If you spend any time camping in nature, chances are you’re going to be passionate about protecting it. While camping isn’t necessarily a high carbon footprint activity, there are always ways to minimize your environmental impact when planning a weekend or a week of trailblazing. Check out these green camping gear options before you head out.

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Charging Your Devices

Even if you’re camping to get away from it all, sometimes you want to stay in touch — just a little bit. A little wattage can be a good thing if you need to recharge your phone or GPS navigation systems or play some tunes in the tent at night. Fortunately, the power of the sun can create effective electrical charging stations for the devices you bring along.

You can string up portable solar panels at your campsite or attach them to your backpack to harness the power of the sun. Also, solar-powered backpacks store up energy as you’re trekking during the day, for use at night.

Not a sunny day? Don’t worry. Start a campfire to charge up your mobile phone. The BioLite CampStove is a small self-contained campfire that can multitask — cooking dinner while also charging your batteries. Using wood inside its canister for a smokeless campfire, an attached system generates electricity from the heat to charge small appliances.

Light Up the Night

Lights inside your tent are nice to have, but no one wants to lug around a heavy lantern? The LuminAID Solar Light not only recharges with solar power, but it’s an inflatable pouch that folds flat when not in use, minimizing space in your backpack. Or try a hat with a solar-powered headlamp built-in, like the POWERCAP Solar Headlamp. It protects your eyes from glare by day and uses stored-up solar power to light your way at night.

Hydrate

Potable water is another major source of concern when out in the wilderness. If you’re headed to a campground with a water supply, just bring some sturdy food-grade water containers pre-filled with water at your house. You’ll have your emergency water supply if you need it during the trip and you can refill your containers at the campground.

But if you’re wilderness camping, you’ll need is a filtration system that can turn nearby water, such as from a stream, into safe water to drink. The LifeStraw Flex‘s membrane microfilter lasts up to 500 gallons and protects against bacteria, parasites, microplastics, heavy metals, and more. The LifeStraw personal water filter can provide up to 1,000 gallons of safe drinking water.

Eat Up

Can’t miss your morning coffee? The 4Patriots Sun Kettle is a solar-powered kettle and thermos with a 16.9 fluid-ounce capacity. Fill it, open its reflective panels, and set it in the sun, and it will harness energy to bring liquids to a boil in approximately 45 minutes.

Ready to fuel your body after a hard day of activity? The Outdoor Herbivore creates vegetarian and vegan dried meals made with mostly U.S.-grown and organic ingredients, such as Basil Walnut Penne and Bear-ry Patch Cobbler. Many are no-cook options. But if you’re up for cooking, don’t forget your solar cooker and recipes.

Protection

Even though you might love everything about the outdoors, chances are you don’t love the biting insects. The jury is still out on whether or not DEET-based sprays are worth the exposure to the chemical but there are plenty DEET-free insect repellants if you’d rather avoid it. You can even make your own nontoxic, natural bug spray.

Originally published on June 30, 2015, this article was updated in July 2022.

Now, new research clarifies the role of these intestinal white blood cells, known as 𝛄𝛅 T cells, in colorectal cancer. It turns out that the cells have a double-edged function: They rein in early-stage tumors but, as the disease progresses, undergo biochemical changes and switch sides, strengthening the tumor. The findings, published in Science, shed further light on the role of 𝛄𝛅 T cells in tumor growth, and may open new paths toward colorectal cancer therapies.

“𝛄𝛅 T cells that live in the gut act to prevent tumor formation,” says Bernardo Reis, a research associate in the laboratory of Daniel Mucida at The Rockefeller University. “But once tumors form, gut 𝛄𝛅 T cell populations change, enter the tumor, and promote tumor growth.”

Altered T cell receptors

The intestinal lining may be the body’s most vulnerable port of entry. Composed of but a single layer of epithelial cells, this busy digestive region must absorb useful substances like nutrients, and reject harmful ones like foodborne pathogens, within a limited working space. 𝛄𝛅 T cells mind the gaps, perpetually scanning the epithelium to maintain the integrity of the intestinal lining and prevent pathogens from invading the rest of the body.

Reis set out to investigate conflicting claims over whether these cells help or hinder the growth of intestinal tumors. But as is often the case in biology, there was no simple answer.

“We had data showing 𝛄𝛅 T cells were protective, but the literature suggested that they also promote tumor growth,” Reis says. “We wanted to understand what these 𝛄𝛅 T cells were really up to.”

