Tag Archives: grass

As the World Cup Nears, Scientists Aim to Create the Ideal Grass

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Knoxville, Tennessee – From exhilarating goals to devastating defeats, the FIFA World Cup captivates its audience.

Next year, the 2026 FIFA World Cup will commence, co-hosted by the US, Canada, and Mexico, marking a historic event.

This tournament may feature superstars like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, and is the first occasion where three nations co-host in 16 cities, making it the most complex World Cup ever, as per FIFA.

“No matter if they’re in Seattle or playing in Guadalajara, I need these pitches to perform consistently. I want the same bounce and the same player-to-grass interaction,” said an expert.

“Safety is paramount and must be my top priority,” Ferguson stated during an interview at the University of Tennessee facility in Knoxville, where researchers collaborate with Michigan State to help FIFA evaluate each venue’s pitch preparations for the tournament.

“Players need to feel confident as they make quick directional changes; the ground must be stable,” he added.

Managing over 12 venues for NFL games and concerts full of monster trucks is no small feat.

The U.S. venues could face increased scrutiny after last summer’s Copa America Tournament raised concerns, notably from players like Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who referred to conditions at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium as a “disaster.”

“There’s no doubt that last year’s tournament raised the stakes,” Ferguson remarked, referencing the tournament that featured the best 16 teams from North, Central, and South America, as well as the Caribbean.

“Research was in progress, but Copa highlighted more traditional hesitations regarding international football pitches. Venue schedules are packed with events transitioning from one to another continuously.”

U.S. stadiums have long been central to the debate on natural versus artificial turf in terms of safety. Next summer, all venues will adopt artificial stitch blends of natural grass, focusing on both the underlying structure and the grass itself.

In April, NBC News had exclusive access to the Knoxville facility, where researchers led by Professor John Solochan are tackling these challenges.

The team is investigating artificial stitches and layering techniques beneath the grass to improve root growth and ensure light use, contributing to consistent pitch quality indoors and outdoors.

Solochan, who specializes in turfgrass science and management, mentioned that the mix for warm-season venues includes Bermudagrass, while cool-season venues use a blend of perennial rye and Kentucky bluegrass. Indoor venues also benefit from recommended drainage layers, contributing to a firmer pitch.

“Many of these trials here were unsuccessful,” Solochan explained as he showcased a grid filled with grass plots labeled with different variables. Some experiments involved sewing fibers together to fortify the play surface, while others examined the upper layers typical in World Cup venues featuring flooring for concerts and artificial turf.

The facility includes setups that simulate indoor stadium growth conditions, along with a flex machine that tests the impact on players’ ankles by pressing soccer shoes into the grass. The initial data shows promising insights.

“You can track the speed of the ball as it moves. By analyzing the footage, we can determine its recovery speed, angle, and exit coefficients,” Solochan noted while standing next to a machine resembling one used for NFL punt returns.

Ferguson concluded, “It’s the science that underpins the game. That’s what elevates the sport.”

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Unusual Explanations for Why Your Dog Consumes Grass (and Poop)

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dog. Love them as much as you want, but you can't stop them from rampaging all kinds of mud, slugs, stones, non-existent homework, and yes, poop. But have you ever wondered why do they eat anything? For example, why do dogs eat grass?

I'm glad you asked. This canine conundrum has some interesting answers. Well, at least in theory. Canine neuroscience is a growing field of research, but scientists have yet to uncover the exact motivation behind this mysterious behavior.

Dr Emily Blackwell, lecturer in companion animal behavior and welfare at the University of Bristol, explains: “The few studies that have investigated this question are inconclusive.'' “There are many possible reasons for dog herding, and there is more than one correct answer.”

That being said, what are the valid explanations for why dogs eat grass? Here's everything you need to know.

Why do dogs eat grass?

First, it is thought that eating grass can be a sign of anxiety or conflict in dogs, perhaps suppressing the urge to perform another behavior.

“It could be migratory behavior, which is what happens when animals have conflicting motivations,” Blackwell explains. “It's like when we're sitting in the dentist's waiting room. We might really want to escape, so we do something else, like bite our nails, to relieve our anxiety.”

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However, for many dogs, eating grass can be a way to chase you for affection.

“If the owner responds to this behavior, the dog quickly learns that it's a good way to get attention,” Blackwell says.

“Admittedly, this is not one of the most common attention-seeking behaviors, but it can develop for that reason. And if they don't get a response from you, they'll look elsewhere.” They may just be grazing because they don't have much to do.”

But what if your dog is feasting on your front lawn when you're not around? Surely that's not howling for attention, right? In fact, it could be because your dog is trying to supplement his diet.

“Some people have theorized that dogs do this to get more fiber in their diets,” Blackwell says. “But this is just a theory; it has not been tested whether dogs with less fiber are more likely to eat grass.”

Most dogs do not get sick from eating grass. – Photo credit: Getty

What about the most worrying possibility? Is your pup guzzling grass with an upset stomach?Again, potentially. After all, there's a theory that wolves also eat grass to get rid of parasites in their intestines.

But grass is unlikely cause Your dog gets sick. One 2008 study found that while 68% of dogs ate grass regularly; Only 22 percent of them subsequently become ill.. All in all, there's a pretty good chance you'll never have to remove dog vomit from your lawn.

And what if they were sick? Well, be thankful they didn't eat something even worse…

Why do dogs eat poop?

