ISPECTRUM MAGAZINE

Issue 12/March-April 2015

wi-fi from the sky

Antibiotic ApocAlypse

Anthroposophic Medicine

driving on sunshineA long And winding roAd to the future

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Features

03Wi-Fi From the sky04 The Internet must be fast, fair, and open09 The competition in the aero-space sphere12 Internet for everyone

15antibiotic apocalypse18 Antibiotic resistance20 New antibiotic22 How to minimize the develop-ment of antibiotic resistance?

25Driving on sunshineA loNg ANd wINdINgroAd To THe fuTure29 Too good to be true32 A step forward

36literally integrativeANTHroposopHIc medIcINe38 Anthroposophic therapies39 Anthroposophic drug therapy

41phytotelmata anD other extreme habitats oF DragonFly Development:revIew43 extreme places to live48 why do odonata develop in such harsh habitats?

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CONTENTS

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Mado MartinezEditorial Director

Editorial DirectorMado Martinez, madomartinez@ispectrummagazine.com

Art DirectorRayna Petrovaraynapetrova@ispectrummagazine.com Contributing EditorsMatt Lovedaymattloveday@ispectrummagazine.comRavinder DhindsaBradley TerblancheJonathan MastersJennifer James

Contributing WritersAlakananda MookerjeeEllie PownallJoe BaylisAnette BoppOlga Antczak

ImagesCover:OneWeb.netcommons.wikimeadia.org morguefile.com freeimages.com

editorial

Ispectrum magazine

Dear readers, Here we go again with a new issue full of amazing contents. This month we start with our contributor Alakananda Mookerjee and a topic that is generating huge discussion: should the Internet be free? What would the pros and cons be? A conversation is now starting to bubble over novel modes of extending connec-tivity to those parts of the world where almost 4.5 million citizens remain uncon-nected, by beaming it down from space. Medicine is facing one of the most chal-lenging problems of the century and the message of the World Health Organization could not be more clear: antibiotic resis-tance will kill 300 million people by 2050 if we do not find and develop new anti-biotics. Ellie Pownall has been taking the pulse of the situation to bring some light; what future is awaiting us? Joe Baylis comes with a new energy concept that has been gaining a great deal of attention in the engineering com-munity over the past year. Known as a solar road, it would essentially turn our transport infrastructure system into one huge renewable power station. Find out more in his article. Anthroposophic Medicine is a holistic therapy that treats the individual from an integral approach. Anette Bopp, one of the main experts in this field, has written the article we bring you in this issue. Finally, Olga Antczak, from the University of Lodz, has kindly shared with our read-ers her latest research about the extreme habitats of dragonfly development, a valuable scientific paper.

Thanks for reading. And remember: com-ment, share and spread the word!

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Published Bimonthly ISSN 2053-1869

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ust as its absurd for 21st cen-tury citizensat least in the industrialized Westto read a book in the flickering halo of

a gas lamp, its equally odd being offline. The Internet, a seemingly invisible tool, has become so intrinsic to our lives that weve come to regard it as vital as clean water and electric-ity.

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By

ALAkANANDA MOOkERJEE

Wi-Fi From The Sky

A civilization sans Facebook will hum along fine. But with-out internet, itll surely fall.

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So, when in the middle of last year, when the American Federal Communications Commission, under pressure from the internet service provider lobby, proposed a new set of rules wherein U.S. tele-com giants like Verizon, Comcast, AT&T, and Time Warner Cable would be able to bifurcate the information highway into a so-called fast lane and a slow lane, there was an uproar. P r o t e s t e r s s h r i e k e d that thatd kill network neu t ra l i t y , the long-stand-ing concept that internet service providers treat all data equally and fairly, regardless of whether its bits and bytes of The New Yorker or a song on Spotify or a banter on WhatsApp. They shouldnt play favorites with pack-ets of datathey demanded. Under the new arrangement, a company like Netflix or Hulu would have to pay a toll to allow their content

to be streamed more speedily into our tablets or televisions. And if they paid more, theyd make us pay more. Aside from fattening our monthly bills, itd also put a damp-ener on innovations whose very bedrock is the Internet.

