As Congress debates billions of dollars in new infrastructure investments, advocates are touting the social and economic benefits of building new high-voltage transmission lines, clean energy plants and electric vehicle charging stations, along with fixing aging roads and bridges. But when it’s time to break ground, will people accept these new projects in their communities?… Continue reading Will NIMBYs sink new clean energy projects? The evidence says no – if developers listen to local concerns
Artemisia Gentileschi’s ‘Judith Beheading Holofernes.’ Google Art Project Born in 1593, Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi was the first woman to establish herself as a successful artist in a profession long dominated by men. One of the most striking aspects of her work is the way she paints women. Her male contemporaries tended to portray women… Continue reading Why it’s important to see women as capable … of terrible atrocities
Behavioral science has ideas about how to keep on track beyond January. duchic/Shutterstock.com It’s that time of year when people make their New Year’s resolutions – indeed, 93% of people set them, according to the American Psychological Association. The most common resolutions are related to losing weight, eating healthier, exercising regularly and saving money. However,… Continue reading 7 science-based strategies to boost your willpower and succeed with your New Year’s resolutions
Using 3-D facial images researchers have identified changes in the DNA that contribute to variation in facial features. Julie D. White, CC BY-SA Takeaways A new study reveals more than 130 regions in human DNA play a role in sculpting facial features. The nose is the facial feature most influenced by your genes. Understanding the… Continue reading We scanned the DNA of 8,000 people to see how facial features are controlled by genes
The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) is a deceptively attractive metallic-green adult beetle with a red abdomen. But few people ever actually see the insect itself – just the trail of destruction it leaves behind under the bark of ash trees.
Adult emerald ash borer beetles are about 0.5 inches long (photo not to scale).PA DEC, CC BY
I study invasive forest insects and work with the USDA to develop easier ways of raising emerald ash borers and other invasive insects in research laboratories. This work is critical for discovering and testing ways to better manage forest recovery and prevent future outbreaks. But while the emerald ash borer has spread uncontrollably in nature, producing a consistent laboratory supply of these insects is surprisingly challenging – and developing an effective biological control program requires a lot of target insects.
The value of ash trees
Researchers believe the emerald ash borer likely arrived in the U.S. on imported wood packaging material from Asia sometime in the 1990s. The insects lay eggs in the bark crevices of ash trees; when larvae hatch, they tunnel through the bark and feed on the inner layer of the tree. Their impact becomes apparent when the bark is peeled back, revealing dramatic feeding tracks. These channels damage the trees’ vascular tissue – internal networks that transport water and nutrients – and ultimately kill the tree.
Before this invasive pest appeared on the scene, ash trees were particularly popular for residential developments, representing 20-40% of planted trees in some Midwestern communities. Emerald ash borers have killed tens of millions of U.S. trees with an estimated replacement cost of US-25 billion.
State and federal agencies have used quarantines to combat the spread of several invasive forest insects, including Asian longhorned beetles and Lymantria dispar, previously known as gypsy moth. This approach seeks to reduce the movement of eggs and young insects hidden in lumber, nursery plants and other wood products. In counties where an invasive species is detected, regulations typically require wood products to be heat-treated, stripped of bark, fumigated or chipped before they can be moved.
The federal emerald ash borer quarantine started with 13 counties in Michigan in 2003 and increased exponentially over time to cover than a quarter of the continental U.S. Quarantines can be effective when forest insect pests mainly spread through movement of their eggs, hitchhiking long distances when humans transport wood.
The emerald ash borer has been detected throughout much of the range of ash trees in the U.S.USDA
Next option: Wasps
Any biocontrol plan poses concerns about unintended consequences. One notorious example is the introduction of cane toads in Australia in the 1930s to reduce beetles on sugarcane farms. The toads didn’t eat the beetles, but they spread rapidly and ate lots of other species. And their toxins killed predators.
Introducing species for biocontrol is strictly regulated in the U.S. It can take two to 10 years to demonstrate the effectiveness of potential biocontrol agents, and obtaining a permit for field testing can take two more years. Scientists must demonstrate that the released species specializes on the target pest and has minimal impacts on other species.
Four wasp species from China and Russia that are natural enemies of the emerald ash borer have gone through the approval process for field release. These wasps are parasitoids: They deposit their eggs or larvae into or on another insect, which becomes an unsuspecting food source for the growing parasite. Parasitoids are great candidates for biocontrol because they typically exploit a single host species.
The selected wasps are tiny and don’t sting, but their egg-laying organs can penetrate ash tree bark. And they have specialized sensory abilities to find emerald ash borer larva or eggs to serve as their hosts.
An emerald ash borer larva in wood (left); Tetrastichus planipennisi, a parasitic wasp that preys on ash borers; and wasp larva that have grown and eaten the ash borer.USDA, CC BY-ND
The USDA is working to rear massive numbers of parasitoid wasps in lab facilities by providing lab-grown emerald ash borers as hosts for their eggs. Despite COVID-19 disruptions, the agency produced over 550,000 parasitoids in 2020 and released them at over 240 sites.
The goal is to create self-sustaining field populations of parasitoids that reduce emerald ash borer populations in nature enough to allow replanted ash trees to grow and thrive. Several studies have shown encouraging early results, but securing a future for ash trees will require more time and research.
One hurdle is that emerald ash borers grown in the lab need fresh ash logs and leaves to complete their life cycle. I’m part of a team working to develop an alternative to the time- and cost-intensive process of collecting logs: an artificial diet that the beetle larvae can eat in the lab.
Fresh cut ash logs await processing to collect newly emerging emerald ash borer adults, which will lay eggs for the laboratory colony.Anson Eaglin/USDA
The food must provide the right texture and nutrition. Other leaf-feeding insects readily eat artificial diets made from wheat germ, but species whose larvae digest wood are pickier. In the wild, emerald ash borers only feed on species of ash tree.
In today’s global economy, with people and products moving rapidly around the world, it can be hard to find effective management options when invasive species become established over a large area. But lessons learned from the emerald ash borer will help researchers mobilize quickly when the next forest pest arrives.
This article has been updated to correct the plural form of larva to larvae.
Kristine Grayson receives cooperative agreement funding from the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) program for Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ).
As Congress debates billions of dollars in new infrastructure investments, advocates are touting the social and economic benefits of building new high-voltage transmission lines, clean energy plants and electric vehicle charging stations, along with fixing aging roads and bridges. But when it’s time to break ground, will people accept these new projects in their communities?
