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METRO photo

By Daniel Dunaief

The Food and Drug Administration last week approved donanemab, or Kisunla, an intravenous treatment for early stage Alzheimer’s disease, adding a second medication for mild stages of a disease that robs people of memory and cognitive function.

Nikhil Palekar, Medical Director of the Stony Brook Center of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease and Director of the Stony Brook Alzheimer’s Disease Clinical Trials Program. Photo courtesy Stony Brook Medicine/Jeanne Neville

The monoclonal antibody drug from Eli Lilly joins Leqembi from drug makers Eisai and Biogen as ways to reduce the characteristic amyloid plaques that are often used to diagnose Alzheimer’s.

While the medications offer ways to slow but do not stop or reverse Alzheimer’s and come with potential significant side effects, doctors welcomed the treatment options for patients who are at risk of cognitive decline.

Dr. Nikhil Palekar, Medical Director of the Stony Brook Center of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease and Director of the Stony Brook Alzheimer’s Disease Clinical Trials Program, has been in the field for about two decades.

“Only in the last three years have I finally become quite optimistic” about new treatments, said Palekar, who is a consultant for Eisai. “We’ve had so many failures in the last few decades” with the current medications targeting the core pathologies.

That optimism comes at a time when more people in the United States and around the world are likely to deal with diseases that affect the elderly, as the number of people in the United States who are 85 and older is expected to double in the next 10 years.

The rates of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia is about 13 percent for people between 75 and 84 and is 33 percent for people over 85 according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

The Alzheimer’s Association issued a statement welcoming the addition of Kisunla to the medical arsenal.

“This is real progress,” Joanne Pike, Alzheimer’s Association president and CEO, said in a statement. The approval “allows people more options and greater opportunity to have more time.”

To be sure, Leqembi, which was approved in June of 2023 and Kisunla aren’t a guarantee for improvement and come with some potentially significant side effects.

Some patients had a risk of developing so-called amyloid-related imaging abnormalities, which includes brain edema, or ARIA-E or hemorrhaging, or ARIA-H in the brain.

ARIA can resolve on its own, but can, in rare cases, become severe and life-threatening.

Patients taking these medications receive regular monitoring, including MRI’s before various additional treatments.

Patients are “monitored carefully” before infusions to “go over symptom checklists to make sure they don’t have neurological symptoms,” said Palekar. “If they have any symptoms, the next step is to head to the closest emergency room to get an MRI of the brain, which is the only way to know if a side effect is causing symptoms.”

Nonetheless, under medical supervision, patients who took the medication as a part of clinical trials showed a progressive reduction in amyloid plaques up to 84 percent at 18 months compared to their baseline.

The benefits for Leqembi, which is given every two weeks, and Kisunla, which is administered every four weeks, were similar in terms of slowing the effect of cognitive decline, said Dr. Marc Gordon, Chief of Neurology at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks.

“Neither of them is a cure for Alzheimer’s,” said Gordon. “These medications are not a home run, but at least we’re on base.”

Not eligible

Not everyone is eligible to take these monoclonal antibody treatments.

These drugs are not available for people who have progressed beyond the mild stage of the disease. Clinicians advised those who are showing potential signs of Alzheimer’s to visit their doctors before the disease progresses beyond the point where these drugs might help.

Additionally, people on blood thinners, such as Eliquis, Coumadin, and Warfarin, can not take these drugs because a micro bleed could become a larger hemorrhage.

People who have an active malignant cancer also can’t take these drugs, nor can anyone who has had a reaction to these treatments in the past. The people who might likely know of an allergic reaction to these drugs are those who participated in clinical trials.

Doctors monitor their patients carefully when they administer new drugs and have epinephrine on hand in case of an allergic reaction.

Patients with two alleles – meaning from both parents – of a variant called APOE ε4 have a higher incidence of ARIA, including symptomatic, serious and severe AIRA, compared to those with one allele or non-carriers. 

If patients have this variant on both alleles, which occurs in about 15 percent of Alzheimer’s patients, Gordon and Palekar both counsel patients not to take the drug.

“We don’t think the risk is acceptable” for this patient population, Gordon said.

Ultimately, Palekar believes patients, their doctors and their families need to make informed calculations about the risks and benefits of any treatment, including for Alzheimer’s.

Beyond drugs

Palekar added that recent studies have also shown that an increase in physical exercise and activity, such as aerobic activity three times a week for 45 minutes each time, can “significantly help in patients with cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease,” he said.

After consulting with a physician to ensure that such activity is safe, patients can use a stationary bike or take walks which can benefit their bodies and their brains.

Additionally, various diets, such as the mind diet that combines the mediterranean diet and the DASH diet, which emphasize eating green leafy vegetables and berries among other things, can benefit the brain as well.

Patients also improve their cognitive health by continuing mental activity through games as well as by retaining social connections to friends, family and members of the community.

Like many other people, Palekar witnessed the ravages of Alzheimer’s first hand. As a teenager, he saw his aunt, who was smart, caring and loving, stare out the window without being able to communicate and engage in conversation as she battled the disease.

As a condition involving amyloid plaques, tau proteins, and inflammation, Alzheimer’s disease may require a combination of treatments that address the range of causes.

“There’s going to be a combined therapy,” said Gordon. “Just like when we’re treating cancer, we don’t have just one drug. It’s going to be important to figure out the sequencing and whether drugs are given sequentially or cumulatively. It has to be a multi-faceted approach.”

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From left, Adrian Krainer and Danilo Segovia with the Breakthrough Prize, which Krainer won in 2018. Photo from Danilo Segovia

By Daniel Dunaief

For many young children, the ideal peanut butter and jelly sandwich doesn’t include any crust, as an accommodating parent will trim off the unwanted parts before packing a lunch for that day.