Fortunately, the crisis was averted. Nearly

4,000,000 letters from consum-ers and advo-cacy groups poured into the federal agency, cajol-

ing it to save the Internet from falling into the

hands of corporate profi-teers. In response, in a statement to WIRED, Mr. Tom Wheeler wrote, the Internet must be fast, fair, and open. And so it will remainfor now and in the future. Yet, what we perceive as an indispensable util-ity, without which we find ourselves isolated, lost, and bored, is a lux-ury that 4,400,000,000 across the

the Internet must be fast, fair, and open

world have no access to. Not yet touched by the hand of the internet god, they dont know what is to be connect-ed. But a conversation is now starting to bub-ble over novel modes of extending connectivity to them by beaming it down from spacebut

more on that later.

When you send an e-mail, you casual-ly tap on the send button. Whoosh. And like that, its gone. You think nothing of it after that, secure in the cer-tainty that itll pop up

in another inbox, near, far, or very, very far away. You couldnt be sniggered at for think-ing that it flew away on the wingtips of a fire-drake. After all, theres so little of this service that we can seenoth-ing beyond our laptop, router, and modem.

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In reality, the Internet has a Cyclopean physi-cal architecture, made of a zoo of computers and a dense mesh of wires that girdle around the globe. Once your message leaves your desk, say, in Chicago, its broken down into small pieces. And then it hops from telephone pole to telephone pole until it reaches lands end.

Next, it journeys through optical fiberseach an incredibly thin strand of glass or plastic that serves as a path-ways for informationsealed in submarine cables that run along level stretches of the seabed, carefully avoid-ing coral reefs, sunken ships, marine troughs and ridges, and fish-beds, before arriving at its destination, say, Beijing. The diameter of a deep-water cable

is roughly that of a gar-den hose (0.7 inches) while those in shallow-er waters are thicker, about the cross-section of a soda can (2.7 inch-es). Similarly, when someone in Los Angles wants to read the life-style section of the leading English daily, The Times, she keys in its U.R.L. A request to retrieve it goes out. From wherever it ispresumably, Londonit travels through the

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cold, dark depths of the Atlantic to her internet service providers ter-minal. Its a short hop from there to her desktop. At this time, there are 278 active cables. Together, they loop around for some 555,000 miles under the sea, linking all the continents, barring Antarctica and a few island nations. (For perspec-tive -- Mount Everest stands five miles tall). And it is this aquatic grid that powers the overwhelming bulk of our internet.

While on the go, it can be reached on a smartphone through a cell phone tower. Reception is excel-lent at a Starbucks, in New Yorks Times Square, but as you move away from bustling urban pockets, it tends to get sluggish and patchy, until it dwindles to naught. Driving along a rural section of Asias Grand Trunk Road, your device will receive hardly any signal at all. Worse still, what if youre in an area in the mid-dle of nowhere, where theres not even a radio mast and an aerial in the vicinity? Then, the only way to log on is by means of telecom sat-ellites. These are pieces of school bus-size machinery that are placed

in what is known as a geostation-ary orbit. As Earth spins, they spin with it, in tandem, 22,236 miles above the surface, in a circular path, like a hoopla hoop, along the plane of Earths midriff.

Cell Phone Tower

To an observer, looking out the window, therefore, theyd appear to be stationary, hovering at the same position night after night. Theyre so placed such that ground-based antennas, which talk to them, dont have to keep rotating to keep track of them. They serve as enormous mirrors in space, capable of bounc-ing off telephone calls, television and radio broadcasts, and internet content, from one sector of the world to another. This is how they

work. Youre on a luxury liner, sail-ing on the Aegean Sea, and youd like to call someone in Istanbul. As you place your call, your phone connects to the ships on-board, transmitter, which then beams it up to a receiver up on a satellite in an uplink. The satellites transmit-ter, in turn, sends it back down in a downlink to another receiver on the Turkish coast, from where its then routed to the recipient. The entire process takes place within a flash. But while it works wonderful-ly for a standard, voice-only phone call, it may not if you were trying to tweet from the deck or download War and Peace on your e-reader from inside your cabin.

Presently, satellites are slowpokes when it comes to providing entry to the Internet. Signals from Earthin the form of radio waves, which travel at the same speed as lighttake 0.25 seconds to make one round-trip. While that may sound like an infinitesimal time frame, its not small enough to support a real-time video call, made through an application like Skype. As of 2006, satellites handled a surpris-

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ing 1% of the volume of all telecom traffic. But that could change if the vision of a couple of Silicon Valley tech tycoons materializes.

