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RSID: <<2024-05-02ST23:31Z MFSK-32 @ 9265000+1500>>
 

Welcome to program 352 of Shortwave Radiogram.

I'm Kim Andrew Elliott in Arlington, Virginia USA.

Here is the lineup for today's program, in MFSK modes as noted:

  1:45 MFSK32: Program preview (now)
  2:52 MFSK32: New lily species is first in 110 years*
  7:52 MFSK64: Bacteria-spore-loaded plastic eats itself*
12:14 MFSK64: This week's images*
27:56 MFSK32: Closing announcements

* with image(s)


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From Phys.org:

New Japanese lily species identified, first addition to
sukashiyuri group in 110 years

by Osaka Metropolitan University
May 1, 2024

A new species of the Japanese lily known as sukashiyuri has been
identified for the first time since 1914 by a research team led
by Dr. Seita Watanabe, a specially appointed assistant professor
at the Botanical Gardens and the Graduate School of Science at
Osaka Metropolitan University. The findings were published in
Taxon.

Dr. Watanabe questioned the classification used up to now for
sukashiyuri group, which usually has orange flowers. These lilies
have high ornamental value, having been exported from Japan for
more than two centuries. There have been only four taxonomic
groups, but Dr. Watanabe and his team sought evidence to prove
that there were more.

Traveling across Japan to observe the lilies, record images,
gather specimens, and obtain DNA from plant materials, the
research team members conducted a detailed analysis of the form
and structure of the plants and their DNA. The results of their
extensive work revises the conventional classification into eight
taxons, including what they have named Lilium pacificum, the
first new species of Japanese lily in 110 years.

Lilium pacificum grows on coastal areas facing the Pacific Ocean
on Honshu from Ibaraki Prefecture south to Shizuoka Prefecture
and the Izu Islands.

"It has an interesting characteristic: the tips of its leaves are
curved into a claw-like shape," Dr. Watanabe said. "Based on the
new understanding of these eight taxonomic groups, we found that
seven are endemic to Japan, each adapted to its environment,
whether coastal or mountainous, and evolving unique traits."

Dr. Watanabe added, "Our research shows that these plants have
differentiated through complex processes, and we hope that our
work will provide clues for speciation studies. In the past,
individual differences may have been overlooked because of the
apparent simplicity of the plants. Through this research, I was
reminded of the importance of morphological observation."

https://phys.org/news/2024-05-japanese-lily-species-addition-sukashiyuri.html

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From New Atlas:

Extra-strong spore-loaded plastic eats itself when it hits
landfill

By Michael Irving
April 30, 2024

Scientists have demonstrated a creative solution to plastic
pollution, one of our most pressing environmental problems.
Plastic was embedded with spores of plastic-eating bacteria that
are activated when dumped in landfill, biodegrading 90% of the
material in five months. Weirder still, this actually made the
plastic tougher and stronger during use.

Plastic is a strong, versatile material, but the same properties
that make it useful also make it hard to dispose of. It famously
takes decades or centuries to degrade, so huge amounts of plastic
waste are clogging up landfill and oceans.

Intriguingly, it seems like nature is adapting, as it so often
does. In recent years scientists discovered bacteria that have
evolved the ability to break down plastic, isolated the enzymes
that do it, and even ramped up their efficiency. This could
potentially make for more efficient recycling centers where
plastic is treated with enzymes and bacteria. But what about
plastic that doesn’t make it to these facilities? Thermoplastic
polyurethane (TPU) is a tough type of plastic commonly used to
make things like shoes, sporting goods, phone cases and car
parts, but can’t currently be recycled.

So for the new study, the team investigated a new potential
method to dispose of TPU – embedding spores of the plastic-eating
bacteria Bacillus subtilis right into the plastic itself.
Ideally, you’d be able to use the plastic products as normal,
without them breaking down too early, and only when they were
dumped in landfill or natural environments would they start
biodegrading.

The first problem to overcome is that the high heat used to
produce plastic would kill off most bacterial spores. So the
researchers genetically engineered the microbes to withstand that
heat, and found that 96 to 100% of the edited bacteria survived
at the plastic processing temperature of 135 °C (275 °F),
compared to just 20% of unedited bugs.

Next, they tested how well the bacteria would break down the
plastic, a process that’s triggered by nutrients and moisture in
the soil. At concentrations of up to 1% of the plastic’s weight,
the bacteria broke down over 90% of the material within five
months of being buried in compost.

It’s easy to assume that giving plastic its own Achille’s heel
will only make it weaker during use, but it turns out the
opposite is true. Plastic made with the spores was found to be up
to 37% tougher and had up to 30% higher tensile strength than
regular TPU, with the team hypothesizing that the spores act as a
reinforcing filler.

The researchers say that this technique, which is potentially
scalable, could open up a new way to dispose of unrecyclable
TPUs, while making them tougher and stronger during use. Combine
it with a few other methods and we might make some progress
towards tackling the plastic pollution problem.

The research was published in the journal Nature Communications.

Source: University of California, San Diego via Scimex

https://newatlas.com/environment/plastic-embedded-bacteria-spores-degradable-tougher/
 

Image: In lab tests, the plastic broke down by 90% after five
months buried in compost ...

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This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64

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This week's images ...

 

Icelandic horses are driven to their paddock for the first time
in the season in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany.
https://tinyurl.com/ylzv8yn3 ...

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Light from a window of an apartment in Frankfurt, Germany.
https://tinyurl.com/ytkvw94c ...

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A neon palm tree room decoration. https://tinyurl.com/yqkbdbrt
...

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Leucistic Anna’s hummingbird at the University of California
Santa Cruz Arboretum in California. https://tinyurl.com/ykjsf3b9
...

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Flowers in the Houston Arboretum, April 28.
https://tinyurl.com/ylbu72x2 ...

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Acer palmatum (Japanese maple) seeds at the Kobe Arboretum, April
28. https://tinyurl.com/yq8fhgz5 ...

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Sunrise at Rock Creek Park in Washington DC, April 29.
https://tinyurl.com/ykaz9svl ...

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Tulips at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois.
https://tinyurl.com/ynns3wee ...

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Our painting of the week is by Argentine digital artist Juan
Brufal. https://tinyurl.com/2x9teflg ...

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I'm Kim Elliott. Please join us for the next Shortwave
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