Similarly, the genetic machinery that takes an RNA blueprint and turns it into proteins includes a so-called “spliceosome,” which cuts out the unwanted bits of genetic material, called introns, and pulls together exons.

Adrian Krainer. Photo from CSHL

When the machinery works correctly, cells produce proteins important in routine metabolism and everyday function. When it doesn’t function correctly, people can contract diseases.

Danilo Segovia, a PhD student at Stony Brook University who has been working in the laboratory of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Professor Adrian Krainer for seven years, recently published a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences about an important partner, called DDX23, that works with the key protein SRSF1 in the spliceosome.

“We obtained new insights into the splicing process,” said Krainer, who is the co-leader of the Gene Regulation & Inheritance program in the Cancer Center at CSHL. “The spliceosome is clearly important for every gene that has introns and every cell type that can have mutations.”

Krainer’s lab has worked with the regulator protein SRSF1 since 1990. Building on the extensive work he and members of his lab performed, Krainer was able to develop an effective treatment for Spinal Muscular Atrophy, which is a progressive disease that impacts the muscles used for breathing, eating, crawling and walking.

In children with SMA, Krainer created an antisense oligonucleotide, which enables the production of a key protein at a back up gene through more efficient splicing. The treatment, which is one of three on the market, has changed the prognosis for people with SMA.

At this point, the way DDX23 and SRSF1 work together is unclear, but the connection is likely important to prepare the spliceosome to do the important work of reading RNA sequences and assembling proteins.

Needle in a protein haystack

Thanks to the work of Krainer and others, scientists knew that SRSF1 performed an important regulatory role in the spliceosome.

What they didn’t know, however, was how other protein worked together with this regulator to keep the machinery on track.

Danilo Segovia in the lab at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Photo by Constance Burkin/CSHL

Using a new screening technology developed in other labs that enabled Segovia to see proteins that come in proximity with or interact with SRSF1, he came up with a list of 190 potential candidates.

Through a lengthy and detailed set of experiments, Segovia screened around 30 potential proteins that might play a role in the spliceosome.

One experiment after another enabled him to check proteins off the list, the way prospective college students who visit a school that is too hilly, too close to a city, too far from a city, or too cold in the winter do amid an intense selection process.

Then, on Feb. 15 of last year, about six years after he started his work in Krainer’s lab, Segovia had a eureka moment.

“After doing the PhD for so long, you get that result you were waiting for,” Segovia recalled.

The PhD candidate didn’t tell anyone at first because he wanted to be sure the interaction between the proteins was relevant and real.

“Lucky for us, the story makes sense,” Segovia said.

Krainer appreciated Segovia’s perseverance and patience as well as his willingness to help other members of his lab with structural work.

Krainer described Segovia as the “resident structural expert who would help everybody else who needed to get that insight.”

Krainer suggested that each of these factors had been studied separately in the process, without the realization that they work together.

This is the beginning of the story, as numerous questions remain.

“We reported this interaction and now we have to try to understand its implications,” said Krainer. “How is it driving or contributing to splice assembly.”

Other factors also likely play an important role in this process as well.

Krainer explained that Segovia’s workflow allowed him to prioritize interacting proteins for further study. Krainer expects that many of the others on the list are worth further analysis.

At some point, Krainer’s lab or others will also work to crystallize the combination of these proteins as the structure of such units often reveals details about how these pieces function.

Segovia and Krainer worked together with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Professor Leemor Joshua-Tor, who does considerably more biochemistry work in her research than the members of Krainer’s lab.

When a cowboy met a witch

A native of Montevideo, Uruguay, Segovia came to Stony Brook in part because he was conducting research on the gene P53, which is often mutated in forms of human cancer.

Segovia had read the research of Ute Moll, Endowed Renaissance Professor of Cancer Biology at Stony Brook University, who had conducted important P53 research.

“I really liked the paper she did,” said Segovia. “When I was applying for college in the United States for my PhD, I decided I’m for sure going to apply to Stony Brook.”

Even though Segovia hasn’t met Moll, he has benefited from his journey to Long Island.

During rotations at CSHL, Segovia realized he wanted to work with RNA. He found a scientific connection as well as a cultural one when he discovered that Krainer is from the same city in Uruguay.

Krainer said his lab has had a wide range of international researchers, with as many as 25 countries represented. “The whole institution is like that. People who go into science are naturally curious about a lot of things, including cultures.”

Segovia not only found a productive setting in which to conduct his PhD research, but also met his wife Polona Šafarič Tepeš, a former researcher at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory who currently works at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. Tepeš is originally from Slovenia.

The couple met at a Halloween party, where Segovia came as a cowboy and Tepeš dressed as a witch. They eloped on November 6, 2020 and were the first couple married after the Covid lockdown at the town hall in Portland, Maine.

Outside of the lab, Segovia enjoys playing the clarinet, which he has been doing since he was 11.

As for science, Segovia grew up enjoying superhero movies that involve mutations and had considered careers as a musician, scientist or detective.

“Science is universal,” he said. “You can work wherever you want in the world. I knew I wanted to travel, so it all worked out.”

As for the next steps, after Segovia defends his thesis in July, he is considering doing post doctoral research or joining a biotechnology company.

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Photo courtesy of Vanderbilt Planetarium

Exciting New Planetarium Show Explores a Sustainable Future in Space

The Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum’s Reichert Planetarium, 180 Little Neck Road, Centerport has premiered a new show, FORWARD! To the Moon, which runs Tuesday through Sunday, at 3 pm.

Take a journey beyond the Earth toward a sustainable future in space. NASA’s Artemis program will land the first woman and person of color on the surface of the Moon.

Narrator Kari Byron from Crash Test World and MythBusters launches us on a journey beyond the Earth toward a sustainable future in space. Within a single lifetime, we’ve progressed from the first space rocket launch to using space technologies in our everyday lives. Now, we are ready to start a new chapter in the history of human endeavor – to take our first steps toward a permanent, off-world presence.
Recommended for ages 8+
Purchase tickets here.