Local public acceptance is critically important for siting and developing energy infrastructure. Strong opposition can delay project siting approval and permits. Sometimes it can sink projects altogether.
When communities oppose projects, some people are quick to point to NIMBY, or not-in-my-backyard, sentiments as a formidable and pernicious obstacle. While there’s no official definition of NIMBYism, a traditional definition frames it as someone saying that something is fine in the abstract, but not near me or my home.
But our close examination of opposition has not yielded much evidence of such NIMBYism. First, when someone is generally supportive of an energy infrastructure project, we find no evidence that they are opposed to the same type of project near their home. Second, we find that opposing energy projects generally is not an irrational or knee-jerk response.
Rather, we find that public opposition to energy infrastructure projects tends to be quite rational and understandable. While there is local opposition to some projects, typically people oppose projects when they affect their property value or sense of place, when they are concerned about their local environment, and when they do not trust the energy company.
Jane Kleeb, executive director of the advocacy group Bold Nebraska, testifies at a U.S. State Dept. hearing on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in Grand Island, Nebraska, on April 18, 2013.
The public gets a voice
Giving the public a voice in decisions about new energy projects has been official U.S. policy since the 1970s. Laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act and state equivalents provide for public involvement in decisions about many major projects. For example, utilities that want to build or expand a power plant often have to invite and consider public comments in order to obtain their permits.
Environmental laws such as the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act and Endangered Species Act also can affect energy-related projects. Opponents may sue to block new projects that they argue will violate the relevant laws.
People and groups also often mobilize outside formal channels to oppose major developments. Recent examples include the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Alberta, Canada, to the Gulf Coast, and the Northern Pass high-voltage transmission line from Canada to southern New England, both of which were ultimately canceled.
Opponents argued that both projects threatened local resources – water supplies in the case of the pipeline, and scenic views in the case of the transmissions lines. They also argued that there were better energy choices than the oil the pipeline would carry or the electricity from large-scale Canadian hydropower projects that the transmission line would deliver.
Why do people oppose energy projects?
When news reports, project supporters and others assert that local resistance to energy infrastructure is due to NIMBY sentiments, the underlying assumption is that these residents are either irrational or selfish.
Yet, in surveys of over 16,000 people, including large numbers living near power plants, pipelines and transmission lines, we found no statistical evidence of NIMBYism. People who support energy infrastructure projects in general are likely also to support specific projects, regardless of whether they are nearby or farther away.
Projects like offshore and onshore wind turbines, pipelines and waste-to-energy facilities often meet significant local resistance. But often that resistance reflects a rational reaction to how a new infrastructure project affects residents’ property values or disrupts their attachment to their local landscape or community.
Our research shows that people are more favorable toward cleaner energy technology infrastructure, such as solar or wind farms, than they are toward fossil fuel-based infrastructure, such as natural gas power plants or oil and natural gas pipelines. This is true when people think about such technologies in the abstract and when they think about specific local projects.
These views are rooted in people’s perceptions of various energy sources’ economic costs and environmental impacts. Simply put: Americans are more receptive in general to energy sources they perceive as cheap and clean.
It’s easier to apply these categories to renewable and fossil fuel energy sources, since they have distinctive carbon and cost attributes, than to delivery systems, such as electric transmission lines or pipelines. We have found that on average, people are fairly neutral toward power lines and pipelines, but that acceptance grows significantly when the infrastructure is associated with a clean energy project and shrinks when connected to a fossil fuel power plant.
Our research and a comprehensive review we conducted of 30 years of studies show that people oppose energy projects due to specific factors, such as concern that the projects will alter their local environments, landscapes and economies. We also find that people who have higher levels of trust in energy companies are more likely to support all types of energy projects. Others who are concerned about climate change are generally more supportive of renewable energy projects and less supportive of fossil fuel projects.
Creating a 100% clean-energy economy and achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050, as President Joe Biden has proposed to slow climate change, will require massive deployment of cleaner energy sources, plus upgraded and expanded distribution and storage systems. Some of these projects will spark local opposition.
In our view, it is imperative for government agencies and energy companies to work with communities to build trust and open dialogue. The most effective way to address opposition is through genuinely addressing concerns about how energy projects affect the places where they are built.
Born in 1593, Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi was the first woman to establish herself as a successful artist in a profession long dominated by men.
One of the most striking aspects of her work is the way she paints women. Her male contemporaries tended to portray women as passive victims or tentative actors. Artemisia’s women, on the other hand, defend themselves, scheme and relish in perpetrating violence.
When Italian painter Caravaggio painted the biblical scene of Judith beheading Holofernes, he depicted Judith as uneasy – even squeamish – as she decapitates him.
But in Artemisia’s rendering of “Judith Beheading Holofernes,” Artemisia paints a determined Judith slaughtering the Assyrian general. The brutal and bloody act takes place with the assistance of Judith’s female accomplice, who pins Holofernes down.
In our new book, “Women as War Criminals: Gender, Agency, and Justice,” we chose Artemisia’s depiction of Judith for the cover because the painting shows that women, just like men, are capable of perpetrating violence and inciting genocidal acts.
This matters, because if women are treated as less capable in one regard – even one that involves horrible atrocities – it can extend to other realms, too.
Women war criminals go free
International courts, military trials and domestic criminal justice systems often ignore or downplay women’s acts of violence.
Take the Nuremberg trials, the series of international military tribunals that prosecuted Nazi war criminals. Many Nazi women escaped trial and punishment for their roles in the Holocaust because prosecutors focused on high-level Nazi leaders, exempting those in roles commonly held by women, such as secretaries and clerks.
The same double standard prevails in the 21st century. The only woman indicted in the 20-year history of the International Criminal Court is Simone Gbagbo, the former first lady of Cote d’Ivoire.
Gbagbo was indicted in 2012 on four counts of crimes against humanity, sexual violence and persecution for her role in the violence that followed her husband’s loss in the 2011 elections. In 2015, she was convicted of undermining the security of the state and sentenced to 20 years in prison by an Ivorian court. She was later acquitted of crimes against humanity and in 2018 received a presidential pardon. She was ultimately never brought before the International Criminal Court.
When women are taken to court, some will use gender strategically in an effort to secure favorable treatment.
Some, for example, claim that men made them do it. Despite her political rank, Biljana Plavšić, former co-president of Republika Srpska in Bosnia, argued during her trial that she was manipulated by men in similar leadership positions.