Working in a mouse model of colorectal cancer, Reis and colleagues derived 𝛄𝛅 T cells from the intestines of animals with early-stage tumors and from the tumors of mice with advanced cancer. In comparing these two sources of supposedly identical cells, the researchers were surprised to find vast molecular differences between them. For example, the two categories of 𝛄𝛅 T cells boasted different T cell receptors. Moreover, 𝛄𝛅 T cells that had entered the tumor produced IL-17, a cytokine that normally promotes inflammation in response to infection. In the tumor microenvironment, however, IL-17 was promoting disease — spurring tumor growth and recruiting other cells to help hide the tumor from the rest of the immune system.

“The 𝛄𝛅 T cells had completely changed,” Reis says.

To confirm their findings, the team then used CRISPR gene editing technology to selectively remove T cell receptors from the white blood cells, changing the cells from anti-tumor to pro-tumor, or vice versa. In this way, they managed to increase the number and decrease the size of tumors in mouse models. “When we depleted the original 𝛄𝛅 T cells, the mice became sicker,” Reis says. “And when we depleted the tumor invading 𝛄𝛅 T cells, the tumors shrank.”

Hope for human cancers

Reis and colleagues witnessed similar activity in 𝛄𝛅 T cells derived from human colorectal tumors and their environs. Cells inside the tumor resembled the renegade, late-stage 𝛄𝛅 T cells seen in mice, while cells hovering around the outside of the tumor looked more like the original Res. “It almost looked like a fight between these two populations,” Reis says. “Regular cells were trying to contain the tumor while cells inside were promoting tumor growth.”

In the short term, the Mucida lab will focus on shoring up our understanding what promotes 𝛄𝛅 T cells’ shift from the intestine’s stark ally into its source of ruin. Future studies will delve deeper, examining whether it might be possible to modulate normal 𝛄𝛅 T cells to curb the tumor and prevent their cancer-promoting alter egos from dominating the arena. Reis is also interested in exploring ways to manipulate the system by which altered 𝛄𝛅 T cells enter the tumor.

“Perhaps we might one day fashion 𝛄𝛅 T cells into Trojan horses that can act as anti-cancer cells right inside the tumor microenvironment,” he says.

Water is life, but for all its importance, humanity has a surprisingly limited view of Earth’s freshwater bodies. Researchers have reliable water level measurements for only a few thousand lakes around the world, and little to no data on some of the planet’s important river systems. The upcoming Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite will fill that enormous gap. By helping to provide a better understanding of Earth’s water cycle, it will both aid in better management of water resources and expand knowledge of how climate change affects lakes, rivers, and reservoirs.

A collaboration between NASA and the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatial (CNES), with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency and the United Kingdom Space Agency, SWOT is scheduled to launch in November from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Engineers and technicians are finishing up work on the satellite in a facility run by Thales Alenia Space in Cannes, France.

SWOT has several key tasks, including measuring the height of water bodies on Earth’s surface. Over the ocean, the satellite will be able to “see” features like eddies less than 60 miles (100 kilometers) across – smaller than those that previous sea level satellites could observe. SWOT will also measure more than 95% of Earth’s lakes larger than 15 acres (6 hectares) and rivers wider than 330 feet (100 meters) across.

“Current databases maybe have information on a couple thousand lakes around the world,” said Tamlin Pavelsky, the NASA freshwater science lead for SWOT, based at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. “SWOT will push that number to between 2 million and 6 million.”

Along with measuring the water height – whether it be in a lake, river, or reservoir – SWOT will also measure its extent, or surface area. That crucial information will enable scientists to calculate how much water moves through freshwater bodies. “Once you get hold of the volume of water, you can better assess the water budget, or how much water flows into and out of an area,” said Lee-Lueng Fu, SWOT project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which manages the U.S. portion of the mission.

This is important because climate change is accelerating Earth’s water cycle. Warmer temperatures mean the atmosphere can hold more water (in the form of water vapor), which can cause, for example, rain storms to be stronger than a region might typically see. This, in turn, can wreak havoc on farms, damaging crops. Such accelerating changes can make managing a community’s water resources more difficult.

“As Earth’s water cycle intensifies, predicting future extreme events like floods and droughts requires monitoring both changes in water supply from the ocean and water demand and usage on land. SWOT’s global look at all surface water on Earth will give us exactly that,” said Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer, SWOT’s program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

A Bigger, Better Picture

SWOT will provide its game-changing data using a new instrument called the Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn), which bounces radar pulses off the water’s surface and receives the return signal with two antennas at the same time. The antennas are spaced 33 feet (10 meters) apart on a boom, enabling researchers to gather information along a roughly 75-mile-wide (120-kilometer-wide) swath of Earth’s surface – a wider path than that of the satellite’s predecessors.