 

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Clockwise from top left, Musankwa sanyatiensis leg bones as they were discovered in the ground on Spurwing Island, Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe. Image courtesy of Paul Barrett; Musankwa sanyatiensis fossil bones in situ, after mechanical preparation, and after CT scanning. Image courtesy of Paul Barrett; and an artist reconstruction of Musankwa sanyatiensis showing position of fossil bones (in blue). Rendering by Atashni Moopen

By Daniel Dunaief

The dinosaur family tree has few members in Zimbabwe, as only four fossils have been found in the region.

Kimberley Chapelle

Recently, researchers from several universities, including Kimberley “Kimi” Chapelle, Assistant Professor in the Department of Anatomical Sciences in the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, described a new species of dinosaur from a 210 million year-old fossilized hind leg in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.

Reconstructing the entire dinosaur from the bones they discovered in Lake Kariba, the scientists, led by Paul Barrett from the Natural History Museum of London, estimated that this plant-eating sauropodomorph weighed about 850 pounds and was among the larger dinosaurs in the late Triassic period.

The first new dinosaur species described in the Mid-Zambezi Basin of Northern Zimbabwe in more than 50 years, the sauropodomorph survived a mass extinction event that wiped out about 76 percent of all terrestrial and marine creatures. The sauropodomoprh group includes animals like the enormous Brontosaurus, which came later in the evolution of the lineage. Chapelle was on the field expedition in 2017 when Barrett noticed the fossil sticking out of the ground.

The discovery was “extremely exciting, as there was a high chance it was going to be something new,” said Chapelle. “It was well-preserved in articulation and we knew the bones came from the same individual.” She participated in the lengthy process that involved excavating the rare find, creating a reconstruction, isolating the bones to look at the structure, describing the fossil and comparing it to other, closely-related dinosaurs to determine where it sits on the family tree.

The researchers named this species Musankwa sanyatiensis, using the name of the houseboat Musankwa on which they lived and worked as they searched for fossils during the dry seasons around the man-made Lake Kariba.

“Musankwa is cool because it’s one of only a handful of dinosaurs from Zimbabwe, a country with amazing fossil resources that have yet to be fully discovered,” explained Jonah Choiniere, a Professor in the Evolutionary Studies Institute at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg South Africa, who served as Chapelle’s PhD advisor. “Because we don’t have any specimens of Musankwa in similar-age rocks in South Africa, it tells us that during the Triassic period there might have been slightly different species groups of dinosaurs in the two countries.”

The Earth looked considerably different when this long-necked dinosaur was searching for its plant meal, as the land masses of the planet were combined in one supercontinent called Pangaea. In that time, Musankwa’s predators likely included meat-eating therapods and crocodile-like reptiles, which are ancestors of modern crocodiles.

Keep your head up

Hunting for fossils in Zimbabwe, which presented an opportunity for this kind of discovery, came with some challenges.

Kimberley Chapelle with Jonah Choiniere at Lake Kariba. Photo from Jonah Choiniere.

For starters, researchers lived aboard the houseboat Munsankwa, whose name in the Tongan dialect means “boy close to marriage.” Lake Kariba, which was created between 1958 and 1963 and is the largest artificial lake and reservoir by volume, gets “really hot in the summer and all you want to do is swim,” said Chapelle.

That, however, is ill-advised, as modern crocodiles roam the waters of the lake so regularly that people stay far from the shoreline.

To combat the heat, Chapelle drank plenty of water, applied regular sunscreen and wore large hats and long sleeves to keep the strong rays of the sun off her skin. Additionally, the researchers worked between morning and afternoon. The scientific expedition had an armed game ranger with them, to keep scientists safe.

“When you’re looking at fossils, you are always looking at the ground,” Chapelle said. At one point, she looked up and saw a hippo about 50 feet from her. “You have to remember to be aware of your surroundings,” she  said.

Field experience

Choiniere, who inspired his former student to consider entering the field when he first arrived at the University of Witwatersrand, saw Chapelle in action when she first did some field work.

Chapelle’s scientific curiosity never faltered, despite some significant field misadventures that included staying in a rotten old farmhouse without plumbing, sleeping in tents in the freezing cold in the backyard of a rural pub, hiking through brambles over the side of a mountain, and touring around Germany eating nothing but stewed cabbage and pork in brown sauce, and staying three to a hostel room to save money.

“In [Chapelle’s] case, there was never any doubt — she loved the field from day one and has never looked back,” Choiniere explained.

Choiniere believes Chapelle has a “unique skillset among paleontologists,” as her talents include math, observations of shape and structure, histology, three-dimensional data processing and field work. Beyond her diverse skills, Choiniere appreciated Chapelle’s time management skills and her pleasant demeanor, which enabled her to greet him with a smile even when he delivered his part later than she anticipated.

A promising LI start

Chapelle, who started working at Stony Brook at the end of January, is enjoying a return to New York. A native of Johannesburg, South Africa, she  had done a postdoctoral fellowship at the American Museum of Natural History in 2021.

A current resident of Rocky Point, Chapelle lives close to the beach. She and her husband Dominic Stratford, an Adjunct Professor at Stony Brook and Archaeologist and Associate Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, brought their Australian Shepherd named Shango with them.

A runner who recently completed the Shelter Island 10K and who loves taking pictures, Chapelle, who is the daughter of a doctor, originally thought she’d want to become a veterinarian. When she took a course in her third year of college with Choiniere, she was hooked by the link between evolution and anatomy.

As for the recent paper, Chapelle is pleased that people can read about this newly discovered dinosaur.

“This is years and years of work that gets put into this,” she said. “It also gives us a push to keep finding new things and publishing.”

