Environmental News

Overview:

USA National Science Foundation funded research totaling $USD 8.49 billion in 2021, of which $USD 819 million (9.6%) went to biological research. Environmental biology grant funding rate was 24%.

China National Science Foundation funded research totaling 31.2 billion yuan (equivalent to $USD 4.84 billion) in 2021, of which $USD 270 million (5.6%) went to biological research. In more recent years, research funding has increased more rapidly in China than USA, so this ‘gap’ is closing overall. Biology grant funding rate was 21%.

Details:

Over time I have been involved with successful and unsuccessful research proposals in both places. USA NSF proposals need to be much more lengthy. Both require justifications in terms of benefits to society beyond ‘we will learn new interesting things’ and ‘we will publish research’. Neither asks for or expects justifications in terms of benefits to the respective ruling governments. That would not be science.

A notable difference between these proposal-review systems is that in USA, reviews rejecting NSF proposals always provide constructive criticism/suggestions on how to improve proposals (for future), while in China those are not provided. I see this as incomplete use of proposal reviewers’ expertise here, and a bit of a fail in the overall process.

I have participated some NSF proposal reviews in USA, but have never been asked to in China. An N=1 thing with nothing more implied.

Stopping research grants from either country would be exceptional; could happen if some promised ‘deliverables’ were not delivered I guess. There is now a whiff that USA NSF grants could be stopped if a new ideology is not adhered to. Find for yourselves concerns that USA NSF grantees may be feeling about that.

If more revelations are desired, please be specific and I will consider them.

 

National Nature Assessment

After Trump killed a report on nature, researchers push ahead with release - Ars Technica

 

Reminds me of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home:

Filipino scientists make aluminum transparent | EurekAlert!

 

Coal and other components of energy production in China:

When coal won’t step aside: The challenge of scaling clean energy in China – Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air

with link there to download full report. TL;DR new coal plants are growing faster than rest of world. OTOH, solar and wind are increasing faster than coal. I was surprised that old-coal-plant retirements have been so much less than new construction.

 

I did not know that arsenic was used in taxidermy:

Tigers, zebras and other stuffed animals will get new homes after health concerns kept them hidden

and from that link

"© 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission."

So I'm treading on thin ice here. Or pirating. But ice and pirates don't go together so my metaphors are failing.

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Let's just say you are hands-on with taxidermy. Collect some hair clippings and take to a university laboratory that has analytical equipment sensitive to arsenic (As). They might first ask for money, but this might be first step towards preparing publishable research on As exposure. You might get a pro bono. Somebody probably will ...

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Most human exposure to As comes from contaminated groundwater. Next may be eating 'the wrong' rice. Taxidermists and museum-visitors exposure is to me a new thing. I already said that.

 

Continuing the subject of rice, this is new:

Gene-edited rice can produce a compound that's vital for human health

You need some CoQ10. If you take Simvastatin (TM) or other cholesterol-metabolism-blocking drugs, you may need more CoQ10. There are pills providing that, but they cost much more than rice

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An earlier nutrition by gene editing was done in rice, and my faulty memory indicates it has not been discussed here. Golden rice contains high concentration of vitamin A; achieved by genetic modification:

Golden rice | Description, GMO, Genetic Engineering, Controversy, History, & Facts | Britannica

It may have been the first attempt to 'GMO' crops and it has not done well. The new CoQ10 thing may also face headwinds.

 

Arsenic remediation in water can be done by filtration through rusty iron. I don't remember if we have talked about that.

Arsenic is bad enough so that if one's well water is foul, this DIY should be verified by chemical analyses. Seek data. Beyond what your 5 senses can tell you

 

Ecosystem engineers is the engaging description of these:

Animals as architects of the earth: first glo | EurekAlert!

And this is not the first summary of these. But authors got into PNAS, so good on them. I would add that plants also 'engineer'. Plant roots and their associated fungi break rocks to small bits, first step in creating soils. Rivers in flat land wander all over the place, but trees (roots) on margins constrain rivers to channels. Engineering has ~400 million year history on earth.

Humans began as ecosystem engineers by burning forests maybe 50 thousand years ago. Did our long-departed sister/brother homonid species burn before? It may never be known.

 

Slow news day, so I expound on CO2 measurement technology. Structure of CO2 gives wiggles that express themselves with infrared light. This is how (all?) measurements are done. This is also how CO2 warms planetary atmospheres, without which, we would care much less to measure it.

Readers know that earth troposphere has now about 420 ppm CO2 and is increasing about 2.5 ppm/yr. This is not the complete story of measurements, but it is where we start.

For about $200 one can buy measurements with 50 ppm precision. For about $1000 one can buy measurements with 3 ppm precision. For about $3000 one can buy measurements with 0.1 ppm precision. For about $10,000, one can buy measurements with same 0.1 ppm precision, but also showing stable-isotope ratios, that further illuminate ecological processes. From Picarro in Santa Clara USA who I love

The $1000/3 ppm devices are being used with replication to map CO2 fluxes in cities with trees reducing, and burn sources increasing. CO2 studies like this are hot in journals now.

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There may be some inward/prior work attention in current CO2 study designs, so I ask Priuschat’s minds to say what, where, and why else CO2 ought to be studied. You go.

 

US scientists are not allowed to participate in developing the next IPCC Climate assessment:

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00596-0

If the world's climate research came mostly from US, this would be a serious denial of freedom of speech. Well, OK, it is. But the world's climate research is international, and I think IPCC will continue to achieve its goals. It is also possible that US scientists will participate by email or other channels outside govt censorship. If I dare say.

 

The human enterprise builds new things each year from about 30 billion tons of concrete, 1.7 billion tons of steel, and 1.2 billion tons of wood. These components differ in CO2 consequences and persistence, among other ways. I hope you find this of interest.

 

Returning to CoQ10 from @hill Two links, not necessarily the most informative:

https://www.greenskybio.com/blog4/the-best-natural-sources-of-coenzyme-q10.html
CoQ10 Foods: The 50 Highest Natural Dietary Sources - Superfoodly

CoQ10 is essential or at least helpful. It apparently declines with age. Many foods contain some CoQ10 and with a chemist's eye, it should mostly survive cooking. But fermentation by yeast could remove it.

CoQ10 supplements are recommended for people taking statins to improve blood chemistry. Not clear to me that any superfood could fill CoQ10 deficit, if you feel you have it. CoQ10 pills are expensive.

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