to the International Space station, from fields including agriculture, neurology and optics.
“SpacePharma is also developing the first drug factory in orbit, which should be launched in the end of 2023,” said Kamoun. “It will be the first building block of our larger-scale space factory for drugs. It will be a fantastic paradigm change for developing new drugs faster and even cheaper than on Earth.”
He said he cost of R&D in outer space is becoming compatible with the skyrocketing cost of R&D on Earth.
Will Kamoun ever have a chance to enter outer space himself?
“It is naturally a dream to go to space to see our beautiful Earth from far and to see the marvelous planets of the solar system from close,” he said. “But except for a few lucky or wealthy guys, this will be most probably for the generation of our students and children — if, of course, the technology and most importantly the reliability of human space flight progress enough.”
PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil — Some call period pads a “luxury item” in Brazil. In supermarkets, a pack of 32 pads costs on average $4, while 8-pad packs cost almost $1.50.
The inflation of the Brazilian real and the lack of free pad distribution throughout the country have caused menstruating people to seek out alternatives, such as old pages of newspapers, used pads, tree leaves and even pieces of bread.
Period pads cost more than $4 in Brazilian supermarkets. (Luciano Nagel/Zenger)
Data from the Menstrual Poverty in Brazil report, prepared by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) shows that 713,000 girls have no access to a bathroom or shower in their homes, and schools have a need for more than 4 million essential menstrual items.
In 2014, the United Nations (UN) acknowledged that a woman’s right to menstrual hygiene is a matter of public health and human rights.
Yet, Brazilian women living in poverty and vulnerable situations sometimes do not have access to basic sanitation services, materials for personal hygiene or information about their biological processes.
In the city of Porto Alegre, in the Ilhas da Pintada, Flores, Marinheiros e do Pavão, some 5,000 girls and women do not have the means to buy a menstrual pad pack, according to Father Rudimar Dal’Asta, 51, a priest at the Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem church, located in Ilha dos Marinheiros.
“I receive donations from the NGOs here on the church grounds, and then I go from door to door to give the pads to keep crowds from gathering. Many women, including the youngest ones, have to decide between buying pads or a bag of beans to put food on the table,” he said.
“It’s a sad choice that should not be that way. Many of the island families, especially women, work in waste recycling plants and the money they earn is not enough to support their families.”
People at Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem Church, located in Ilha dos Marinheiros in Porto Alegre, work to help women get menstrual products. (Courtesy of Rudimar Dal’Asta)
Since May, the priest has received menstrual pad donations to help impoverished families who, for the most part, live irregularly on the four islands that are part of the city of Porto Alegre. He receives the donations at the end of each month and has support from volunteers who work in NGOs such as Absorventes do Bem and Movimiento por uma Infância Melhor.
Thalia Gonçalves Dallpra, 24, lives in Ilha dos Marinheiros and is one of hundreds of women who receives a pack of period pads from the priest at the end of every month. She and her partner, Augusto Mateus dos Santos, 22, work at a waste recycling plant on the island. Each receives a salary of around $100 a month, well below the Brazilian minimum wage, which is about $205. Thalia and Augusto have three young children, two girls and a boy, and they all live with his mother and a cousin.
“When I do not have pads, I use a cloth; it’s the only way to avoid staining. Everything is expensive and whenever I go to the supermarket, I have to think first of my children’s needs, before my own,” said Thalia.
Liane Antonia Souza Farias, 61, works as a volunteer in the Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem church and helps distribute the pads to the community every month. She is a grandmother of three young women, aged 17, 18, and 20, and says that her granddaughters often ask her for pads, since they do not have enough money to buy them.
“If I get some, I always give them away, but some women who do not have access to pads use a piece of cloth or some toilet paper,” she said. “Not only is it uncomfortable, it does not absorb the flow completely and women have trouble getting used to it, but what else can they do?”
Souza Farias recalled when she was 38 and lived an embarrassing moment on a bus. “A passenger warned me that I had a blood stain on my pants. I almost died of shame, it was horrible; luckily, I had a jacket that I put around my waist to cover the stain,” she said.
Maria Helena Sarquiz, 47, from Porto Alegre, said that the idea to create the NGO Absorventes do Bem came after watching the Netflix documentary Absorvendo o Tabu (“Period. End of Sentence.”). The 25-minute short film features a group of women living in North India, 37 miles from New Delhi. With the donation of an innovative machine, they open a small factory of low-cost period pads, made with local biodegradable raw material.
