COMMUNITY STORIES

A Level Playing Field

Women football players require specifically tailored products such as kit, boots, and balls in order to optimise their performance and safety on the pitch, according to a paper published in Sports Engineering. The authors conclude that, while some progress has been made in addressing the equipment requirements of female players, essential gaps in research, development, and production remain in women’s football.

Kat Okholm Kryger and colleagues – including Captain of the England Women’s National Football team Leah Williamson – posed ten questions to highlight the minimal progress made in elite women’s football technology, and the barriers to making bespoke equipment available to women players that still remain. 
 

Hidden Paths to Extinction – Global warming is just a small part of the process

Giovanni Strona is an ecologist and a researcher at the European Commission. His Springer book “Hidden Paths to Extinction” shares the multitude of pathways that can lead to biodiversity loss. According to the book, global warming’s effect on the survival of species is only one small part of the complex process. We need to move our focus away from individual species and start looking for the invisible connections linking their past, present and future existence.  

This story was sourced by Lars Koerner, Senior Editor, Medicine and Life Sciences Books at Springer Nature

Lights, Camera, Science

Lights, Camera, Science is a short film conveying the reach and impact of published research from Springer Nature on Popular Culture. 

The film explores how the convergence of science and entertainment can forge powerful stories that do far more than simply entertain, they educate and inspire present and future generations. It features collaboration with Netflix’s climate-themed film, ‘Don’t Look Up’ and the non-profit organisation, ‘Count Us In’, as well as Disney’s ‘Comics & Science’ series, where Springer Nature brought cutting-edge science into the world of Topolino.

This story was sourced by Dr Nicky Dean, Chief Editor, Nature Energy and Maeve Dunne, Senior Communications Manager at Springer Nature.

Methane Hunters: Methane gas leaks are a bigger problem than we think

More than 78,000 oil wells are actively producing today in Kern County, California. Every single one is a potential methane leak source. 

Even managed oil wells are expected to emit small volumes of greenhouse gases, but in one of the most sustainable states in North America, the number and size of methane plumes is shocking. This is the story of about how the Aerospace team discovered this problem was not just happening in one state.

After almost a year of reporting, Scientific American – part of Springer Nature – published an article by investigative journalist Chiara Eisner, uncovering the extend of the problem. The impact was immediate and prompted an oil and gas producer to look at their equipment and check if they had any leaks.

But with nowhere for methane to hide, the question is, how can new eye-in-the-sky tools work with regulators and industries to deliver the important methane reductions our world needs?

This story was sourced by Andrea Thompson, Associate Editor, Sustainability.

Filling in the gaps

Professor Xiao-Nong Zhou was frustrated with the slow processes involved in accessing the thinking around eliminating Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) connected with poverty. 

With the aim of identifying research gaps, Professor Zhou set about creating a new open-access journal - Infectious Diseases of Poverty.