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From left, Raimundo Espinoza, founder and executive director of Conservación ConCiencia in Puerto Rico, is interviewed by Baratunde Thurston in Episode One of the docuseries. Photo courtesy of PBS

Reviewed by Jeffrey Sanzel

PBS’s Hope in the Water is a three-part docuseries investigating the world of aquafarmers and fishers. The series shows viable alternatives to providing food for an ever-growing population while supporting and sustaining the environment. Unlike many documentaries narrowing on the doom-and-gloom aspects, Hope in the Water leans into its name, celebrating individual and group efforts and emphasizing cooperative undertakings that have already made a difference. Climate change is touched upon but rarely central.

Baratunde Thurston in Episode One of ‘Hope in the Water’. Photo courtesy of PBS

Hope in the Water comes from the multi-award-winning producer David E. Kelley (Love & Death, Lincoln Lawyer, Big Little Lies) in association with four-time James Beard Award and Emmy Award winner Chef Andrew Zimmern and his production company, Intuitive Content (What’s Eating America, Family Dinner, Andrew Zimmern’s Wild Game Kitchen, Feral).

Episode One, The Fish in the Sea, which premiered on June 19, breaks down into three sections. The first details the evolution of COAST—Community of Arran Seabed Trust—a Scottish grassroots movement that set out to “manage the seas on behalf of the next generation.” Inspired by a No-Take zone in New Zealand, COAST “campaigned to stop mobile fishing that damages [their] seabeds, jeopardizing future livelihoods and wildlife.” COAST saw the change and suspension of legal protections and faced governmental roadblocks but ultimately triumphed. The new approach led to a revitalization of the waters as well as a species abundance increase of 102%. 

A joyously energetic Baratunde Thurston provides much of the narrative drive in the second section, which takes place in Puerto Rico. Thurston is the host and executive producer of America Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston and the creator and host of How to Citizen with Baratunde. The Emmy-nominated hyphenate (host-producer-writer-public speaker) is the ideal cheerleader for issues that intersect technology, politics, and climate. 

A scene from Episode 2 of ‘Hope in the Water’/ Photo courtesy of PBS

Devastated by 2017’s Hurricane Maria, the middle of the documentary tells of the founding of the World Central Kitchen (preparing and feeding over four million survivors) and the grants given to fishers for boat repairs, new engine purchases, and repairing the fishing ecosystem. At the heart is the fishing of the diamondback squid. The large sea creature, often up to sixty pounds and fished from depths as deep as 1,700 feet, is almost entirely meat. The shift promotes resilience and moves away from a dependence on imports.

The final segment shows Hawaii’s He’eisa Fishpond, eighty-eight acres and an eight-hundred-year-old location of traditional Hawaiian aquaculture. Here, one indigenous woman strives to grow fish traditionally, keeping one hundred percent of the resources local. (Hawaii is the largest consumer of fish per capita in the nation yet imports most of its seafood. The market economy overturned the long-standing fishpond culture early in the twentieth century.) This third chapter is the most intimate and personal, highlighting the power of the individual to engage the community.

The film is quickly—if often peripatetically—paced, with a constant cutting from interviews to broad oceanic vistas—rarely holding for more than fifteen seconds. (There is a vague sense that creators fear losing their audience.) In addition to an array of talking heads—activists, scientists, environmentalists, fishers, politicians—historical footage, personal photos, legal documents, and newspaper clippings flash and integrate throughout. 

A scene from Episode 3 of ‘Hope in the Water’. Photo courtesy of PBS

Episode One opens with a storm in Puerto Rico, played for dramatic effect. The entire sequence repeats when the narrative returns to this thread with a mostly tacit conclusion, justified with a tag: “These are real people, and the story is dangerous,” which is all “part of the cost of the food that we eat.” These are minor cavils in an otherwise engaging and refreshing boost of optimism. While the film presents a variety of facts—we eat twice as much seafood now as we did fifty years ago—statistics never bog down the film or obscure the story’s humanity.

In a predominantly upbeat approach, Hope in the Water embraces the oceans as the heart of the earth’s survival. The film’s message is not one of “hands off.” It expresses the necessity to be aware of the environment but also acknowledges the “need to feed.” The film is a worthwhile fifty minutes that is a tribute to the strength of community and the power of individuals to make change for the greater good. It “starts with us.”

The series continues on PBS with Farming the Water on June 26, which highlights solutions to the pollution and environmental issues surrounding farmed fish, and concludes with Changing the Menu on July 3, taking up a diversification of seafood. To view the entire series online, visit www.pbs.org/show/hope-in-the-water/.

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Eden Campbell, center, won the top spot among kindergarten projects. Photo by Kevin Coughlin/BNL
Eden Campbell
Milan Patel
Advika Arun
Isla Cone
Jude Roseto
Luke Dinsman
Owen Stone

More than 250 students from 65 Suffolk County schools entered science projects in the 2024 Elementary School Science Fair hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory on June 8.

Students used the scientific method to explore all kinds of questions about their favorite things and the world around them. The annual fair organized by Brookhaven Lab’s Office of Educational Programs celebrated and showcased all projects submitted, ranging from finding the best detangler for Barbie dolls’ hair to using a hand-crafted wind tunnel to test wing shapes for the best lift.

“Our judges enjoyed reading through the projects and were impressed with questions, ideas, and designs,” Amanda Horn, a Brookhaven Lab administrator who coordinated the science fair, said before announcing the winning projects. “We certainly have some future scientists and engineers here today.”

Local teachers and Lab staff volunteered as judges to pick the top spots and honorable mentions for each grade level, from kindergarten to sixth grade. The competition also included a Judges’ Choice award for creative questions.

Students who earned first place in their grade level received medals and ribbons, along with banners to hang at their school to recognize the achievement. All participants received a ribbon in recognition of having won their grade level competition at their school.

