Welcome to Overnight News Digest- Saturday Science. Since 2007 the OND has been a regular community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of science stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing each day near 12:00 AM Eastern Time.
Topics in this edition include:
- Contamination at composting facilities
- The future of power — dirt energy
- The rarest mineral
- Roll-to-roll printed solar cells
- Some men’s hobbies drive a 300% ALS risk
- Menstrual fluid’s medical treasures
- Four facts about measles
- Permanent California water-restrictions details
- Electric factories reshaping heavy industries
- Is Betelgeuse fading again?
In Saturday’s MOT, worth repeating here:
Closed Loop
Research and analysis Contamination at Composting Facilities
Contamination is a systemic issue, and one of the greatest challenges that composters face. More data is needed to understand how much contamination exists in feedstock and finished compost.
To support the industry in addressing contamination at scale, the Consortium conducted an in-field study with 10 U.S. compost manufacturers to measure and characterize contamination across different points of the composters’ processes––and analyzed the financial cost to composters to handle contamination. The study examines five commonly held assumptions about contamination and compostable packaging, and breaks down in-field realities in a data-backed and easy-to-follow format.
The Cool Down
by Robert English
Scientists develop new technology that generates essentially endless power from dirt: 'The fuel cell can potentially last forever'
Shifting from dirty energy to dirt energy could be the future of power.
Scientists led by researchers from Northwestern University in Chicago have developed a new type of fuel cell that can be harvested from dirt. This dirt fuel could provide essentially endless electricity, eliminating waste and harmful effects of other sources of fuel.
In a study published in January, the researchers outlined their findings regarding harvesting electricity from microbes, tiny organisms such as bacteria or fungi, living in the dirt.
With this new type of fuel cell, scientists hope to harness sources of energy that could act as a replacement for batteries, which can release toxins into the water or soil, increase landfill waste, cause fires, and can lead to draining communities of their resources.
The Brighter Side
by Joseph Shavit
This mineral so rare that there is only one specimen on Earth
In the world of minerals, rarity often lies in the hands of humankind, crafted through ingenious processes and human ingenuity. However, there exists an exceptional exception to this rule, where nature itself has crafted a unique masterpiece.
Meet kyawthuite, a mineral so rare that it exists in just one known specimen, a stunning gemstone unearthed near Mogok, Myanmar. In 2015, the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) officially recognized this mineral, marking its place in geological history.
Tech Times
by John Lopez
Scientists Achieve Groundbreaking Efficiency with Thin Roll-to-Roll Printed Solar Cells
Scientists at Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) have achieved a groundbreaking efficiency record for fully roll-to-roll printed solar cells.
In a significant leap forward for clean energy technology, this breakthrough represents a major advancement in the field of solar energy.
Published in the journal Nature Communications, the technology behind these printed solar cells is revolutionary. Unlike traditional silicon solar panels, which are rigid and heavy, these printed solar cells are lightweight and flexible.
New Atlas
by Paul McClure
Golf, and other men's hobbies, drive a 300% increase in ALS risk
Men who engage in recreational activities such as golf, gardening and woodworking are at higher risk of developing ALS, an incurable progressive nervous system disease, a study has found. The findings add to mounting evidence suggesting a link between ALS and exposure to environmental toxins.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), sometimes called Lou Gehrig's disease, causes progressive motor function loss and cognitive changes. While a definitive cause for the condition hasn't been identified, studies have increasingly suggested that the condition is caused by a
combination of genetic susceptibility and environmental exposure to things like pesticides and
heavy metals.
Vox
by Byrd Pinkerton
Menstrual fluid’s underexplored medical treasures
Leah Hazard grew up in America in the 1980s and ’90s, and, as she remembers it, it was not a great time to be a menstruating person.
“Back then it was very much just periods are gross,” she says, “I mean, not even to be spoken of — and when you have a period, the stuff that comes out is disgusting, and it’s smelly, and it’s shameful and dirty, and you should just flush it away.”