The engineering required for this kind of system is tricky because such a large antenna boom requires incredible stability, and because researchers need very precise calculations to produce measurements of Earth’s ocean and freshwater bodies. “The basic idea of SWOT dates back to the late 1990s, but turning that concept into reality – all that engineering – took a huge amount of time and effort,” Pavelsky said.

Satellites already in orbit can measure water height – in the ocean, very large lakes, and very wide rivers – or the surface area of a water body. But to calculate changes in volume over time, scientists need to match up the extent and height measurements that different instruments took on different days. This makes it difficult to determine basic details, like how much water flows through the world’s rivers and how much that volume varies. “You’d think we would already know this,” said Pavelsky. “But for a lot of rivers in the world, there just aren’t a lot of these kinds of measurements.”

SWOT will eliminate the need to cobble together the extent and height information from different satellites, and at the same time the satellite will give researchers a global view of Earth’s surface water. “It will be a tremendous change in our knowledge and understanding of fresh water,” said Sylvain Biancamaria, a SWOT science team member and freshwater researcher at the Laboratoire d’Études en Géophysique et Océanographie Spatiales in Toulouse, France.

Some studies, including one published last year in Nature, have used water level measurements to look at how lakes and rivers around the world change over time. However, the data that researchers expect from SWOT will provide a better understanding of water levels and surface area, both of which will be sampled more frequently and over a greater area of Earth. Once in orbit, SWOT will be sending back about one terabyte of unprocessed data a day.

Scientists like Biancamaria and Pavelsky are especially looking forward to getting information at the basin level, or the area of land drained by a lake or a river and its tributaries. “From a societal point of view – whether you’re looking at drinking water, navigation, flood control – water needs to be managed at basin scale,” said Biancamaria. “Therefore, observations covering the entire basin are needed, and SWOT will provide such data sets.”

More About the Mission

SWOT is being jointly developed by NASA and CNES, with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency and the United Kingdom Space Agency. JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, leads the U.S. component of the project. For the flight system payload, NASA is providing the KaRIn instrument, a GPS science receiver, a laser retroreflector, a two-beam microwave radiometer, and NASA instrument operations. CNES is providing the Doppler Orbitography and Radioposition Integrated by Satellite (DORIS) system, the dual frequency Poseidon altimeter (developed by Thales Alenia Space), the KaRIn radio-frequency subsystem (together with Thales Alenia Space and with support from the UK Space Agency), the platform, and ground control segment. CSA is providing the KaRIn high-power transmitter assembly. NASA is providing the launch vehicle and associated launch services.

To learn more about SWOT, visit:

https://swot.jpl.nasa.gov/

News Media Contacts

Jane J. Lee / Andrew Wang

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

818-354-0307 / 626-379-6874

[email protected] / [email protected]

Mercury (Hg) emissions are extremely toxic and can have broad and long-term effects on human health. Hg can accumulate in soil and water bodies, and can enter the food web through staple crops such as rice and seafood. The biggest source of Hg emissions is the artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) industry, which involves gold mining conducted by miners or enterprises with limited investment and production, and uses Hg to amalgamate gold ores.

In light of this, the Minamata Convention (MC) on Hg control came into effect in 2017 with the aim to put a stop to the trade and domestic production of mercury. The MC requires its signatories to stop all trade in metallic Hg, restrict the opening of new primary Hg mines, stop domestic Hg production by 2032, and stop the production and trade of Hg-added products (such as thermometers and Hg-vapor lamps) by 2020.

While 137 countries are currently parties to the MC, its efficacy has remained under question. Inconsistencies often exist in global trade data and lead to difficulties in Hg control and the evaluation of the MC. While the supply chains for the ASGM sector are heavily restricted and dried up, the demand for Hg may not have decreased. This gap in supply and demand could spawn informal or illegal Hg trading routes, such as mislabeling, smuggling, and black-market trade.

Against this backdrop, an international team of researchers from Japan, Chile, and Canada have now investigated this issue in depth. In their study, which was published in the journal Resources, Conservation & Recycling, the team investigated the effect of the MC on the global Hg flow using a method to detect inconsistencies in mercury flow data. The study was led by Dr. Yingchao Cheng from the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) in Japan and involved contributions from Dr. Kenichi Nakajima and Dr. Keisuke Nansai from NIES, Prof. Jacopo Seccatore from Adolfo Ibañez University in Chile, Prof. Marcello M. Veiga from the University of British Columbia, Canada, and Prof. Masaki Takaoka from Kyoto University, Japan.

