The Science & Technology desk gathers a weekly digest of impactful and attention-grabbing analysis publications and developments at Stanford. Read the newest on this week’s Research Roundup.
Exploring African catfish as a sustainable answer to stopping disease unfold
Giulio De Leo, Stanford professor of oceans and earth programs and senior fellow on the Woods Institute for the Environment, aims to lower the transmission of schistosomiasis by reducing the inhabitants of freshwater snails in rice fields.
Schistosomiasis, a debilitating disease transmitted by water that causes rashes, flu-like signs, and finally digestive or neurological points, is a selected threat for rice farmers in Senegal. The disease spreads when people step in water, akin to that of rice fields, contaminated with the parasite. The parasite then burrows into the pores and skin and lays eggs within the gut and liver, leaving the system inside feces or urine. It then hatches within the water and infects freshwater snails.
Funded by Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability Sustainability Accelerator, De Leo and different contributors chosen African catfish because the optimum snail predator to launch in rice fields. Researchers hope that the catfish, that are native to the realm, wouldn’t solely eat the parasites’ snail hosts, but additionally doubtlessly function extra sources of earnings for farmers to promote.
Early outcomes of the examine appear to indicate decrease snail populations, larger rice yields and larger incomes for farmers. Researchers have reached out to native organizations, which is able to assist strengthen farming operations and enhance rice paddy administration. “With the guidance of our partners in Senegal, we’re demonstrating a proof of concept to scale adoption,” De Leo mentioned.
Mantle earthquake might illuminate dangers of earthquakes nearer the floor
Researchers from Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability developed the first-ever world map of earthquakes within the Earth’s mantle. The information, in accordance with Shiqi “Axel” Wang Ph.D. ’25, a former Ph.D. student in geophysics professor Simon Klemperer’s lab, will shine gentle on the varied ways in which uncommon earthquakes within the mantle strike.
While mantle earthquakes typically don’t trigger shaking or hazard, it’s unclear why earthquakes occur at sure areas and occasions. By learning mantle earthquakes, researchers hope to raised perceive the dangers attributable to earthquakes alongside the Earth’s crust, that are rather more frequent and nearer to the floor.
The information used to develop the map consisted of over 46,000 earthquakes documented since 1990. Of the 46,000, solely 459 have been recognized by their wave sorts as mantle earthquakes — a conservative estimate, researchers say, on account of an absence of sensors in distant areas the place mantle earthquakes would doubtless be discovered.
“Continental mantle earthquakes might be part of an inherently interconnected earthquake cycle, both from the crust and also the upper mantle,” Wang said in an interview with Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. “We want to understand how these layers of our world function as a whole system.”
Understanding the impression of math learning disabilities on problem-solving strategies
Recent analysis from Stanford School of Medicine printed within the Journal of Neuroscience on Feb. 9 discovered that college students with math learning disabilities have alternative ways of approaching math issues, even once they receive the identical consequence.
In the examine, which centered on second and third graders, 87 kids have been analyzed, 34 of which had a math learning incapacity, which was outlined as these within the backside quarter of scores on a typical check. Researchers discovered that college students with math learning disabilities had totally different ranges of exercise within the areas of the mind that allow centered consideration and assist college students decelerate to test for errors.
“Our findings suggest that interventions should target not only basic number sense, but also metacognitive processes, like performance monitoring — how do you adjust when you notice an error?” said senior writer Vinod Menon, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, in an interview with Stanford Medicine News Center.
According to Menon, people who really feel like they’re not doing effectively in math might lose curiosity and motivation whereas additionally going through heightened nervousness. This analysis might assist instructors, mother and father and others help kids with math learning disabilities extra successfully by concentrating on kids with assist constructing cognitive expertise.