“The documentary moved me a lot and I looked for information about the precarious situation of women in Brazil, in my hometown. At that time, I was living in China and when I returned to Brazil, in 2019, I started to donate food and clothing. In 2020, during the pandemic, I realized I could do more, and that’s when I created the non-profit NGO Absorventes do Bem on social media,” said Sarquiz.
Period pad collection points for impoverished and low-income people are distributed in several places in Porto Alegre, such as volunteer homes, bars, and laundry spots.
“I did not imagine it would have this reach. There are many people helping, donating money or packages of towels. Even the men have helped a lot,” said Sarquiz.
“The first donation of 5,500 period pads was made in May, and was intended for girls going through puberty and women living in extreme poverty on the islands around Porto Alegre. The following month, we received another 1,500,” she said.
Maria Helena Sarquiz, from Porto Alegre, started the NGO Absorventes do Bem. (Courtesy of Maria H. Sarquiz)
One of the institutions benefiting from donations is the NGO Movimiento por una Infância Melhor. The organization helps 100 children and teenagers for free outside of school hours in Vila Bom Jesus, one of Porto Alegre’s toughest neighborhoods. In August, the organization received 940 period pads. “Twenty-five children of menstruating age have been benefited,” said Mônica Rossi, 38, a journalist and volunteer at the NGO.
In Porto Alegre, the Municipal Chamber is processing a bill that provides for the distribution of period pads for low-income students in the municipal education system. Councilwoman Mônica Leal (PP) is the author of the bill, which proposes the distribution of the pads throughout the municipality to students in impoverished conditions. The bill is still pending in the committees of the Porto Alegre Municipal Chamber.
The Porto Alegre Municipal Chamber is processing a bill, backed by Councilwoman Mônica Leal, that provides for the distribution of period pads for low-income students. (Ederson Nunes/CMPA/Public domain)
In the city of Farroupilha, in Rio Grande do Sul, council members approved a bill on September 14, drafted by councilman Juliano Baungartem (PSB). The bill proposes a program for the supply of period pads in the municipality’s public schools. The proposal has been sent for Mayor Fabiano Feltrin’s (PP) approval. If approved, it should go in effect in 90 days.
On the same date, the Brazilian Senate approved a bill that provides the free distribution of pads to elementary and middle-school girls, impoverished women and women behind bars who are from 12 to 51 years old. The bill, presented by Senator Zenaide Maia (Pros-RN), was approved without changes, and is pending the approval of President Jair Bolsonaro.
Translated by Mario Alberto Vázquez; edited by Mario Alberto Vázquez and Melanie Slone
As self-driving cars have gone from science fiction to everyday reality, the dangers they can pose have led to efforts to get them to think like pedestrians.
Using virtual reality technology, University of Leeds researchers have applied their knowledge about how human brains make decisions to automated vehicles.
The researchers focused specifically on a decision-making model known as “drift diffusion.” It assumes that people reach decisions after the accumulation of sensory evidence up to a point at which the decision is made.
By teaching self-driving cars about this theory, the researchers hope vehicles will be able to predict whether a pedestrian intends to cross the road or wait for the car to pass.
Using virtual reality technology, University of Leeds researchers have applied their knowledge about how human brains make decisions to automated vehicles. (University of Leeds/Zenger)
If the autonomous vehicle could accurately make such a prediction, it would be able to communicate its intentions more effectively with pedestrians and decrease the chances of running them over, as happened in headline cases in the past few years.
In one incident, a cyclist in Arizona was killed by a self-driving Uber. In another, a self-driving minibus ran over a disabled pedestrian at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
“When making the decision to cross, pedestrians seem to be adding up lots of different sources of evidence, not only relating to the vehicle’s distance and speed but also using communicative cues from the vehicle in terms of deceleration and headlight flashes,” said Professor Gustav Markkula of the University of Leeds’ Institute for Transport Studies and the senior author of the self-driving car study.
“When a vehicle is giving way, pedestrians will often feel quite uncertain about whether the car is actually yielding and will often end up waiting until the car has almost come to a full stop before starting to cross,” Markkula said.
He explained that their model allows uncertainty to be limited by teaching automated vehicles about how pedestrians behave, which in turn improves safety and traffic flow.
“It is exciting to see that these theories from cognitive neuroscience can be brought into this type of real-world context and find an applied use,” Markkula said.