Science Fair awards

The following students earned first place in their grade level: 

◆ Kindergartener Eden Campbell, Ocean Avenue Elementary School in Northport for “Tasting Color.” Eden’s project explored whether the color of food affects its taste. What was her favorite part of the experiment? “Eating the jellybeans,” she said.

◆ First grader Milan Patel, Ocean Avenue Elementary School in Northport for “How Does the Direction of a House Affect the Amount of Heat Absorbed from the Sun?” 

◆ Second grader Advika Arun, Bretton Woods Elementary School in Hauppauge, for “Slower and Steadier the Safer it Will Be.” For her experiment, Advika crafted small parachutes to test which materials fostered a slow and safe landing. She found that nylon worked the best. “I liked the part where we dropped them and we saw the speed they went,” she said. She added of her first-place win, “I’m really excited!”

◆ Third grader Isla Cone, Love of Learning Montessori School in Centerport, for “The Impact of pH on Boba.” Isla tested food-friendly liquids with different pH levels to find out which could form boba, the round and chewy pearls found in bubble tea. She confirmed that boba spheres occurred in liquids with a pH between 4 and 10. “I wanted to do a project that was related to food,” she said. “My favorite part was getting to eat all the stuff!”

◆ Fourth grader Jude Roseto, Cutchogue East Elementary School in Cutchogue, for “Rise of the Machines: AI vs. Human Creativity Writing.” 

◆ Fifth grader Luke Dinsman, Northport Middle School in Northport, for “Maximizing Moisture — Nature Knows Best.” In his project, Dinsman found that homemade, natural moisturizers worked better than store-bought lotions at treating the dry skin he experiences as a swimmer. A shea body butter with beeswax turned out to be the best option. Making the lotions and testing them was the best part of the process, Luke said. He added, “It’s just a really cool project.”

◆ Sixth grader Owen Stone, East Quogue Elementary in East Quogue for “Can Common Foods Help Grow Potatoes?” 

Judges’ choice

Kindergarten: John Jantzen, Sunrise Drive Elementary School in Sayville

First Grade: Julianna Zick, West Middle Island Elementary School in Middle Island

Second Grade: Timothy Donoghue, Riley Avenue Elementary School in Calverton

Third Grade: Charlotte Sheahan, Pulaski Road School in East Northport

Fourth Grade: Dominick Padolecchia, Sunrise Drive Elementary School in Sayville

Fifth Grade: Isabella Maharlouei, Raynor Country Day School in Speonk

Sixth Grade: Zoe Wood, Northport Middle School in Northport

Honorable mentions

Kindergarten: Michael McCarthy, Pines Elementary School in Smithtown; Scarlett Luna, Hampton Bays Elementary School in Hampton Bays; Autumn Vlacci, Riley Avenue Elementary School in Calverton

First Grade: Tyler Paino, Bretton Woods Elementary School in Hauppauge; Logan Pierre, Brookhaven Elementary School in Brookhaven; Nora Boecherer, Edna Louise Spear Elementary School in Port Jefferson

Second Grade: Charlotte Tholl, Forest Brook Elementary School; Gabi Opisso, Cutchogue East Elementary School in Cutchogue; Matthew Ingram, Ocean Avenue Elementary School in Northport; Erios Pikramenos, Frank J. Carasiti Elementary School in Rocky Point; Maya Salman, Edna Louise Spear Elementary School in Port Jefferson

Third Grade: Emma Puccio Edelman, Hiawatha Elementary School in Lake Ronkonkoma; Vincent Calvanese, Pines Elementary School in Smithtown; Kaylee Krawchuck, Ridge Elementary School in Ridge; Isabella Guldi, Joseph A. Edgar Intermediate School in Rocky Point

Fourth Grade: Juliam Gianmugnai, Ridge Elementary School in Ridge; Joseph Frederick, Lincoln Avenue Elementary School in Sayville; Gabriel Affatato, Pulaski Road School East Northport; Levi Beaver, Raynor Country Day School in Speonk

Fifth Grade: Evangeline Jamros, Edna Louise Spear Elementary in Port Jefferson; Colette Breig, RJO Intermediate School in Kings Park; Riona Mittal, Bretton Woods Elementary School in Hauppauge

Sixth Grade: Eamon Ryan, Lindenhurst Middle School in Lindenhurst; Michael Mineo, Silas Wood 6th Grade Center in Huntington Station; Alex Uihlein, Montauk Public School in Montauk.

Science Fair Expo

While their projects were on display, students and their families browsed a Science Fair Expo that featured up-close, hands-on demonstrations guided by Brookhaven Lab staff, interns, and volunteers.

The activities connected to science concepts and tools found across the Lab, from magnets and particle accelerators to electron microscopy and conductors. Students peered through microscopes, learned how fuel cells and solar panels work, became junior beamline operators, and more.

 

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Microcystis bloom in Lake Erie. Photo by Matthew Harke

Study links warming since the 1990s to the intensification of Microcystis blooms

Climate change is causing a series of maladies by warming land and sea. A study published online in Limnology and Oceanography Letters, demonstrates that one consequence of climate change that has already occurred is the spread and intensification of toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie.

A team of scientists led by Christopher Gobler, PhD, a Professor  in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) at Stony Brook University, used high resolution satellite-based temperature data along with the growth response of the blue-green algae that plagues Lake Erie –  Microcystis. Their study demonstrates that since the 1990s, the western basin of Lake Erie has warmed and become significantly more hospitable to this alga and that ‘blooms’ of Microcystis have become more intense in these same regions. Microcystis can cause serious health concerns as the gastrointestinal toxin, microcystin, can be harmful to humans and animals.

“Toxic or harmful algal blooms are not a new phenomenon,” says Gobler. “These events can sicken humans by contaminating drinking water or harm aquatic life as toxins cycle through food webs.”