Elon Musk is the founder of SpaceX, a Hawthorne, California-based private space

firm. Its spacecraft, Dragon, made history in May, 2012, when it became the first com-mercial vehicle to dock with the International Space Station. After retiring the Space Shuttle four years ago, NASA handed it the job of ferrying cargo to the orbiting lab. (The

American crew, how-ever, so far, still hitch rides with the Russians, aboard Soyuz). He also has a finger in other bleeding-edge pies: Tesla (maker of high-end electric cars); SolarCity (provider of

Dragon in orbit

Photo credit:SpaceX

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OneWeb Satellite Drawing

Photo credit:OneWeb

solar power equip-ment); Hyperloop (a concept tube transport that will hurtle passen-gers from Los Angeles to San Francisco in roughly half an hour, at a tearing 598 m.p.h.) And now, hes fallen hard for the notion of

bringing high-speed internet (repeat: high-speed) to everyone, everywhere, through a swarm of 4,000 minia-ture Sputniks, buzzing around in low Earth orbitjust 750 miles up in the sky. Greg Wyler

of OneWeb has plans to put up a smaller fleet of 648. His proj-ect is expected to be up and running before the end of the decade and is expected to cost $2 billion.

Keeping the satel-lites wheeling closer to home will reduce the lag by a wide margin: to a mere 0.006 sec-onds. On the down-side, the area covered by each will be very

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limited, about the size the New Mexico. Their narrow reach, how-ever, is compensated for by their multitude. Sometimes, its hard to put your imagination to work, if the capital required to make it happen is an astronomical sum (if youll par-don the pun). But both these enter-prises have attracted the pocket-books of big-name players. Search-engine titan Google and an inves-tor, Fidelity, have plunked down $1 billion into Musks venture, which carries a price tag of a staggering $10 billion. Richard Bransons Virgin Galactic and Qualcomm, on the other hand, are backing OneWeb. The media splash made by these recent announcements has eclipsed the success of 03b, which has been in the business since before all the hoopla began.

The Channel Islands-based com-pany (OneWeb) was the first to offer broadband service to a size-able geographic belt, running 45 degrees north and south of the equator. By placing a constellation of a dozen satellites at 5,000 miles, its been able to cut the delay to

0.15 seconds, making connections more energetic. The cost of put-ting a satellite in orbit depends on its size and how far away from Earth itll be deployed. They can weigh anywhere between one kilo-gram (such as CubeSat) to over 1,000. O3bs products are 700 kilo-

CubeSat satellites

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Google Loon balloon(Google Loon launch event , June 2013)

grams when fully fueled. To make the technology more feasible, its imperative that satellites be built more compactly and lighter so that a single rocket launch can transport a big batch. O3b has sent up four at a time. While Google has invested in Musks endeavor, its also fine-tuning an experiment of its own to haul service to the Internet boon-docks in rural, far-flung regions.

Loon, like the orbital propos-als, is about delivering connectivity from above but while also staying

put with-in Earths a t m o -s p h e r e . A cluster of giant, unmanned b a l l o o n s , f l o a t i n g in a blu-ish, cloud-less, ozone-d r e n c h e d r e a l m , about 20

miles vertical, will create an aerial Wi-Fi matrix that will offer 3G-like speeds. In that serene near-space, where the air is thin, dry, and nippy, theyll have no trucking with com-mercial jets or weather-related tur-bulencebut only different layers of winds. These dirigibles will scud away to wherever theyre needed by hitchhiking on the back of a cold stream, moving north, south, east, or west. To test the program, 30 balloons were deployed above New Zealands South Island, in June, 2013. Each unit can provide cover-age to an area with a diameter of 25 miles. Below, in an apartment complex, subscribers will be able tap into it, using a bowl fixed on their rooftop.

Not to be outshone, Facebook, too, has ambitions to develop yet another kind of network: a network of massive drones thatll allow more people to get online. Connectivity Lab, unveiled in March last year, envisions hoisting sun-driven, long-endurance fly-ing machines thatll stay airborne uninter-ruptedly for months. At a recent Mashable-hosted conference, Yael Maguire, the projects director of engineer-ing, said that theyd be about the size of a Boeing-747. Facebook is yet to announce when theyll roll out.