Their method of examining global Hg trade data inconsistencies is based on estimating the Hg input (the Hg that enters the amalgamation process and is lost with tailings and amalgam burning) of countries with ASGM activities and comparing this input amount to the total Hg available domestically (apparent Hg consumption). “By searching for Hg flows that changed significantly after the MC came into force, we can screen out trade routes of interest. This not only helps us see which trade activities have stopped or decreased but also highlights potentially illegal and informal mercury use flows that have appeared post-MC,” explains Dr. Cheng.

The study was performed in 39 countries across four regions. The team identified inconsistencies in Hg trade statistics in African, Central and South American, and some Asian countries. Countries that are parties to the MC showed reduced metallic Hg trade, and those with national action plans (NAP) demonstrated clear active steps towards controlling Hg flow. “Our results highlight the importance of managing global Hg flows hidden beneath ASGM activities to enforce a sound Hg management. We believe that devising and implementing NAPs are an important step in this direction,” notes Dr. Nakajima.

Asian countries, however, lagged behind other regions concerning the reduction in Hg trade. While some downturn in Hg export was observed, new import flows of commodities with high Hg content were found to have emerged since 2017.

Controlling Hg flow for the ASGM industry is critical for safe Hg management. While inconstancies in trade data make it difficult, this new method helps alleviate most of these issues and ensures that nations spend their resources more effectively on targeting and exposing high-risk trade routes and practices. Such advances in Hg management will reduce human exposure to mercury, allowing people to not only obtain clean gold more easily but also lead better lives.

The world’s governments are presently negotiating a Global Biodiversity Framework, containing goals and targets for saving nature, which is due to be adopted at the end of 2022. Conservation experts explored how the suggested targets in the Framework, could contribute to reducing extinction risk of threatened vertebrates, invertebrates and plants. Their findings show that while targets to expand protected areas or reduce pollution will benefit many species, 57% would still need targeted recovery actions. These actions include captive breeding in zoos, reintroduction into the wild, moving individuals between locations, vaccination against disease, and other species-specific interventions.

Led by Newcastle University, the study was published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. The project brought together leading ecology and conservation experts, including scientists from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), BirdLife International and a global network of universities.

Study corresponding author, Professor Philip McGowan, Professor of Conservation Science and Policy at Newcastle University’s School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, said: “57% of the world’s threatened species will remain threatened without targeted recovery actions. Many will benefit from policies and actions designed to reduce threats from land- and sea-use change, overexploitation, pollution, invasive species and climate, but these alone will not remove the risk of extinction that these species face. Now, we can identify the species that need such action, and we can monitor what is being done and what the impact of action is on those threatened species.”

Tackling the risk of extinction

The research was based on 7,784 species listed as ‘Vulnerable’, ‘Endangered’, and ‘Critically Endangered’ in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The team considered the targets in the first draft of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity’s Global Biodiversity Framework.

The scientists assessed the potential benefits to each threatened species of implementing each target. They found that Target 1 (on implementing spatial planning to retain existing intact ecosystems), Target 2 (on restoring degraded ecosystems and ensure connectivity among them), and Target 3 (on protecting important areas for biodiversity) will be particularly important, as 95% of threatened species would benefit from their implementation.

The data also show, however, that these actions, and those for targets 5-8 on reducing pressures from unsustainable use, invasive species, pollution and climate change would still leave at least 57% of threatened species (4,428 species) at risk of going extinct. For example, the Black Stilt, a threatened waterbird from New Zealand, requires captive-rearing and release and control of hybrids with Black-winged Stilts to prevent genetic swamping, in addition to predator control and habitat management.

Study co-author Dr Stuart Butchart, Chief Scientist at BirdLife International, noted: “This research shows that we can’t stop species from going extinct just by protecting particular areas and addressing key threats: some species needed dedicated efforts to help them recover. It is critical therefore that governments adopt specific and measurable goals on species conservation, and a clear commitment to implement the actions needed to achieve these.”

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Materials provided by Newcastle University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

There are many reasons to want to switch to electric-powered transportation, from climate change to gas prices, but let’s start with one that’s often overlooked — fun. Zipping around on e-vehicles like e-bikes, e-scooters, and e-skateboards is not only a wise environmental choice, but it’s also really fun.