And the problem is worsening. “The intensity of these events has increased across the globe and this study has demonstrated that warming since the 20th century has expanded the bloom season of Microcystis in the western basin of Lake Erie by a month,” notes Gobler.

While several studies have predicted that toxic algae blooms may become more common in the future, this is one of the first studies to link the recent intensification of Microcystis blooms in a specific ecosystem to decadal warming. Confidence in the findings of the study came from the match of the modeled findings to the intensification of these events in western Lake Erie during this century.

“It was remarkable and reassuring to see our hindcast models fall in-line with observations in Lake Erie over the past 30 years,” said co-author, Benjamin Kramer, PhD, who received his doctorate at Stony Brook University and is now a post-doctoral scholar at the University of Minnesota. “It gives us confidence that these model parameters and our approach can be applied to hindcasting and even forecasting of these events elsewhere.”

The study brought together biologists with climate scientists who made use of ecosystem observations, laboratory experiments, and thirty years of satellite-based temperature estimates that are made daily and with a very high degree of spatial resolution.

“Today, collaborating with scientists outside of your discipline is almost a requirement to solve the tough questions,” said climate modeler, and co-author, Owen Doherty, PhD. “This study showed the value of interdisciplinary collaboration through a novel combination of laboratory, observational, and modeling work.”

And the study has important consequences for policy and the future of the oceans.

“This study demonstrates that the warming that has already occurred is now impacting human health and our water resources,” said Gobler. “An important implication of the study is that carbon emission and climate change-related policy decisions made today are likely to have important consequences for the spreading and intensification of toxic algal blooms in large lake ecosystems.”

Caption: Microcystis bloom in Lake Erie.

Photo credit: Matthew Harke

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Luis Medina Faull conducting research on a ship in Venezuela.

By Daniel Dunaief

Typical sampling of ocean water excludes small microplastics which, as it turns out, are much more abundant even than larger pieces.

Luis Medina Faull

That’s the conclusion of a recent paper published in Marine Pollution Bulletin based on research conducted by Luis Medina Faull, Lecturer and IDEA Fellow, Sustainable Climate Justice and Solutions at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University.

Using Raman microspectrometry to test ocean waters from the Caribbean to the Arctic, Medina Faull discovered smaller microplastics that were 10 to 100 times more abundant than the larger ones.

“We can’t see these plastics and, until recently, we couldn’t even track the samples,” said Medina Faul. “These small pieces can be easily ingested by marine organisms, such as fish” who translocate them into tissues where humans can consume them. “They are an emerging contaminant in our ocean so we have to be very concerned.”

Microplastics not only harm organisms that live in the ocean, but also create a health threat to humans, appearing in breast milk, heart muscles, blood, and waste products such as feces.

Microplastics can alter cell activity. The threat these particles pose to the environment and human health increases the urgency to understand this contaminant.

At this point, scientists don’t yet know how much of these microplastics fish have consumed although every species studied has evidence of microplastic ingestion.

Plankton nets can find microplastics that are between 300 and 500 micrometers or larger. Medina Faull, however, can detect microplastics that are 1 to 300 micrometers.

In samples taken from the Northeast Coast of Medina Faull’s native Venezuela, the Gulf Stream Current, which includes the Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Arctic Ocean, the Stony Brook scientist found that the most abundant microplastics were between 1 and 14 micrometers, with 60 percent under 5 micrometers.

His findings exceeded previous combined reports about the abundance of these microplastics by six orders of magnitude.

While the larger particles of microplastics weighs more in the ocean, “it is important to measure the number of particles and their mass,” Medina Faull explained in an email, which will help “to understand the plastic budget in the ocean and the possible ecological or biological impact of these particles.”

The general public, government agencies and the scientific community have become increasingly concerned about microplastics. Medina Faull recently attended the first New York State Microplastics summit organized by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation and the State University of New York at Buffalo. They discussed the kind of microplastics thresholds that could be harmful to humans and the environment.

The challenges of small pieces

The primary ingredient in plastics, which are made from fossil fuels, is carbon, constituting about 70 to 90 percent of the material that creates packaging, coverings, wraps and other products.

Luis Medina Faull conducting research on a ship in Venezuela.

Determining the origin and content of these microplastics, which are a collection of materials manufactured and sold in different countries, is challenging. Microplastics in the ocean come from mismanagement of solid waste, dumping, fisheries, tourism and other sources.

For the larger pieces of microplastics, which are still exponentially smaller than the eight-inch water bottle that people drink at baseball games and picnics, researchers can determine where the plastic was made.

For the smaller pieces, scientists can link materials to specific activities. Polystyrene is used in floating devices, such as buoys, as well as in fishing, boating and tourism. Polystyrene is also used in food containers and clothing. For these smaller microplastics, scientists have a hard time pointing out the source.

Additionally, smaller microplastics of the kind Medina Faull found in abundance, can contain a mix of particles, suggesting that the ocean contaminant likely came from a recycling process.

“We call them plastics, but there are [numerous] types of materials with different chemical compositions,” he said. These may interact differently with the environment and the oceanic organisms.

At this point, Medina Faull suggested that the majority of the ocean remains undersampled, which makes it difficult to know the concentration and distribution of microplastics.

Microplastics are also distributed in different parts of the ocean, as some of them float at the surface while others sink to the bottom. The process for vertical transport in the water column isn’t well studied.

New plastic producing technology

Some companies are working to develop bioplastic materials. Made from natural polymers or polymers produced by algae or bacteria, these plastics might dissolve more rapidly and provide a safer environmental alternative. These could be photo, bio or chemically degraded faster than synthetic polymers.

As for his own consumer decisions, Medina Faull thinks about ways to reduce his own plastic use regularly.

For starters, he tries to reduce the use of plastics in his own house. He drinks water from the tap and, when he does use plastic, he tries to make sure it’s more than for a single use. 