Since the end of the Cold War, we havent seen fiercer competi-tion in the aerospace sphere. Only, this isnt a race between two nations but among cor-porations, all belonging to one nation. Also, its not a race to put up

weapons of destruc-tion but instruments of empowerment. Not all of it is motivated by altruism, of course. Some of it is driven by greed. Theres money to be made and lots of

it. The more the eye-balls, the more is the advertising moolah. But thats not the end of it. Mr. Musk intends to channel that rev-enue into funding a similar infrastructure

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But for the moment, theres a mission to accomplish on our blue dot.

on Mars. By the time humanity arrives on the Red Planet and sets up a colony there, hed like for them to be able to send their maiden Instagram post from a steep-walled valley

on Noctis Labyrinthus. Perhaps. Close your eyes. Can you visualize an internet station on the rim of the Pavonis Mons?

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ANTIBIOTIC APOCALYPSE

ince the likes of Sir Alexander Fleming, the single greatest contribution to medicine has been necessary for all aspects

of health care; antibiotics. The reduc-tion of risk in open wound surgery, infections and cancer treatments has

been massive, not only prolonging the lives of millions of people but also cre-ating a spring board for new technol-ogy and future discoveries. However, we can ask ourselves how much pro-gression have we made since the orig-inal brilliance of Sir Fleming in 1928.

S

By

ELLIE POWNALL

WEBSITE

WWW.ISPECTRUMMAGAZINE.COM

the most recent discovery of a new class of antibiotics was in the 1980s1, and there are only two companies left (glaxosmithkline and astraZeneca) in a shrinking field of research into new antibiotics which are slow and expen-sive to develop2. some journalistic publications such as Nature Magazine, were able to shed some light on the diminishing horizons for the future of antibiotics, suggest-ing that the key to the success of new antibiotics is screening uncultured bacteria - through which a new anti-biotic, teixobactin has been found. teixobactin inhibits cell wall synthe-sis by binding to a highly conserved motif of lipid ii (precursor of peptido-glycan) and lipid iii (precursor of cell wall teichoic acid3). this development arguably suggests a new path for the discovery of antibiotics and only time will tell how far this new method will reproduce the diminishing support behind new antibiotic progression.

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A recent arti-cle by the BBC outlined that a terrible future could be on the horizon4 and this along with warnings from the World Health Organ i za t i on and The US cen-tres of disease control, states there will be an emergence of nightmare bacteria and an apocalypse of disease. The anti-biotics we use every day are so valuable to life, scientists question what we will do with-out them.From the tinniest scratch, to open sur-gery, these operations will be increasingly risky. It seems a grave future for the develop-ment of antibiotic pro-gression lies ahead; the brilliance that was nineteenth century sci-entific bacterial discov-

eries has simmered to an end and, whether the technology needed to discover new anti-biotics is simply too advanced or there is no existing new strains of antibiotic to discover is debatable. Developing antibiot-ics poses problems - both commercially and economically: Dr Brad Spellberg, one of the authors of the 2004

IDSA report Bad Bugs, No Drugs expresses: Antibiotics, in particu-lar, have a poor return on investment because they are taken for a short period of time and cure their tar-get disease. In con-trast, drugs that treat chronic illness, such as high blood pressure, are taken daily for the rest of a patients life. Companies have

In 1928 Alexander Fleming (18811955) discovered penicillin, made from the Penicillium notatum mold.

figured out that they make a lot more money selling the latter drugs than they do selling antibiotics, Spellberg says, highlighting the lack of incentive for companies to develop antibiotic5. The lack of initiative to produce new antibiotics is a clear flaw in the plan to revolutionise a n t i b i o t i c medicine. While the lack of i n te res t in creat-ing these n e w treatments is clearly due to expense, some companies how-ever are still working hard to improve this technology. Dr John H Rex, Head of Infection and Global Medicines Development at AstraZeneca recent-ly spoke about the dan-gers of antimicrobial resistance on National

Public Radios To the Point show6, during which he noted that he is terrified at the pros-pect of returning to a pre-antibiotic era. This display of the true con-cerns for the develop-ment of antibiotics as they are; hard to dis-cover, hard to devel-op, and the econom-

ics difficult to manage; suggests scientists are still working increas-ingly hard to assist in developing new strains of antibiotic, even if some corporations have deemed it too expen-sive.