Lesser-known women have used similar arguments.
Samantha Elhassani, an American sentenced to 6 ½ years in prison for aiding and abetting the Islamic State, had her sentence reduced by arguing that her husband, who was killed fighting for the group, had misled and abused her.
For example, after Plavšić pleaded guilty to one count of persecution on political, racial and religious grounds, the prosecution dropped the remaining eight charges, which included genocide. In contrast, Radovan Karadžić, who served as co-president alongside Plavšić, pleaded not guilty to all charges against him. He received a 40-year sentence that was increased to life in prison on appeal.
After Biljana Plavšić pleaded guilty – while claiming she had been manipulated – she received a light sentence.Michel Porro/Getty Images
Closing the gap
Advocates of criminal justice reform argue that societies around the world – and the United States in particular – would benefit from lighter sentences and less punitive criminal justice systems.
The fact that women can occupy the dual role of oppressor and oppressed is a reality that is still not fully understood. Yet 400 years ago, Artemisia skillfully portrayed women as victims and as victimizers. Adamant about her own capabilities, she once told one of her patrons, “I’ll show you what a woman can do.”
Centuries later, her words are just as resonant. Though Artemisia was popular in her era, art historians tended to overlook her contributions to the canon. No longer. This winter the National Gallery in London finally devoted a full-scale exhibition to this Baroque master.
Her works reflect that women’s agency is a double-edged sword. Women are capable of not just of achievement but also of depravity.
Jessica Trisko Darden is affiliated with the Program on Extremism at George Washington University.
Izabela Steflja is affiliated with the Newcomb Institute at Tulane University.
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It’s that time of year when people make their New Year’s resolutions – indeed, 93% of people set them, according to the American Psychological Association. The most common resolutions are related to losing weight, eating healthier, exercising regularly and saving money.
How can you increase your willpower and fulfill your New Year’s promise to yourself? These seven strategies are based on behavioral science and my clinical work with hundreds of people trying to achieve their long-term goals.
1. Clarify and honor your values
Ask yourself why this goal matters to you. Do you want to lose weight because you value getting in shape to return to a favorite pastime of hiking, or because of societal expectations and pressures? People who are guided by their authentic values are better at achieving their goals. They also don’t run out of willpower, because they perceive it as a limitless resource. Figure out what makes you tick, and choose goals consistent with those values.
2. Frame goals and your life in positive terms
Focus on what you want to accomplish, not what you don’t. Instead of planning not to drink alcohol on workdays during the new year, commit to drinking your favorite sparkling water with Sunday to Thursday evening meals. Struggling to suppress thoughts takes a lot of energy, and they have a way of returning to your mind with a vengeance.
It also helps to reflect on the aspects of yourself and your life that you are already happy with. Although you might fear that this will spur complacency and inaction, studies show that gratitude and other positive emotions lead to better self-control in the long run.
3. Change your environment to make it easier
Research suggests that people with high willpower are exceptionally good at arranging their environment to avoid temptations. So, banish all credit cards from your wallet if your goal is to save money. And don’t keep a bowl of M&M’s at your work desk if you intend to eat healthy.
If your coworkers regularly bring sweets to work, ask them to help you with your goals (they might get inspired to join in!) and bring cookies only for special occasions. Supportive friends and family can dramatically increase your chances of achieving your resolutions. Joining a group whose members practice behaviors you’d like to adopt is another great way to bolster your willpower, because having role models improves self-control.
4. Be prepared with ‘if-then’ strategies
Even the best resolution falls apart when your busy schedule and exhaustion take over. Formulate a series of plans for what to do when obstacles present themselves. These “if-then” plans are shown to improve self-control and goal attainment.
Each time you wake up in the middle of the night craving candies or chips, you can plan instead to read a guilty-pleasure magazine, or log into your online community of healthy eaters for inspiration, or eat an apple slowly and mindfully, savoring each bit. When you’re tired and about to skip that gym class you signed up for, call your supportive sister who is on standby. Anticipate as many situations as possible and make specific plans, vividly imagining the situations and what you will do in the moment.
5. Use a gradual approach
When you embark on a new goal, start small and build on early successes. Use one less spoonful of sugar in your coffee. Eventually, you might be able to forgo any sweeteners at all. If resisting that muffin initially proves to be too hard, try waiting 10 minutes. By the end of it, your urge will likely subside.
You might be surprised to realize that change in one domain of life – like abstaining from sweet processed foods – tends to spread to other areas. You might find you are able to bike longer distances, or moderate your caffeine intake more easily.
If it feels like the payoffs are in the distant future, you can plan a small gift for yourself along the way.shurkin_son/Shutterstock.com
6. Imagine rewards and then enjoy them
Picture the feeling of endorphins circulating through your body after a run, or the sun on your skin as you approach a mountain summit. Pay attention to all your senses: smell, sight, hearing, touch and taste. Visualizing rewards improves your chances of engaging in the activity that results in them.
If it’s hard to imagine or experience these rewards in the beginning, decide on small, meaningful gifts you can give yourself until the positive effects of the new behaviors kick in. For example, imagine yourself taking a half-day off work each month after you pay down your credit card debt: visualize exactly what you would do and how you would feel. And then do it.
7. Be kind to yourself, even during setbacks
Most people believe the way to increase willpower is to “whip oneself into shape,” because being kind to oneself is indulgent and lacks self discipline. But the exact opposite is true – people who harshly blame themselves for even small willpower failures tend to do worse in accomplishing their goals in the long run.
Try self-compassion instead. Cut yourself some slack and remember that being human means being imperfect. When you fall for that doughnut, don’t despair, and don’t throw in the towel. Treat yourself with care and understanding and then recommit to your goal the following day.
Remember, you aren’t likely to achieve your New Year’s resolutions by being self-critical and hard on yourself. Instead, boost your willpower through a series of small and strategic steps that will help you succeed.
Jelena Kecmanovic does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Making and breaking New Year’s resolutions is a familiar and discouraging annual ritual for many people.
Almost inevitably, in a few short weeks, many find they are unable to meet their goals of self-improvement, be it keeping a positive attitude, improving one’s health or looking for the best in people. Some might even feel diminished as a result of this failure.
The problem, as I see it, is that most people set out with their resolutions often without identifying a practical path for the journey.
Born in 1491, Iñigo, later known as Ignatius, was the youngest son of a minor noble family in the Basque region of Spain who left home at the age of 18 to win his place at the royal court.