He urges residents concerned about the use of plastics to buy local products, which not only help the community but also reduce the need for as much plastics for shipping.

When he buys toys for his two-year-old daughter Aila Marina, he tries to make sure they’re manufactured with recycled plastic or wood.

Aerosolized plastics

When microplastics are small enough, they can become aerosolized amid a heavy surf, as the impact of water releases them into the air.

Areas in the Arctic and Antarctic have now found evidence of microplastics that were carried by the wind.

“We know that they are part of these complex transfer mechanisms in the ocean,” said Medina Faull.

A native of Margarita Island, Venezuela, Medina Faull spent considerable time growing up in and around water. He grew up going to the beach, surfing, scuba diving, and spearfishing.

Medina Faull and his wife Elizabeth Suter, who is also a marine scientist and works at Molloy University in Rockville Centre, live in Long Beach with their daughter.

When he’s not on, near or studying the water, Medina Faull appreciates the opportunity to create objects in his own woodworking shop. He has made furniture for his office, a toy chest for his daughter and picture frames.

As for the message from his work, Medina Faull believes any contamination is cause for concern.

“We need to be aware” of microplastics, he said. There are “so many things we don’t understand yet.”

For consumers, he urges people to be careful about what they are buying and consider ways to reduce plastics.

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A humpback whale with propeller scars in inshore waters of the New York Bight. A humpback whale surface feeding in inshore waters of the New York Bight. Image taken under NOAA Permit No 26260. Credit: Thorne Lab, Stony Brook University

By Daniel Dunaief

Concerns about the connection between offshore wind farms and whales strandings are likely just a lot of hot air.

Pictured from left, Lesley Thorne with lab membersChelsi Napoli, PhD candidate; Nathan Hirtle, PhD candidate; and Josh Meza-Fidalgo, Research Associate.

In a recent study published in the journal Conservation Biology, Lesley Thorne, Associate Professor in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University, and David Wiley, Research Coordinator for NOAA’s Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, pointed to vessel strikes as an important driver of the increase in humpback whale strandings.

To address concerns about whether the development of offshore wind farms led to the death of these cetaceans, Thorne and Wiley compared the distribution and timing of humpbacks between 1995 and 2022 relative to anthropogenic factors, such as vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear, as well as elements associated with wind farm development.

“We know that there is a narrative out there suggesting that the surveys used for site assessment and characterization are factors” in these whale strandings, said Thorne. “Studying strandings, mortalities and injuries of large whales is important as it can provide information” about the relative impact of different threats.

The researchers found that New York and Virginia were hotspots of mortalities and serious injuries, with a subset of strandings confirming that vessel strikes were the cause of serious injuries or death.

A number of parts likely played a role. Beginning in 2016, vessel traffic in New York and New Jersey increased at the same time that observers noticed an increase in humpback whales.

These whales have also expanded into new foraging areas in recent years, regularly using inshore New York waters as a foraging ground starting around 2011.

The increase in the population of menhaden, which are a fatty, energy-rich forage fish, in the mid 2010s also expanded humpback whale feeding ground.

Menhaden tend to form dense surface schools in shallow coastal waters in mid-Atlantic states such as New York. These cetaceans often use surface foraging behavior to feed on menhaden, which could make them more vulnerable to vessel strikes.

Understanding and appreciating the causes of these strandings could lead to informed decision-making, in developing offshore wind farms and in creating responsible regulations for various vessels around the time whales might be foraging.

Wind farm activity

During the time these scientists studied humpback whale strandings, seven wind turbines were constructed and then operational. 

Looking at humpback strandings, the highest number of strandings in Rhode Island and neighboring states during the unusual mortality event occurred in years following construction, including 2017 and 2022, and not in the year when construction occurred. 

In Virginia, the highest number happened years before construction.

Their assessment of these patterns did not suggest a link between strandings and site assessment and characterization surveys for offshore wind development. Survey authorizations increased over the course of the unusual mortality events and primarily occurred between New Jersey and Massachusetts, whereas elevated patterns of strandings did not follow this pattern.

In the year 2016, Massachusetts had one survey authorization related to offshore wind.  Massachusetts, however, showed a lower number of strandings relative to other years, while the area from North Carolina to Rhode Island had higher strandings.

Thorne and Wiley are not involved in the stranding response. They used the data from the National Marine Mammal Strandings Database, which provides standardized data on marine mammals strandings collected by strandings responders.

They studied changes in the location and timing of humpback whale strandings, and of humpback whale mortalities and serious injuries that were caused by vessel strikes and entanglements.

To be sure, Thorne emphasized that their study focused on humpback whales, which are the species that strand most frequently. Other large whale species have different distributions, foraging and habitat preferences, which clouds the picture for any broader analysis.

Vessel strikes

The biggest increases in strandings occurred from Rhode Island to Virginia.

In the waters near New York and Virginia, strandings had some of the highest increases. Stranding responders confirmed the prominent role of vessel strikes in mortalities and serious injuries near these states.

As for the whales, they have also changed their spring and summer feeding ranges. Until more recently, the southern feeding range extended much further north, to the Gulf of Maine as well as areas farther north, such as Iceland and Greenland.

While humpbacks have foraged in New York waters periodically in the past, they have been consistently feeding in these waters during the summer since 2011.

The whales are following one of their food sources, as the population of menhaden has increased off the south shore of Long Island and in other mid Atlantic states.

Juveniles have also used the waters off the coast of Virginia as a supplemental feeding ground.

“We know that vessel strikes, along with entanglement in fishing gear, are the major threats to large whales around the world,” said Thorne.

When boats are moving more rapidly and whales are feeding in regions with a higher density of vessel traffic, such mortality events are more likely.

Possible solutions

For starters, the scientists urge further study to add to the body of research, including a more thorough understanding of the movements and habitat use of humpbacks and other large whales. 