The resistance against antibiotics is commonly described as the situ-ation when the con-centration of antibiotic needed to kill the bacte-ria cannot be achieved at the site of infection. However, if a bacteria is resistant to one strain of antibiotic this does not mean it will be to

a new or differ-ent type. This

h igh l ights the need for new an t i b i o t -ics to pre-

vent bacteria that is resistant to multiple types of treatment, named multi-resis-tant. There are many works being done to prevent the spread of multi-resistant bac-teria for example, A group of International experts came togeth-er through a joint ini-

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tiative by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the centres for disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to create a standardized international terminology with which to describe acquired resistance profiles in Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococus spp, Enterobacteria (other than salmonella and shigella), pseudo-monas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter spp., all bacteria often responsible for h e a l t h c a r e -a s s o c i a t e d i n f e c t i o n s and prone to multi-drug resis-tance7. The result of this was cre-ating three different sub-categories for Antibiotics to be placed: MDR, XDR,

and PDR. These help to categorize different antibiotics and determine how they would be tested for each relevant bacterium, how to define resistance within an antimicrobial category and be epidemiologically meaningful. For example penicillin using the antimicrobial agent ampi-cillin, the bacterium Citrobacter koseri (C. koseri) which contributes

to initiate brain abscesss during meningitis,

was found to be resistant. It is

important to subcategorise and organise the findings of these results to e n s u r e which strains of resistance

are increasing and eventual-

ly, how we will prevent them. This

new way of categoriz-

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One form of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria known as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, causes a range of illnesses, from skin and wound infections to pneumonia and bloodstream infections that can cause sepsis

and death.

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ing antibi-otics will hopefully decrease the chanc-es of an ant ib iot-ic apoca-lypse by enab l ing scientists to find new tech-niques to d e v e l o p the antibi-otics that h e a l t h care sys-tems and s u r g e r y practices can use to prevent the spread of disease and risk of oper-ations.

An article named A new antibi-otic kills pathogens without detect-able resistance8 by Dr. Lewis, out-lines the development of sever-al methods to grow uncultured organisms by cultivation in-situ or

by using specific growth factors. Texiocbactin, as previously stated, was discovered in a screen of uncul-tured bacteria. It states This mol-ecule, which we named teixobactin, is an unusual depsipeptide which contains enduracididine, methyl-phenylalanine, and four D-amino acids. The biosynthetic gene clus-ter (GenBank accession number KP006601) was identified using a homology search (Supplementary

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Discussion). This shows the devel-opment of homology searches and the hope that future gene clusters will contain new antibiotic informa-tion that we can use and re-develop. The article is optimistic, stating that Teixobactin has excellent activity against Gram-Positive Pathogens, including drug-resistant strains. This is vital for companies such as GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca researching a new antibiotic to replace resistant strains. The new antibiotic is arguably a break in the seemingly bleak period of scientific discovery in this field. Scientists suggest that Inhibition of teichoic acid synthesis by teixobactin would help liberate autolysins, contribut-ing to the excellent lytic and kill-ing activity of this antibiotic, sug-gesting a stronger, more powerful antibiotic will be developed and available in the future. The devel-opment of teichoic acid synthesis is arguably a procedure which can be used on future new develop-ments of bacteria and therefore improve the strength and stability of this medicine in killing bacteria in patients. Of course, one antibi-otic will not change the course of a scientific apocalypse in prevent-

ing patients from infections, and a future of discovery will be needed to prevent this outbreak of newly resistant biotic strains.

The new field of resistance from the body is an ideology which scientists hope to erase, the CDC (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention) are fighting to produce clearer patient instruction to reduce the risk of antibiotic resistance. Many aspects of antibiotic resistance rely on the understanding of patients, for example, if a patient were to not finish the prescribed amount of antibiotic. The NHS explains that Strains of bacteria can mutate, over time, become resistant to a specific antibiotic. The chance of this increases if a person does not finish the course of antibiotics as some bacteria may be left to devel-op resistance.9 This highlights the importance of the patient being fully aware of the need to finish a course of antibiotics and therefore can prevent the urgency of the need for new strains of antibiotics, in some cases.