The research team placed participants in a variety of crossing scenarios at the University of Leeds’ HIKER (Highly Immersive Kinematic Experimental Research) simulator.
The participants were asked to walk freely around the simulated environment where a car was coming directly toward them. They were also asked to cross the road the moment that they felt it was safe.
By teaching self-driving cars how humans decide to cross the road, University of Leeds researchers hope self-driving vehicles will be able to predict whether a pedestrian intends to cross or wait for the car to pass. (University of Leeds/Zenger)
Different scenarios were tested, with the approaching vehicle either maintaining the same speed or decelerating to let the pedestrian cross, sometimes also flashing the headlights, a signal commonly used in the U.K. to indicate intent to yield.
As the researchers predicted, pedestrians made their decision to cross based on several factors including the sensory data from vehicle distance, speed and acceleration, as well as communicative cues.
The drift-diffusion model was able to predict if and when the pedestrian was likely to cross the road. “These findings can help provide a better understanding of human behavior in traffic, which is needed both to improve traffic safety and to develop automated vehicles that can coexist with human road users,” Markkula said.
“Safe and human-acceptable interaction with pedestrians is a major challenge for developers of automated vehicles, and a better understanding of how pedestrians behave will be key to enable this.”
“Predicting pedestrian decisions and uncertainty can be used to optimize when and how, the vehicle should decelerate and signal to communicate that it’s safe to cross, saving time and effort for both,” said Jami Pekkanen, a cognitive scientist who was the lead author on the study, published in the journal Computational Brain & Behavior.
As a single father and a youngster who grew up with a single mother, Oakland rapper Con B understands what it’s like for parents to struggle with buying back-to-school supplies. That’s why he has made it his mission to provide families in need with the essentials for their kids.
In addition to his philanthropic efforts in his community, he is hard at work on re-releasing his May 2021 project, “East Oakland Diddy,” sometime next year. Con B thinks he slightly missed the mark in the original release, and promises a more refined piece when it comes out again.
Con B discusses why he has embraced being an artist, father and community activist in an interview with Zenger.
Percy Crawford interviewed Con B for Zenger.
Zenger: You’ve been putting a lot of music out. Is that the mission right now, to stay in the studio and keep your supporters satisfied?
Con B: Yes sir! I just dropped an album, “East Oakland Diddy,” and now I’m just working on a couple singles to build up the anticipation for the second release to the album.
Zenger: Do you feel like you missed the mark, which is why you are re-releasing it?
Con B: Yes. I definitely feel like I missed the mark, that’s why I’m going bigger.
Zenger: What do you mean by that?
Con B: Just more marketing plans, bigger features, nicer videos, and just all-around marketing plans so far.
Percy Crawford interviewed Con B for Zenger. (Heidi Malone/Zenger)
Zenger: When can we expect this re-release?
Con B: Early 2022. It’s been in the works. It’s really just what I want to do with it, and how I want to come with it.
Zenger: Our Block Entertainment is your baby. What are the short-term goals for the company?
Con B: We are signing artists, pushing singles out, pushing albums out, both individually and as group projects. Our Block is basically a unity group. You can have your label, he can have his label, we can have our label, and we all come together in unity to push projects together. We uplift the community; we look out for the community. That’s what Our Block is about.
Zenger: You’re very involved in your community. What have you been doing along those lines?
Con B: Every other year we come out of our pockets. We look out for the kids. We throw events where we give away school supplies and things that can benefit them with school. I want to say in 2018, we did the biggest water balloon fight [Balloons Over Bullets] out here in Oakland. We gave away a lot of school supplies, we had ponies, jumpers, and everything for the kids. In 2020 the schools were shut down and a lot of people were still giving out backpacks and pencils and stuff, so we gave out a hundred tablets to the kids.
Zenger: Being a single father, I’m sure you can understand the plight of parents who struggle to get the necessary school items each year for their kids.
Con B: Yes. It’s hard out here. Also, I grew up without a father and my mom was a single parent, and she had it hard. I’m just trying to prevent kids from going through something that I went through. I like giving back and offering them the things that they might need.
Oakland rapper Con B understands what it’s like for parents to struggle with buying back-to-school supplies. That’s why he has made it his mission to provide families in need with the essentials for their kids. (Courtesy of Con B)
Zenger: You are a Bay Area rapper, but you like to collaborate with rappers from the South, particularly from Louisiana. What is it about Louisiana rappers that make you gravitate toward them?