Additionally, assessing the abundance and distribution of prey species will contribute to an understanding of habitat use and the health of large whales.

She also suggested further work to analyze feeding and feeding in shallow coastal habitats with the risk of vessel strikes.

Slowing ships down reduces the risk from a vessel strike.

“There’s a lot of interest in how we can better use dynamic management instead of management that is focused on fixed areas and times,” said Thorne.

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A scene from a previous Maker Faire Long Island. Photo courtesy of Long Island Explorium
A scene from a previous Maker Faire Long Island. Photo courtesy of Long Island Explorium
A scene from a previous Maker Faire Long Island. Photo courtesy of Long Island Explorium

By Tara Mae

Ingenuity and imagination synthesize into innovation. The Long Island Explorium, a science and engineering museum in Port Jefferson, celebrates the projects and persons involved in this process with the 7th annual Maker Faire Long Island at the Port Jefferson Village Center, LI Explorium and Harborfront Park at 101 East Broadway on Saturday, June 8 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Featuring more than 75 exhibits and 120 presenters showcasing their creations, this multi-sensory experiential event lauds efforts in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM). Exhibits range from robotics and cosplay design to environmental engineering projects, scientific advancements, kinetic art, and fire sculptures.

Highlights include:

Adam Foster’s Royal Trumpets: Majestic 15-foot kinetic pyrotechnic sound sculptures.

Mandalorian Mercs Costume Club: Bringing the Star Wars universe to life. (pictured above)

Long Island Drone Soccer: An electrifying new sport combining drone technology with soccer.

Princesses with Powertools: Empowering young engineers with hands-on projects.

Balloon Bot Brawl: A thrilling robot showdown led by high school maker Ray Rumore.

Learn to Solder Workshop: Taught by Elijah Horland of Mythbusters Jr, sponsored by PCBWay.

Besides individual contributions, organizations such as Suffolk County Community College, Brookhaven National Labs, and Stony Brook University will show some of their work. Scientists and educators from the university will also participate in ‘Ask a Scientist” Q&A sessions that enable young attendees to cultivate their curiosity as they ask scientific questions of professionals. 

In addition to the dialogues, displays, and demonstrations, the Faire will have live musical performances, including a songwriter showcase, from 1 to 5 p.m., and two performances by the Umisora Taiko Drummers.

“Maker Faire is a global movement that combines elements of classic science fairs with innovation, creativity, and STEAM. It is known as the ‘Greatest Show & Tell on Earth,’ showcasing makers’ ingenuity and creativity. Maker Faire Long Island…embodies this spirit,” said Long Island Explorium’s Director of Digital Media/Marketing/Programming Lisa Collet Rodriguez.

With conventions in other locations like New York City, San Francisco, Barcelona, and Berlin, the Maker Faire Long Island is part of a larger international initiative that fuses scientific experimentation with artistic expression. By embracing these pursuits, the family-friendly occasion seeks to engage audiences of all ages, with interactive elements geared towards youth. 

“I wish I had [Maker Faires] when I was younger. They have provided me a platform and support to share my works with tens of thousands of makers across the country, and inspire future generations of makers. It’s a win win,” said maker Adam Foster, of Rochester.

A musician, steel fabricator designer, and engineer, Foster made “The Royal Trumpets,” six 15 foot tall kinetic sculptures. They allude to the trumpets that historically announced royalty. And at the Maker Faire, this grandeur is both a celebration of community and an invitation for new members to join it. 

Encouraging visitors to dream and learn are not the only collective goals shared by many of the participants. The Faire is an opportunity for pragmatic ponderers and methodical mavericks to network with each other.

“Popular subcultures always have places to gather, such as Comic-Con. Maker Faire is that place for people passionate about the intersection of Arts and STEM now called STEAM,” maker Elijah Horland, of Brooklyn, said. “At a Maker Faire we gather, not just to show off our skills, but to collaborate with peers, mentors, and beginners alike in a supportive environment.”

Through his company, Not-A-Bomb, Horland develops mechatronic projects that incorporate engineering lessons curated to entertain and educate. He is a MythBuster from the Discovery Channel reality show and the executive producer of Maker Faire Coney Island. 

A number of the makers participate in other Maker Faires throughout the country, sharing their projects with interested parties and building relationships. 

“Maker Faires are these amazing events where people from all different backgrounds and with all different interests can come together and find a bigger community,” said maker Caeley Looney of Austin, Texas.

Originally from Farmingdale, Looney is the founder and CEO of Reinvented Inc., a nonprofit organization that hosts Princesses with Powertools. The program connects girls with women in Science, Technology, and Math (STEM) professions who, while dressed as princesses, teach them how to operate their first power tools. 

“Innovation is diversity driven. Without having diverse minds and voices working on the leading edge of science and technology, new ideas, products, and solutions will never be created. Women play a huge role in this, but historically have been left out of these fields and conversations — and that bias and pushback is still felt by students today,” she added. 

Bringing STE[A]M to individuals who historically have less access to it is a motivating factor and ongoing endeavor for many Faire associates, according to Long Island Explorium Executive Director Angeline Judex.

“Many people don’t think of museums as agents of social change in communities, but the Long Island Explorium plays a vital role on Long Island as a lighthouse of enriching STEM programs that foster inventive thinking and serve as a catalyst for empowerment,” Judex said. 

“The Maker Faire is strategically aligned with our vision to promote STEM discovery, learning, and innovation that will shape the intellect, social values, and principles of future generations,” she added.

Advanced tickets may be purchased online through EventBrite. Individual tickets, including fees, are $13.36 per person. A family pass, which has tickets for two adults and up to five children, are $57.65 including fees. Tickets at the door for individuals are $16.65, including fees. Tickets at the door for family passes are $62.80, including fees. 

For more information, including a complete list of exhibitors and schedules, visit longisland.makerfaire.com. 

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