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The Department of Microbiology, Hospital Ramn y Cajal, Madrid, Spain, suggest a theory of how to minimize the development of antibiotic resistance. Stating that Bacterial populations harbouring determinants of antibiotic resis-tance will be selected for by a range of antibiotic concentrations which are able to suppress or slow the growth of susceptible popula-tions. Suggesting the new strain

of anti-biotic which will be produced in the future, is a positive change from previous antibiotic develop-ments. This article describes how the new development of antibi-otic will regard both the interests of the individual patient but also the ecological impact of different drugs and their delivery schedules. This will be done by controlling the concentrations within the human body in a series of compartments,

This poster, for example, describes the correct measures to prevent a completely resistant future for antibiotics. The development of patient information and guidance is deemed just as important as the development of new antibiotics and anti-resistant

science.

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where the potential selective power will be roughly proportional to the time of exposure of bacteria to the drug (selective period). This will make the antibiotic more powerful and less likely to be resistant as it wont be in full contact with the bacteria for a long period of time. The department of Microbiology suggests these new antibiotic will be able to fight against resistance and therefore create a more eco-nomic and effect pool of medicine.

However, there is still the case of finding these new strains of antibi-otic resistance in order to prevent the growth of resistant bacterial populations.

Overall, the existence of usable antibiotics is slowly coming to an end and it is up to scientists such as Dr. Lewis and the department of microbiology, to discover new ways

Dr. Kim Lewis (Northeastern University)

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to find strains of antibiotic which have not yet been discovered, in order to restart the cycle of dis-ease cured by antibiotics leading to good health. The importance of antibiotic development is seem-ingly overlooked by funding pro-grammes, however scientists con-tinue to work excessively to develop a way for antibiotics to function at the same level of effectiveness as previous discoveries. The rising of Teixobactin holds a good lead for future development. Although the rate of development and discovery of antibiotics is exceedingly slow, the outcome will prevent bacterial resistance and eventually, continue the effectiveness of treatments in diseases and infections.

1.Novel classes of antibiotics or more of the

same?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/

PMC3085877/

2.The Battle to Discover new Antibiotics

http://www.te legraph.co.uk/f inance/

newsbysector/pharmaceuticalsandchemi-

cals/9010738/The-battle-to-discover-new-

antibiotics.html

3.Uncultured Bacteria-The way forward

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/

v517/n7535/full/nature14098.html

4.BBC Article

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-21702647

5.Bulletin of the World Health Organization-

Race against time to develop new antibiotics

6.Bad News Bugs and The Need for New

Antibiotics- Stephanie Fischer

7.Research into Multi-Resistant bacteria

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/

j.1469-0691.2011.03570.x/full

8.A new antibiotic kills pathogens without

detectable resistance- Losee L. Ling1 *, Tanja

Schneider2,3*, Aaron J. Peoples1 , Amy L.

Spoering1 , Ina Engels2,3, Brian P. Conlon4 ,

Anna Mueller2,3, Till F. Schaberle3,5, Dallas

E. Hughes1 , Slava Epstein6 , Michael Jones7

, Linos Lazarides7 , Victoria A. Steadman7

, Douglas R. Cohen1 , Cintia R. Felix1 , K.

Ashley Fetterman1 , William P. Millett1 ,

Anthony G. Nitti1 , Ashley M. Zullo1 , Chao

Chen4 & Kim Lewis

9.Patient Input

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Antibiotics-

penicillins/Pages/Introduction.aspx

REFERENCES:

new concept has been gaining a great deal of attention in the engi-neering community

over the past year or so, with the potential to transform how we see energy production. It is known as a solar road and

Driving on sunshine-a long and winding road to the future

would essentially turn our transport infrastructure sys-tem into one huge renewable power station that produces excess clean energy, pays for itself, prevents accidents and filters run-off to create drink-ing water.

By

JOE BAyLIS

A

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Youd be forgiven for treating this proposal with cynicism. It does sounds like its too good to be true. Indeed, several well-qualified people have protested passionately and pessimistically, proving that this idea will never work.

Worry not however! The pioneers continue to push on, and more recent developments late in 2014 have put things back on track.

But how bright is the future of solar roads really? Will we ever get the chance to literally walk on sunshine? Lets take a look at the complicated journey the solar road concept has taken so far, and the pros and cons of the technology.