Over a decade later, as he lay confined to bed recuperating from injuries suffered in the Battle of Pamplona against the French, he daydreamed about potential future exploits at court or service to God and humanity.
It was at that time that he started to notice the subtle development of his feelings. When he dreamed about courtly heroism he later felt depleted, but when he reflected about serving God he felt a deep, lasting and energizing peace.
Reflection about his growing self-awareness led him to make a radical change in the direction of his life. He chose to put aside his quest for glory to serve God and creation, especially his fellow humans, whether friends or strangers.
He met a group of university students who became his companions. In 1540, they together founded the Society of Jesus, commonly known as the Jesuits, a community of priests and brothers that became known throughout the world for spiritual development, preparatory and university education and justice advocacy.
Challenges before Ignatius
This path was not smooth for Ignatius. In the course of his work, he suffered many setbacks, such as suspicion and rejection by church authorities, but he came to a better understanding of himself and his path through those challenges.
As Ignatius narrates in an account of his life, which he related just before his death to a fellow Jesuit, the key is not to become suddenly perfect but to learn how to walk patiently and deliberately to grow in love and service despite imperfection.
Ignatius relates his self-driven determination to preach to pilgrims in Jerusalem. His intention, however, was not well received by church authorities, who thought he was poorly prepared. This rejection led him to further his education and become more flexible about how he understood his role in serving God.
He writes about how he was easily provoked to self-righteous anger. Once he took offense when a fellow traveler made an insulting comment about the Virgin Mary. Only the stubborn donkey he was riding saved him from pursuing the other traveler and acting on a murderous rage.
In the sharing of his story, Ignatius does not want his biography to become the center of attention. He provides an example of moving beyond the isolated facts of his life journey to reflect about their interconnected meaning and a way of looking beyond.
As the scholar of renaissance rhetoric Marjorie O'Rourke Boyle suggests, Ignatius is using the story about himself to redirect his readers’ attention to God and a higher purpose. Unflinching about relating his own faults, Ignatius encourages individuals to reflect on their desires, resources and vulnerabilities as a way to grow.
In the “Spiritual Exercises,” his manual for prayer guides, Ignatius suggests a five-step daily process, known as the “Examen,” as a way to tell and retell life-transforming stories. These, I believe, are practical recommendations that could help people realize their resolutions in the New Year.
Start with a realistic, accurate and encouraging assessment of your current situation. Ignatius would always begin his moments of reflective self-assessment by reaffirming his gratitude for life and opportunities to serve in a project larger than himself. Acknowledge strengths, vulnerabilities, positive and negative feelings, and areas of encouragement and discouragement as gifts.
Be open to the light of a larger perspective. Call upon the assistance of a higher power to reveal the big picture that holds together the pieces of the journey through the day. Expect to be surprised by new insights.
Focus on the events of today. Create a story that links the episodes of the day and your goals together. Ignatius would move beyond just listing strengths, weakness and feelings to discover how they advanced or impeded his goal to serve God and others.
Identify the moments of darkness and discouragement that resist being drawn into your story. Ask what episodes disrupt your understanding of yourself and the world. Find new perspective by deepening your commitment to a higher purpose.
Much like the beliefs in other religions, Ignatius turns to his faith to find a new perspective during difficult moments. Christianity and other religious traditions such as Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism help find purpose in a compassionate and merciful love that inspires and guides day-to-day actions, each in their own way.
As a Christian, Ignatius looked especially to the example of compassionate self-sacrifice in Jesus’ death on the Cross to hold difficult moments in a higher faith perspective. By committing to accept the cost of positive action in the face of his own failings or opposition by others, Ignatius was able to move through obstacles and find encouragement and strength to advance his story.
Finally, reflect on how your story offers direction and energy to move forward to the next day. By incorporating discouraging moments into the flow of a larger story, Ignatius learned how to move beyond the shame and confusion caused by failure and misdeeds to a healthy sense of sorrow. It helped Ignatius find a higher purpose.
Like Ignatius, many of us may need to revise our resolutions and reflect on how we may proceed, even when we feel discouraged.
Gordon Rixon, S.J. is a member of the Society of Jesus.
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string(13200) "Using 3-D facial images researchers have identified changes in the DNA that contribute to variation in facial features. Julie D. White, CC BY-SA
Takeaways
A new study reveals more than 130 regions in human DNA play a role in sculpting facial features.
The nose is the facial feature most influenced by your genes.
Understanding the link between specific genes and facial features could be useful for treating facial malformations or for orthodontics.
You might think it’s rather obvious that your facial appearance is determined by your genes. Just look in the family photo album and observe the same nose, eyes or chin on your grandparents, cousins and uncles and aunts. Perhaps you have seen or know someone with a genetic syndrome – that often results from a damaging alteration to one or more genes – and noticed the often distinctive facial features.
You may be surprised to learn that until very recently, geneticists had virtually no understanding of which parts of our DNA were linked to even the most basic aspects of facial appearance. This gap in our knowledge was particularly galling since facial appearance plays such an important role in basic human interactions. The availability of large data sets combining genetic information with facial images that can be measured has rapidly advanced the pace of discovery.
So, what do we know about the genetics of facial appearance? Can we reliably predict a person’s face from their DNA? What are the implications for health and disease? We are an anthropologist and a human geneticist whose research focuses on uncovering the biological factors that underlie the similarities and differences in facial appearance among humans.
How many genes are associated with facial appearance?
We still don’t have a complete answer to this question, but recent work published in Nature Genetics by our collaborative research team has identified more than 130 chromosomal regions associated with specific aspects of facial shape. Identifying these regions is a critical first step toward understanding how genetics impacts our faces and how such knowledge could impact human health in the future.
We accomplished this by scanning the DNA of more than 8,000 individuals to look for statistical relationships between about seven million genetic markers – known locations in the genetic code where humans vary – and dozens of shape measurements derived from 3D facial images.
When we find a statistical association between a facial feature and one or more genetic markers, this points us to a very precise region of DNA on a chromosome. The genes located around that region then become our prime candidates for facial features like nose or lip shape, especially if we have other relevant information about their function – for example, they may be active when the face is forming in the embryo.
While more than 130 chromosomal regions may seem like a large number, we are likely only scratching the surface. We expect that thousands of such regions – and therefore thousands of genes – contribute to facial appearance. Many of the genes at these chromosomal regions will have such small effects, we may never have enough statistical power to detect them.