We are all friends here. It's okay to admit that you've seen your dog eat its own poop or the poop of other animals.

Fortunately, Blackwell says feces are unlikely to harm puppies unless they come from an animal with a serious illness.

But, unfortunately, just like with grass, we don't know exactly why dogs want to crawl into feces. However, dog behavior experts believe that doo-doo dining may be due to a dog's curiosity at a young age.

“Puppies are naturally exploratory and will taste everything,” Blackwell says. “Puppies don't find the taste or smell of feces as unpleasant as we do.”

But even if the taste isn't the selling point, you can inadvertently encourage your dog to eat feces when you're trying to prevent the behavior itself.

“Usually, this behavior results in the dog owner running up to the fecal area during a walk and trying to get there first to stop the dog. However, this is a signal that the fecal matter is important to the owner. “And that may make the dog more determined to get there before the owner.”

“So many dogs actually eat poop because it's mostly trained by their owners. It's all about how you react.”

Bottom line: If you spot an unsuspecting number two while walking in the park, the most important reaction is not to rush towards him. Especially if you don't have a dog (which will look really weird).

About Dr. Emily Blackwell

Dr. Emily Blackwell He is a Senior Lecturer in Animal Behavior and Welfare at the University of Bristol. Much of her research focuses on why our animals behave the way they do and how to improve their lives.

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Concerns about fire outlook grow as California heat wipes out tall grass

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Though there are still weeks until the height of fire season, more than 242,000 acres have already burned in California, nearly double the normal amount for this time of year. According to statistics from the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection..

While the number of fires so far is typical for this time of summer, the extreme heat of early summer has dried out the land, increasing the risk of wildfires and casting a major doubt over what had seemed a relatively bright season.

“Wildfire conditions across the West continue to worsen and unfortunately will get worse,” Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said at a briefing on Thursday. “The past 30 days have been the warmest on record across a significant portion of California and the West.”

Flames from the Thompson Fire in Oroville, California, on July 2.
Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images file
A vehicle is engulfed in flames during the Thompson Fire in Oroville, California on July 2nd.
Ethan Swope/AP Files

More than 2,000 firefighters are working the Lake Fire northwest of Santa Barbara. It started on July 5th and grew rapidly in the tall grass.The fire has grown to more than 38,000 acres and is currently 73 percent contained. An additional 2,900 firefighters are working to contain the Shelley Fire. It burned more than 15,000 acres on the eastern side of the Klamath National Forest..

After California experienced two consecutive wet winters, the National Association of Fire Agencies had predicted moderate fire activity in the state this summer and fall. This month's seasonal forecast has been revised upwards.He said the grass that had grown tall during the rainy weather had bounced back quickly with the heat.

“You know, we've had two really great winters where the atmospheric river came in and saved California from drought, but the tradeoff is that now we have a ton of grass and shrubs that are dead and ready to burn,” said Caitlin Trudeau, a senior scientist at nonprofit research organization Climate Central.

Debris of buildings and vehicles are left behind as the Apache Fire burns in Palermo, California, on June 25.
Ethan Swope/AP Files
Firefighters work to put out the growing Post Fire in Gorman, California on June 16.
Eric Thayer/AP File

Swain said recent outbreaks of “dry lightning” – thunderstorms that don't produce rain – were of particular concern because long-range forecasts showed another heat wave hitting the region in late July, which could exacerbate existing fires.

A recent analysis from satellite monitoring company Maxar suggests that soil moisture levels in California dropped sharply from early June through July 15, while temperatures over the same period were about 5 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than in 2020.

That year, it was June in California. Drought outlook and wildfire risk profile similar to this year. after that, More than 10,000 lightning strikes hit California Dozens of fires broke out over a three-day period in mid-August. Fueled by a heat wave, many of these fires grew rapidly and eventually evolved into three complex fires. One of these, the August Complex Fire, primarily affected the Mendocino National Forest and burned more than one million acres.

A total of 33 people have died in California's 2020 wildfires and scorched 4.5 million acres.

“It's really concerning to see these statistics because we're only halfway through July, and the last major thunderstorms of 2020 were in August,” Trudeau said of the data early this year. “We're already starting to see dry thunderstorms. We still have a long way to go to close out the year.”

Across the U.S., more than 1 million acres have burned so far this year, with 54 major fires currently under containment, according to the National Joint Fire Center.

Wildfire season is off to an early and active start in the Pacific Northwest, particularly in Oregon, with several large blazes burning in remote areas.

Smoke rises from a wildfire near La Pine, Oregon on June 25.
Kyle Kalambach/Deschutes County Sheriff's Office via AP File

Around 1,600 firefighters are working to bring the blaze under control. Falls Fire burns at 114,000 acres in eastern Oregonand one more 600 people were battling the 83,000-acre Lone Rock Fire It is located in the central part of the state, about 40 miles south of the Columbia River. The other fire, the Cow Valley Fire, is More than 130,000 acres burned Near the Oregon and Idaho border.

On the other hand, small forest fires caused by lightning Thursday on Highway 20 in northern Washington.In other parts of the state, The Pioneer Fire along the eastern shore of Lake Chelanthe air quality in the area was deteriorating.

As of Tuesday, the most manpower deployed to fight wildfires in five years. according to National Joint Fire Center data.

Source: www.nbcnews.com