“When you ride an e-bike, it lets you tap into a youthfulness that may have been dormant for the last 10 to 60 years,” says Levi Conlow, CEO and co-founder of Lectric eBikes. “Then you start using it for little trips and micro-adventures, like running to the pharmacy. You can explore your local city more, and [tourist] places you couldn’t see in a car. It opens you up to more.”

E-transportation is ramping up quickly in the U.S. E-bike sales grew nearly 50% last year, and some states such as Colorado and California are helping fuel that with incentive programs. Rentable e-scooters clutter the sidewalks in many towns, while more than 50% of consumers who intend to buy a car within two years plan on getting an EV or hybrid.

All of that demand is creating more choices, which means more planning to figure out which e-vehicle is best for your situation. Here are some aspects of different e-transportation methods to consider.

E-Bikes as Transportation

E-bikes are the most popular solution for commuting and running errands around town. A decent one starts around $1,000, but can go way up from there, especially with higher-end mountain bike models.

Benefits of E-Bikes vs. E-Scooters:

• Sitting down is more comfortable on longer rides (but some scooters do offer seats).
• E-bikes’ bigger wheels and frames handle obstacles better.
• They can travel longer ranges, in general.
• You can still get decent exercise if you choose to pedal.
• If you run out of battery power you can still pedal your way home.
• It’s easier to carry more and heavier items, and you can usually install cargo racks.
• Some are rated for child seats, but e-bikes’ faster speeds come with some risk.

Drawbacks of E-Bikes vs. E-Scooters:

• Bulkier to store.
• Heavier to maneuver, so not as good in congested areas.
• More likely to get stolen, since you’re less likely to park it indoors.
• Too heavy to carry to an upstairs apartment or office.

Best for low-density or less-congested areas, longer travel distances, carrying cargo like groceries, and elderly or physically impaired riders. Also, “We’re a hit in the RV and van community for those who want to zip around from their camp,” says Conlow. “That’s why e-bikes are so awesome, they can meet so many people’s needs, regardless of who you are.”

E-Scooters as Transportation

A decent e-scooter costs less than an e-bike. They’re not quite as practical or comfortable for most people, but considering that most of the time when we jump in the car, we drive fewer than 10 miles, they can still replace a lot of quick trips.

Benefits of E-Scooters vs. E-Bikes:

• Typically less expensive.
• More maneuverable, so easier to navigate obstacles, especially on busy streets.
• Easier to carry upstairs to an office or apartment.
• Requires less space to store.
• Easier to take on a bus or subway, or load into your car so you can park outside of congested areas and e-scooter into them.

Drawbacks of E-Scooters vs. E-Bikes:

• Harder for some people to balance.
• No option to pedal for increased range (scooters are difficult to use without power).
• Most don’t have seats.
• Only cargo carrying option is a backpack.
• Can be as heavy as an e-bike.
• No option to get exercise while riding.

Best for larger cities and congested areas, shorter travel distances, people who frequent offices and apartments, places where bicycle theft is an issue, and combining modes of transportation.

E-Skateboards for Transportation

If you love skateboarding, choosing an e-board is a no-brainer. For everyone else, there’s more of a gray area.

Benefits of E-Skateboards vs. E-Scooters:

• Fun to carve, similar to a longboard; more exciting in general.
• Weigh less, so easier to carry into buildings.
• Less bulky, so better for mixing with busses and subways; easier to store.
• Can be hooked to a backpack to carry.
• More maneuverable, if you’re an adept rider.
• Most come with regenerative braking systems.
• Easy to ride when out of battery (hub-driven boards only).

Drawbacks of E-Skateboards vs. E-Scooters:

• Harder to learn.
• Less stable, and therefore arguably less safe.
• Usually less range.
• Less practical and comfortable for longer distances.
• Difficult to use when the battery dies (belt-driven boards only).

Best for people who love skateboarding, people who frequent offices and apartments, larger cities and congested areas, shorter travel distances, and combining modes of transportation.

Electric Cars for Transportation

For people whose location and life circumstances require a car, there’s really no choice to be made here. But if you find that you only rarely use a car, like for road trips or transporting bulky items, you might find that an EV car share or rental is a better option than buying one outright.

Benefits of Electric Cars vs. E-Bikes:

• Multiple passengers.
• More cargo capacity.
• More comfortable in inclement and hot weather.
• Travels longer distances.
• Safest for transporting children.