The figure shows selected locations on Chromosome 2 associated with facial shape. Each face shows the likely candidate gene and its observed effect on facial shape displayed as a color-coded heat map. Red indicates regions of the face moving in an outward direction, and blue indicates regions of the face moving in an inward direction.Adapted from: White J and Indencleef K., CC BY-ND
What do we know about these genes?
When we look collectively at the implicated genes at these 130-plus DNA regions, some interesting patterns emerged.
Your nose, like it or not, is the part of your face most influenced by your genes. Perhaps not surprisingly, areas like the cheeks, which are highly influenced by lifestyle factors like diet, showed the fewest genetic associations.
The ways that these genes influence facial shape was not at all uniform. Some genes, we found, had highly localized effects and impacted very specific parts of the face, while others had broad effects involving multiple parts.
We also found that a large proportion of these genes are involved in basic developmental processes that build our bodies – bone formation, for example – and, in many cases, are the same genes that have been implicated in rare syndromes and facial anomalies like cleft palate.
We found it interesting that there was a high degree of overlap between the genes involved in facial and limb development, which may provide an important clue as to why many genetic syndromes are characterized by both hand and facial malformations. In another curious twist, we found some evidence that the genes involved in facial shape may also be involved in cancer – an intriguing finding given emerging evidence that individuals treated for pediatric cancer show some distinctive facial features.
Can someone take my DNA and construct an accurate picture of my face?
It is unlikely that today, or for the foreseeable future, someone could take a sample of your DNA and use it to construct an image of your face. Predicting an individual’s facial appearance, like any complex genetic trait, is a very difficult task.
To put that statement in context, the 130-plus genetic regions we identified explain less than 10% of the variation in facial shape. However, even if we understood all of the genes involved in facial appearance, prediction would still be a monstrous challenge. This is because complex traits like facial shape are not determined by simply summing up the effects of a bunch of individual genes. Facial features are influenced by many biological and non-biological factors: age, diet, climate, hormones, trauma, disease, sun exposure, biomechanical forces and surgery.
All of these factors interact with our genome in complex ways that we have not even begun to understand. To add to this picture of complexity, genes interact with one another; this is known as “epistasis,” and its effects can be complex and unpredictable.
It is not surprising then, that researchers attempting to predict individual facial features from DNA have been unsuccessful. This is not to say that such prediction will never be possible, but if someone is telling you they can do this today, you should be highly skeptical.
How might research connecting genes and faces benefit humans?
A deeper understanding of how genes influence the timing and rate of facial growth could be an invaluable tool for planning treatments in fields like orthodontics or reconstructive surgery. For example, if someday we can use genetics to help predict when a child’s jaw will hit its peak growth potential, orthodontists may be able to use this information to help determine the optimal time to intervene for maximal effect.
Likewise, knowledge of how genes work individually and in concert to determine the size and shape of facial features can provide new molecular targets for drug therapies aimed at correcting facial growth deficiencies.
Lastly, greater knowledge of the genes that build human faces may offer us new insights into the root causes of congenital facial malformations, which can profoundly impact quality of life for those affected and their families.
Seth M. Weinberg receives funding from the National Institutes of Health.
John R. Shaffer receives funding from the University of Pittsburgh and the National Institutes of Health.
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string(12741) "Sea otters are born with a supercharged metabolism.
Adria Photography/Moment via Getty Images
Life in the cold can be difficult for animals. As the body chills, organs including the brain and muscles slow down.
The body temperature of animals such as reptiles and amphibians mostly depends on the temperature of their environment – but mammals can increase their metabolism, using more energy to warm their body. This allows them to live in colder areas and stay active when temperatures drop at night or during winter months.
Although scientists know mammals can increase their metabolism in the cold, it has not been clear which organs or tissues are using this extra energy to generate more heat. Staying warm is especially challenging for small, aquatic mammals like sea otters, so we wanted to know how they have adapted to survive the cold.
We assembled aresearchteam with expertise in both human and marine mammal metabolism, including Heidi Pearson of the University of Alaska Southeast and Mike Murray of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Understanding energy use in animals adapted to life in the cold may also provide clues for manipulating human metabolism.
Sea otters are the smallest of the marine mammals, and do not have this thick layer of blubber. Instead, they are insulated by the densest fur of any mammal, with as many as a million hairs per square inch. This fur, however, is high maintenance, requiring regular grooming. About 10% of a sea otter’s daily activity involves maintaining the insulating layer of air trapped in their fur.
Grooming is a never-ending job.
Dense fur is not enough, by itself, to keep sea otters warm. To generate enough body heat, their metabolic rate at rest is about three times higher than that of most mammals of similar size. This high metabolic rate has a cost, though.
When animals eat, the energy in their food cannot be used directly by cells to do work. Instead, the food is broken down into simple nutrients, such as fats and sugars. These nutrients are then transported in the blood and absorbed by cells.
Within the cell are compartments called mitochondria where nutrients are converted into ATP – a high-energy molecule that acts as the energy currency of the cell.
The process of converting nutrients into ATP is similar to how a dam turns stored water into electricity. As water flows out from the dam, it makes electricity by spinning blades connected to a generator – similar to wind turning the blades on a windmill. If the dam is leaky, some water – or stored energy – is lost and cannot be used to make electricity.
Similarly, leaky mitochondria are less efficient at making ATP from nutrients. Although the leaked energy in the mitochondria cannot be used to do work, it generates heat to warm the sea otter’s body.
All tissues in the body use energy and make heat, but some tissues are larger and more active than others. Muscle makes up 30% of the body mass of most mammals. When active, muscles consume a lot of energy and produce a lot of heat. You have undoubtedly experienced this, whether getting hot during exercise or shivering when cold.
To find out if muscle metabolism helps keep sea otters warm, we studied small muscle samples from sea otters ranging in size and age from newborn pups to adults. We placed the muscle samples in small chambers designed to monitor oxygen consumption – a measure of how much energy is used. By adding different solutions that stimulated or inhibited various metabolic processes, we determined how much energy the mitochondria could use to make ATP – and how much energy could go into heat-producing leak.
We discovered the mitochondria in sea otter muscles could be very leaky, allowing otters to turn up the heat in their muscles without physical activity or shivering. It turns out that sea otter muscle is good at being inefficient. The energy “lost” as heat while turning nutrients into movement allows them to survive the cold.