Con B: I got family from down South, so that’s what makes me gravitate to it. I had a godbrother, and he actually introduced me to a lot of them. That’s how I fell in love with that music.
Zenger: You named Lil Boosie as a big inspiration for your career. What is it about him that inspires you?
Con B: He was basically the first artist that I was put on to by my godbrother. He will hit you from every angle. From his dad having diabetes and other real-life struggles, I feel he is an artist that is not just rapping music. He was rapping some of my lifestyle.
Zenger: What is your creative process to making music?
Con B: I used to like being around a lot of people, but I wasn’t making as good of music then. Now, I don’t like being around a lot of people in the studio. I already have the beat nine times out of 10, then I just think of which way I want to go with the beat. I always just try to make the best. Good songs. Timeless music.
Zenger: Are there any collaborations you would like to get for your upcoming project?
Con B: I want to say, Polo G. I think he is a dope artist. I like him. And then a couple legends in the game, but it’s too many to name.
Zenger: Your pet peeve is a lot of rappers coat-tailing other rappers. Do you feel like that plays a part in so many songs sounding the same or having the same context?
Con B: Yeah. That’s why it is so important for me to stay true to who I am because you can lose yourself trying to be somebody else or trying to sound like somebody else. Nowadays, the music that is out right now is coming and it’s going. It’s very important to stay true to who I am.
Zenger: You don’t care for the direction that the Bay Area is going, in terms of gang activities and the growing violence. What do you feel needs to be done to combat that?
Con B: I think it’s just about people doing positive things. People like Mistah FAB, I congratulate for his efforts. That’s all we can do, keep it positive and salute the ones trying to make a difference. We have to show the youth that there are better things to do than joining a clique, joining a block. You can be whatever you want to be. You don’t have to join that in order to be something in life.
Zenger: I appreciate the time. I’m really enjoying the music, and I can’t wait to hear what you have in store when you re-release your next project. Is there anything else you want to add?
Con B: Everybody can follow me on Instagram @conb11500. Thanks for having me also, brother.
As gasoline prices continue to soar, don’t expect relief anytime soon, some analysts say.
Travel club AAA listed a national average retail price of $3.20 for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline on Tuesday. That is only a couple cents higher than a month ago, though prices are now up to levels not seen since 2014.
And yet demand seem to be holding up.
Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy, told Zenger that prices don’t seem to be high enough to discourage consumer behavior.
“I don’t think we’re high enough for demand destruction yet,” he said from Chicago. “Gasoline demand remains strong, and oil demand globally, if anything, is likely to be stronger than anticipated, especially considering the rise in natural gas prices.”
An exponential rise in natural gas prices is pushing some segments of the economy to other sources of energy, such as coal and crude oil. That, in turn, drives the price of oil higher and brings retail gasoline prices along for the ride.
“If the price for crude oil is at seven-year highs, then spot market refined products prices are near there as well, which means retail gasoline is also around those levels pretty much anywhere in the United States,” said Matthew Kohlman, an associate director for refined products pricing at S&P Global Platts.
Prices at the pump have been increasing steadily for the better part of a year, federal data show.
There is an emerging consensus, however, that soaring energy prices could unravel the unprecedented recovery since the height of the pandemic last year. While natural gas prices have been on the rise for much of the year, the trend has only recently started to make headlines, suggesting policymakers are behind the curve.
Kohlman said there could be some relief in store down the line. The U.S. energy sector has recovered from the impact of September’s Hurricane Ida and Tropical Storm Nicholas, which idled production, refinery activity and the Colonial pipeline, a major East Coast fuel artery.
But there is still some time to go in the Atlantic hurricane season, and in a year when it seems like just about anything can happen, Kohlman said it may be too soon to breathe a sigh of relief.
In a normal year, retail gasoline prices would edge a bit lower because refiners start making a winter blend that’s cheaper to produce.
The steady increase in crude oil prices is hitting consumers, but not enough to curb demand yet, analysts told Zenger.
Tom Kloza, the global head of energy analysis at the Oil Price Information Service, said that apart from natural gas, crude oil and gasoline prices, the blending components used at refineries are getting more expensive. That means the cheaper blend of winter gasoline is no longer cheap.
“Normally, you can gain volume and lower price by adding about 5 percent of normal butane to gasoline streams, and perhaps adding some cheap naphtha as well,” he said. “This year, the prices for butane and naphtha are much higher relative to gasoline than in previous years, so the cheapening and stretching is more challenging.”