Drawbacks of Electric Cars vs. E-Bikes:

• More expensive to buy and charge.
• Harder to charge (can’t just plug it into any outlet).
• Need a parking spot.
• Need registration and insurance.

Best for families, dogs, longer distances, carrying cargo, inclement weather, and those with physical disabilities.

Getting Creative With E-Transportation Options

For many of us, the best option may be a combination of an e-bike or scooter, bus or subway, and cars. Also, keep in mind that the best solution is not always to just go out and buy something new. For example, if you have a gas-powered car that’s still running fine, it’s probably not more environmentally sound to replace it with an EV, especially if you don’t use it much.

Features To Consider When Buying E-Bikes, E-Scooters, and E-Skateboards

Whichever form of e-transportation you’re considering, the main features to keep in mind are:

• Range, battery storage capacity, and charge time
• Speed, not just top speed but whether it will keep up with traffic
• Cost
• Available accessories (baskets, seats, etc.)
• Serviceability (is there someone in town who can fix it)
• Manual pedaling/pushing vs. electrical pedal assist and throttle control
• Drivetrain options, such as dual motors, manual pedaling pushing, electric pedal assist, throttle control, and regenerative braking
• Weight and size (packability, portability, and storage needs)

“With portability comes convenience,” says Conlow. “If riders feel inconvenienced, they’re not going to ride it.”

Note that manufacturer statements of a vehicle’s range are not always accurate. “Anyone can just rate a range whatever they want,” says Conlow. “You have to actually look at how big the battery pack itself is. What we do with our site, and what we hope becomes more common, is putting actual real-world range tests so riders can make sure it’s going to fulfill their needs.”

What’s the Best E-Transportation Choice for the Climate?

If we envision the end goal as a future where the grid used to power manufacturing and recharging comes from renewable energy — and cities are no longer overwhelmingly car-centric — then any e-choice is a good one to work toward that outcome. In the reality of this moment, most experts still agree that electric is very much the way to go.

For all options, a current environmental hurdle is batteries. Ideally, before too long, science will find solutions for replacing the metals in them that require harmful mining practices, as well as a more streamlined recycling process. This sees hopeful, as battery technology continues to rapidly progress.

Otherwise, scooters are the biggest gray area, mostly because so many of them are used as community rentals. They are often transported to recharge stations in fossil-fuel-burning trucks and have short life spans due to abuse and damage. One study suggests that because of these factors, community scooters are no better than conventional cars for saving carbon. However, if you buy one and take good care of it for at least a couple of years, the same study suggests it will pay off environmentally.

And finally, another consideration is what form of transportation your new e-bike or scooter is replacing. If it’s replacing a gas-powered car or motorcycle, then it will most certainly alleviate emissions. However, if you’re replacing walking, bicycling or public transportation, you’re likely increasing your carbon footprint, as a recent study in Zurich found.

Feature image courtesy of Lectric eBikes

Shortly after sunset, pockets of super-heated gas called ‘plasma bubbles’ form in the upper atmosphere and stretch into space (up to 900km above the Earth’s surface). These bubbles start small and grow rapidly — from the size of a football pitch to that of a small country in just a couple of hours. As the bubbles grow bigger, they can prevent satellites from communicating with the Earth by blocking and warping their radio signals.

To predict plasma bubbles, a team of researchers has collated 8 years of data from the SWARM satellite mission. The spacecraft has an automatic bubble detector on-board called the Ionospheric Bubble Index. This compares changes in the density of electrons and the magnetic field strength to check if bubbles are present: a strong correlation between the two indicates the presence of a plasma bubble.

The satellite flies at an altitude of 460km (about 30x higher than a commercial plane) through the middle of most plasma bubbles. The model combines the data collection from SWARM with a machine learning approach to make predictions on the likelihood of a plasma bubble event occurring at any time.

The results show that the number of plasma bubble events varies from season to season, just like the weather, and that the number of events increases with solar activity. Despite this, the model finds location to be a far more crucial element in predicting plasma bubbles than the time of year, with most events occurring over a region in the Atlantic called the South Atlantic Anomaly. The AI model predicts events with an accuracy of 91% across different tests.

Reddy says: “Just like the weather forecast on earth, we need to be able to forecast bubbles to prevent major disruptions to satellite services. Our aim is to be able to say something like: “At 8pm tomorrow there is a 30% chance of a bubble appearing over the Horn of Africa.” This kind of information is extremely useful for spacecraft operators and for people who depend on satellite data every day, just like you and me.”

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Materials provided by Royal Astronomical Society. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.