Remarkably, we found newborn pups have the same metabolic ability as adults, even though their muscles have not yet matured for swimming and diving.
Broader implications
Our research clearly demonstrates that muscle is important for more than just movement. Because muscle makes up such a large portion of body mass, even a small increase in muscle metabolism can dramatically increase how much energy an animal uses.
[More than 140,000 readers get one of The Conversation’s informative newsletters.Join the list today.]
This has important implications for human health. If scientists discover ways to safely and reversibly increase skeletal muscle metabolism at rest, doctors could possibly use this as a tool to reduce climbing rates of obesity by increasing the amount of calories a patient can burn. Conversely, reducing skeletal muscle metabolism could conserve energy in patients suffering from cancer or other wasting diseases and could reduce food and resources needed to support astronauts on long-duration spaceflight.
Randall Davis has received research funding from the National Science Foundation and NOAA.
Melinda Sheffield-Moore and Traver Wright do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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string(14751) "Energy storage can make facilities like this solar farm in Oxford, Maine, more profitable by letting them store power for cloudy days.AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty
In recent decades the cost of wind and solar power generation has dropped dramatically. This is one reason that the U.S. Department of Energy projects that renewable energy will be the fastest-growing U.S. energy source through 2050.
However, it’s still relatively expensive to store energy. And since renewable energy generation isn’t available all the time – it happens when the wind blows or the sun shines – storage is essential.
Here are three emerging technologies that could help make this happen.
Longer charges
From alkaline batteries for small electronics to lithium-ion batteries for cars and laptops, most people already use batteries in many aspects of their daily lives. But there is still lots of room for growth.
For example, high-capacity batteries with long discharge times – up to 10 hours – could be valuable for storing solar power at night or increasing the range of electric vehicles. Right now there are very few such batteries in use. However, according to recent projections, upwards of 100 gigawatts’ worth of these batteries will likely be installed by 2050. For comparison, that’s 50 times the generating capacity of Hoover Dam. This could have a major impact on the viability of renewable energy.
Batteries work by creating a chemical reaction that produces a flow of electrical current.
One of the biggest obstacles is limited supplies of lithium and cobalt, which currently are essential for making lightweight, powerful batteries. According to some estimates, around 10% of the world’s lithium and nearly all of the world’s cobalt reserves will be depleted by 2050.
Furthermore, nearly 70% of the world’s cobalt is mined in the Congo, under conditions that have long been documented as inhumane.
Scientists are working to develop techniques for recycling lithium and cobalt batteries, and to design batteries based on other materials. Tesla plans to produce cobalt-free batteries within the next few years. Others aim to replace lithium with sodium, which has properties very similar to lithium’s but is much more abundant.
Safer batteries
Another priority is to make batteries safer. One area for improvement is electrolytes – the medium, often liquid, that allows an electric charge to flow from the battery’s anode, or negative terminal, to the cathode, or positive terminal.
When a battery is in use, charged particles in the electrolyte move around to balance out the charge of the electricity flowing out of the battery. Electrolytes often contain flammable materials. If they leak, the battery can overheat and catch fire or melt.
Scientists are developing solid electrolytes, which would make batteries more robust. It is much harder for particles to move around through solids than through liquids, but encouraging lab-scale results suggest that these batteries could be ready for use in electric vehicles in the coming years, with target dates for commercialization as early as 2026.
While solid-state batteries would be well suited for consumer electronics and electric vehicles, for large-scale energy storage, scientists are pursuing all-liquid designs called flow batteries.
A typical flow battery consists of two tanks of liquids that are pumped past a membrane held between two electrodes.Qi and Koenig, 2017, CC BY
In these devices both the electrolyte and the electrodes are liquids. This allows for super-fast charging and makes it easy to make really big batteries. Currently these systems are very expensive, but research continues to bring down the price.
Storing sunlight as heat
Other renewable energy storage solutions cost less than batteries in some cases. For example, concentrated solar power plants use mirrors to concentrate sunlight, which heats up hundreds or thousands of tons of salt until it melts. This molten salt then is used to drive an electric generator, much as coal or nuclear power is used to heat steam and drive a generator in traditional plants.
These heated materials can also be stored to produce electricity when it is cloudy, or even at night. This approach allows concentrated solar power to work around the clock.
This idea could be adapted for use with nonsolar power generation technologies. For example, electricity made with wind power could be used to heat salt for use later when it isn’t windy.
Concentrating solar power is still relatively expensive. To compete with other forms of energy generation and storage, it needs to become more efficient. One way to achieve this is to increase the temperature the salt is heated to, enabling more efficient electricity production. Unfortunately, the salts currently in use aren’t stable at high temperatures. Researchers are working to develop new salts or other materials that can withstand temperatures as high as 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit (705 C).
One leading idea for how to reach higher temperature involves heating up sand instead of salt, which can withstand the higher temperature. The sand would then be moved with conveyor belts from the heating point to storage. The Department of Energy recently announced funding for a pilot concentrated solar power plant based on this concept.
Advanced renewable fuels
Batteries are useful for short-term energy storage, and concentrated solar power plants could help stabilize the electric grid. However, utilities also need to store a lot of energy for indefinite amounts of time. This is a role for renewable fuels like hydrogen and ammonia. Utilities would store energy in these fuels by producing them with surplus power, when wind turbines and solar panels are generating more electricity than the utilities’ customers need.
Today these fuels are mostly made from natural gas or other nonrenewable fossil fuels via extremely inefficient reactions. While we think of it as a green fuel, most hydrogen gas today is made from natural gas.
Scientists are looking for ways to produce hydrogen and other fuels using renewable electricity. For example, it is possible to make hydrogen fuel by splitting water molecules using electricity. The key challenge is optimizing the process to make it efficient and economical. The potential payoff is enormous: inexhaustible, completely renewable energy.
Kerry Rippy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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string(12888) "Ghislaine Maxwell now faces the prospect of years behind bars.Elizabeth Williams via AP
British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has been convicted for her role in luringand grooming girls to be sexually abused by the American financier Jeffrey Epstein.
In a court in lower Manhattan, Maxwell – a close friend of Epstein’s – was found guilty of five counts including sex trafficking a minor. She now faces a maximum sentence of 65 years behind bars.
The verdict comes more than two years after Epstein took his own life while in jail awaiting trial on charges including conspiracy to traffic underage girls for sex.
Maxwell’s trial provided an opportunity for victims of Epstein and Maxwell to give court testimony about the abuse they experienced. The case also highlights the importance of understanding sex offenses perpetrated by women.