This isn’t particularly surprising. As recently as 2010, Seventeen Magazine was running“embarrassing” period stories about the horrors of having your boyfriend reach into your coat pocket and pull out a tampon.
What’s maybe more surprising, though, is that this aversion to menstruation hasn’t been limited to teen magazines and school corridors. It’s also found in the scientific literature — or the lack thereof. One set of researchers found that some 15,000 papers about semen were published in the 2010s … compared to around 400 about menstrual fluid.
Vox
by Keren Landman, MD
4 big questions about measles, answered
So far this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported 45 measles cases from 17 jurisdictions. That’s a lot compared with 2023, when 58 cases were reported over the entire calendar year.
It’s been nearly 25 years since measles was officially eliminated in the US. The declaration meant the infection hadn’t been transmitted continuously anywhere in the country for more than a year. However, it doesn’t mean measles couldn’t come back: Under certain conditions — lots of cases imported from abroad, not enough people vaccinated against the infection, and not enough tools to fight back — measles could re-entrench itself stateside.
That’s why public health authorities monitor measles cases and vaccination rates against the infection. And why, when cases rise while vaccination rates drop, they fret.
San Francisco Chronicle
by Kurtis Alexander
California rolls out first-of-a-kind permanent water restrictions for cities and towns. Here are the details
Drought or no drought, California water regulators are pushing ahead with a new conservation policy that could force some communities to cut water use upward of 30% permanently — though on more lenient terms than originally proposed.
The first-of-its-kind regulation is intended to help the state confront chronic water shortages as climate change makes for hotter, drier weather. The initial draft of the regulation, released last year, was widely criticized for asking roughly 400 cities and water agencies to cut back too much too quickly. The cost of compliance was also a concern.
Acknowledging the burden, the State Water Resources Control Board on Tuesday unveiled a revised set of rules that would allow some communities to use more water than originally planned as well as extend deadlines for meeting the conservation mandates. For example, required cuts, which go into effect gradually, would be spread out through 2040 instead of 2035, and wouldn’t begin until 2027 instead of next year.
Forbes
by Gaurav Sharma
‘Game-Changing’ Electric Factories Will Reshape Heavy Industries, Says European Developer Coolbrook
At the Brightlands Chemelot Campus, near the Dutch city of Geleen, a kindred group of engineers are plugging away on a novel pilot project they describe as "game-changing" industrial technology - the replacement of conventional fossil fuel dependent high temperature equipment by a low carbon solution that uses only electricity.
The motley group hails from Finland-headquartered pan-European firm Coolbrook, and they are almost ready for a commercial launch expected early in 2025, according to CEO Joonas Rauramo.
"For the last 70 to 80 years the wider global industrial and petrochemical complex has operated in pretty much the same way, with fossil fuel consuming furnaces for high heat generation at the heart of the plant. We are offering a new kind of technology – one that uses only electricity to generate heat or crack hydrocarbons to produce ethylene or propylene."
Sky and Telescope
by Bob King
IS BETELGEUSE FADING AGAIN?
Betelgeuse has dipped nearly half a magnitude since late January. Could it be headed for another Great Dimming Event? […] Indeed it is. But unlike the Great Dimming of 2019–20 its waning so far has been modest. Betelgeuse, located in Orion's right shoulder, ordinarily shines at magnitude +0.4, a close match to neighboring Procyon in Canis Minor. But since late January it's lost some of its luster — at least a third of a magnitude's worth. That may not sound like much especially given the star's variable nature, but the red supergiant star is currently the faintest it's been in the past two years. Could it be at the threshold of another major dimming?
This is an open thread where everyone is welcome, especially night owls and early birds, to share and discuss the science news of the day. Please share your articles and stories in the comments.
I could use a little help this month. March has five Saturdays, and that last weekend I will be riding the train from Syracuse, NY to Portland, OR and will not have consistent internet. I would appreciate someone volunteering to take responsibility for March 30th Saturday Science. Thank you!