Maxwell was convicted on charges including trafficking a minor for sexual purposes and conspiracy to transport an individual under the age of 17 across state lines with the intent of engaging in illegal sexual activity. To date, Maxwell is the only person to stand trial for the abuse of these girls.
Wehavestudied women who have been convicted of sexual assault, abuse and human trafficking, as well as public attitudes toward sex offenders. Our research, and that of others, shows the similarities and differences between male and female sexual offenders.
How common are sex offense charges against women?
The majority of sex offenders are believed to be male. Charges lodged against women may include sexual abuse of children but often involve grooming or trafficking girls without engaging in the act of sexually abusing the child.
Estimates of the proportion of sexual abuse committed by women range from 1% when based on conviction rates to 40%, according to some surveys of people who are survivors of sexual abuse.
But arrest and conviction rates may underrepresent the actual number of female sex offenders because those who have been assaulted by a woman are less likely to report the abuse. It is believed this results from social norms that define sexual assault as being perpetrated by men, and rape myths that say boys should always want sex or could not be overpowered by a woman.
Women who commit sexual offenses differ from male offenders in many ways. Female offenders are more likely to offend in a caregiving role, such as babysitter, teacher, parent or guardian of the victim.
The victims of female offenders are often younger than those of male offenders, and female offenders are equally likely to offend against female and male victims.
Elements of this profile of a female offender fit what we now know of Maxwell. She participated with Epstein, a male co-offender several years her senior. In court, victims portrayed Maxwell as someone whom they initiallybelieved they could trust, viewing her like a friend or an older sister.
In testimony and interviews, Epstein’s victims report that the presence of Maxwell before and during the assaults made them feel that they were safe. The victims questioned their feelings that what was happening was actually rape or sexual assault. They report ignoring red flags because they felt that if Maxwell acted as if the situation were normal, they must be wrong in feeling violated.
Maxwell a ‘sophisticated predator’
Research shows that women may be involved by recruiting and manipulating the victims into dangerous situations and helping to provide a sense of safety for the victims. They may coerce or manipulate the victim, or behave in sexually abusive ways in front of, or at the same time as, the male abuser.
In the Maxwell trial, the court heard how she pressured victims into sexual acts with Epstein, would talk to the girls about sex and sexually touch the victims.
Women co-offend for many reasons. Some may abuse victims for reasons similar to male offenders – for example, to gain power, to retaliate against someone or because of sexual deviance.
However, many are coerced or forced by the male co-offender.
During the closing argument in Maxwell’s trial, both these pictures of the female sexual offender were presented. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alison Moe characterized Maxwell as a “sophisticated predator who knew exactly what she was doing.” “She ran the same playbook again and again and again,” Moe said.
Defense attorney Laura Menninger framed Maxwell as a victim of Epstein’s manipulation, stating, “It was clear Epstein was a manipulator of everyone around him. Someone like Jeffrey Epstein is always trying to control the people around them – use his position to manipulate people and play them off against one another.”
What should be done?
If there is one positive outcome of the high-profile trial of Maxwell, it is that it has shown that perpetrators of sexual abuse can be women.
In our experience, many sexual violence prevention programs, materials and public service announcements universally depict perpetrators as men only. This not only teaches children to fear men but also may make potential victims more likely to trust a woman, even when her behavior is coercive, manipulative or abusive.
Prevention programs can be designed to specifically address women as potential perpetrators to prevent abuses, such as those alleged in the Maxwell case.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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string(11449) "More often than not, the best-laid plans for the new year go awry.Nora Carol Photography/Getty Images
If you’ve made a New Year’s resolution, your plot for self-improvement probably kicks into gear sometime on Jan. 1, when the hangover wears off and the quest for the “new you” begins in earnest.
But if research on habit change is any indication, only about half of New Year’s resolutions are likely to make it out of January, much less last a lifetime.
It combines insights from psychologists and America’s first self-improvement guru, Benjamin Franklin, who pioneered a habit-change model that was way ahead of its time.
With the “old year” approach, perhaps you can sidestep the inevitable challenges that come with traditional New Year’s resolutions and achieve lasting, positive changes.
First, if you lack the confidence to invest in a full-fledged effort, failure to achieve the goal may become a self-fulfilling prophesy. Furthermore, if you maintain the change but perceive progress as unacceptably slow or inadequate, you may abandon the effort.
The old year’s resolution is different. Instead of waiting until January to start trying to change your life, you do a dry run before the New Year begins.
How does that work?
First, identify a change you want to make in your life. Do you want to eat better? Move more? Sock away more savings? Now, with Jan. 1 days away, start living according to your commitment. Track your progress. You might stumble now and then, but here’s the thing: You’re just practicing.
If you’ve ever rehearsed for a play or played scrimmages, you’ve used this kind of low-stakes practice to prepare for the real thing. Such experiences give us permission to fail.
Psychologist Carol Dweck and her colleagues have shown that when people see failure as the natural result of striving to achieve something challenging, they are more likely to persist to the goal.
However, if people perceive failure as a definitive sign that they are not capable – or even deserving – of success, failure can lead to surrender.
If you become convinced that you cannot achieve a goal, something called “learned helplessness” can result, which means you’re likely to abandon the endeavor altogether.
Many of us unintentionally set ourselves up for failure with our New Year’s resolutions. On Jan. 1, we jump right into a new lifestyle and, unsurprisingly, slip, fall, slip again – and eventually never get up.
The old year’s resolution takes the pressure off. It gives you permission to fail and even learn from failure. You can slowly build confidence, while failures become less of a big deal, since they’re all happening before the official “start date” of the resolution.
A gardener weeding one bed at a time
Long before he became one of America’s greatest success stories, Franklin devised a method that helped him overcome life’s inevitable failures – and could help you master your old year’s resolutions.
When he was still a young man, Franklin came up with what he called his “bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection.” With charming confidence, he set out to master 13 virtues, including temperance, frugality, chastity, industry, order and humility.
In a typically Franklinian move, he applied a little strategy to his efforts, concentrating on one virtue at a time. He likened this approach to that of a gardener who “does not attempt to eradicate all the bad herbs at once, which would exceed his reach and his strength, but works on one of the beds at a time.”
In his autobiography, where he described this project in detail, Franklin did not say that he tied his project to a new year. He also did not give up when he slipped once – or more than once.
“I was surpris’d to find myself so much fuller of faults than I had imagined; but I had the satisfaction of seeing them diminish,” Franklin wrote.
He made his progress visible in a book, where he recorded his slip-ups. One page – perhaps only a hypothetical example – shows 16 of them tied to “temperance” in a single week. (Instead of marking faults, we recommend recording successes in line with the work of habit expert B.J. Fogg, whose research suggests that celebrating victories helps to drive habit change.)
Repeated failures might discourage someone enough to abandon the endeavor altogether. But Franklin kept at it – for years. To Franklin, it was all about perspective: This effort to make himself better was a “project,” and projects take time.
Many years later, Franklin admitted that he never was perfect, despite his best efforts. His final assessment, however, is worth remembering:
“But, on the whole, tho’ I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the endeavour, a better and a happier man than I otherwise should have been if I had not attempted it.”
Treating self-improvement as a project with no rigid time frame worked for Franklin. In fact, his scheme probably helped him succeed wildly in business, science and politics. Importantly, he also found immense personal satisfaction in the endeavor: “This little artifice, with the blessing of God,” he wrote, was the key to “the constant felicity of his life, down to his 79th year, in which this is written.”
You can enjoy the same success Franklin did if you start on your own schedule – now, during the old year – and treat self-improvement not as a goal with a starting date but as an ongoing “project.”
It might also help to remember Franklin’s note to himself on a virtue he called, coincidentally, “Resolution”: “Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.”
Mark Canada has written an Audible Original called "Ben Franklin's Lessons in Life."
Christina Downey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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string(14342) "Emerald ash borer larva cut these feeding galleries on the trunk of a dead ash tree in Michigan. corfoto via Getty Images
The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) is a deceptively attractive metallic-green adult beetle with a red abdomen. But few people ever actually see the insect itself – just the trail of destruction it leaves behind under the bark of ash trees.
Adult emerald ash borer beetles are about 0.5 inches long (photo not to scale).PA DEC, CC BY
I study invasive forest insects and work with the USDA to develop easier ways of raising emerald ash borers and other invasive insects in research laboratories. This work is critical for discovering and testing ways to better manage forest recovery and prevent future outbreaks. But while the emerald ash borer has spread uncontrollably in nature, producing a consistent laboratory supply of these insects is surprisingly challenging – and developing an effective biological control program requires a lot of target insects.
The value of ash trees
Researchers believe the emerald ash borer likely arrived in the U.S. on imported wood packaging material from Asia sometime in the 1990s. The insects lay eggs in the bark crevices of ash trees; when larvae hatch, they tunnel through the bark and feed on the inner layer of the tree. Their impact becomes apparent when the bark is peeled back, revealing dramatic feeding tracks. These channels damage the trees’ vascular tissue – internal networks that transport water and nutrients – and ultimately kill the tree.
Before this invasive pest appeared on the scene, ash trees were particularly popular for residential developments, representing 20-40% of planted trees in some Midwestern communities. Emerald ash borers have killed tens of millions of U.S. trees with an estimated replacement cost of US-25 billion.
State and federal agencies have used quarantines to combat the spread of several invasive forest insects, including Asian longhorned beetles and Lymantria dispar, previously known as gypsy moth. This approach seeks to reduce the movement of eggs and young insects hidden in lumber, nursery plants and other wood products. In counties where an invasive species is detected, regulations typically require wood products to be heat-treated, stripped of bark, fumigated or chipped before they can be moved.
The federal emerald ash borer quarantine started with 13 counties in Michigan in 2003 and increased exponentially over time to cover than a quarter of the continental U.S. Quarantines can be effective when forest insect pests mainly spread through movement of their eggs, hitchhiking long distances when humans transport wood.
The emerald ash borer has been detected throughout much of the range of ash trees in the U.S.USDA
Next option: Wasps
Any biocontrol plan poses concerns about unintended consequences. One notorious example is the introduction of cane toads in Australia in the 1930s to reduce beetles on sugarcane farms. The toads didn’t eat the beetles, but they spread rapidly and ate lots of other species. And their toxins killed predators.
Introducing species for biocontrol is strictly regulated in the U.S. It can take two to 10 years to demonstrate the effectiveness of potential biocontrol agents, and obtaining a permit for field testing can take two more years. Scientists must demonstrate that the released species specializes on the target pest and has minimal impacts on other species.
Four wasp species from China and Russia that are natural enemies of the emerald ash borer have gone through the approval process for field release. These wasps are parasitoids: They deposit their eggs or larvae into or on another insect, which becomes an unsuspecting food source for the growing parasite. Parasitoids are great candidates for biocontrol because they typically exploit a single host species.
The selected wasps are tiny and don’t sting, but their egg-laying organs can penetrate ash tree bark. And they have specialized sensory abilities to find emerald ash borer larva or eggs to serve as their hosts.
An emerald ash borer larva in wood (left); Tetrastichus planipennisi, a parasitic wasp that preys on ash borers; and wasp larva that have grown and eaten the ash borer.USDA, CC BY-ND
The USDA is working to rear massive numbers of parasitoid wasps in lab facilities by providing lab-grown emerald ash borers as hosts for their eggs. Despite COVID-19 disruptions, the agency produced over 550,000 parasitoids in 2020 and released them at over 240 sites.
The goal is to create self-sustaining field populations of parasitoids that reduce emerald ash borer populations in nature enough to allow replanted ash trees to grow and thrive. Several studies have shown encouraging early results, but securing a future for ash trees will require more time and research.
One hurdle is that emerald ash borers grown in the lab need fresh ash logs and leaves to complete their life cycle. I’m part of a team working to develop an alternative to the time- and cost-intensive process of collecting logs: an artificial diet that the beetle larvae can eat in the lab.
Fresh cut ash logs await processing to collect newly emerging emerald ash borer adults, which will lay eggs for the laboratory colony.Anson Eaglin/USDA
The food must provide the right texture and nutrition. Other leaf-feeding insects readily eat artificial diets made from wheat germ, but species whose larvae digest wood are pickier. In the wild, emerald ash borers only feed on species of ash tree.
In today’s global economy, with people and products moving rapidly around the world, it can be hard to find effective management options when invasive species become established over a large area. But lessons learned from the emerald ash borer will help researchers mobilize quickly when the next forest pest arrives.
This article has been updated to correct the plural form of larva to larvae.
Kristine Grayson receives cooperative agreement funding from the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) program for Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ).