Back in 2006, Mr and Mrs Brusaw, an engineering couple in Idaho, USA, started work on the idea of replacing roadways with hexagonal smart solar panels strong enough on which to drive the heaviest of vehicles.

They developed their idea fur-ther before, in 2014, announcing to the world that it was time to enter it into reality, in the form of a boorishly attention-grabbing YouTube video called Solar Freakin

AND THEYRE OFF!

Interlocking Solar Freakin Roadway panels

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Roadways, which has amassed nearly 20 mil-lion views (have a look for yourself using the link below).https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlTA3rnpgzU

It kick-started a crowd-funding campaign that went on for two months and managed to raise 2.2 million American

dollars - thats twice what they were aim-ing for. To add to this, the American Federal Highway Administration had previously invested $750,000. This big idea was obviously capturing the publics and states attention.

And frankly, why wouldnt it? If you dont have the time or the

disposition to watch the above video in full, then heres a brief list of the proposed benefits:

Production ofenough clean renewable energy to supply the USA with three times its needs (assuming the whole road network was transformed). The worries of global warm-ing and our dependence

Could Solar Freakin Roadways make these images a thing of the past?

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on dwindling fossil fuels would be allayed. The surplus ener-gy could then be sold so that the solar pan-els effectively pay for themselves.

Buildings wouldplug directly into the road, and electric cars could be charged as they drive.

Thepanelsaremoredurable then tarmac and so reduce mainte-

nance costs, especially as repairs would simply involve directly replac-ing each damaged tile. The panels haveLEDs installed, meaning that the road can light up ahead of cars, flash warning signals and reconfigure at a touch of a button (great for car parks, playgrounds and managing traffic flow).

The panels havepressure sensors so

can warn drivers of any obstructions in the road ahead (especially attractive for unlit roads in regions where large wildlife roam danger-ously in the darkness). The panels containheating elements so can clear the road of ice and snow constantly, pre-venting untold numbers of accidents.

Of course, the pro-cess of transforming the whole US road net-

Heating element snow test/LEDs on show (in the dark)/Artists impression of Solar Freakin

Roadways

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work would be a slow and gradual one with large initial expenditures. Nonetheless, most would agree that the ideas presented are cer-tainly very exciting.

As with any new and exciting development, there are plenty of people out there looking to debunk this concept; armed with realism (some may read pessimism), they argue that the project is just far too ambitious. Unfortunately for the yea-sayers, these critics have some valid points. The below is a useful video:

h t t p s : / /www . you t ube . c om/watch?v=H901KdXgHs4

The main argument is that, in the absence of real data, the maths simply does not add up, even with some very generous assumptions made. The solar panels alleged-ly will never be able to produce

enough energy to power even their own LEDs, let alone provide energy to the grid, pay for themselves, heat up and filter water. It is argued that they will end up losing money.

This primary concern is made up of the following problems:

Thickness of glass. The pro-posed glass has to be thick enough to withstand huge pressure and rough enough for added traction. This means less light can reach the

TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

How will LEDs be seen under conditions like this?

Photo credit:homewaters-jim.blogspot.co.uk

solar panels underneath, reducing their efficiency.

TheLEDsareunlikelytobevis-ible during the day. What ramifica-tions does this have for warning systems and lane configurations?

There is no information avail-able regarding stopping distances on this new glass surface. Of par-ticular concern is stopping in wet conditions.

Dust, dirt and organic mattermean the roads will need regular cleaning for the solar cells to remain efficient. Wear, tear and scratches will also reduce the amount of light reaching the cells. And most roads are lined by large objects like trees, preventing light from reaching the surface.

It is impossible to angle thesolar panels towards the sun as it moves across the sky, as with other solar panels, further reducing effi-ciency.

The most efficient solar panels track the movement of the sun and have very thin, clear glass. Even these take approximately a decade to pay for themselves

30

The interlockingnature of the tiles means that varying loads will displace each tile in dif-ferent ways, creating an uneven and danger-ous road surface more susceptible to weather-ing.

How will roads getthe energy in the win-ter to melt ice when the angle of the sun is low, cloud cover is high and snow is covering the

solar panels?

The projectwill be incredibly expensive to get off the ground. C u t t i n g - e d g e technology, com-plex wiring and solar panels do not come cheap.

How will suchhigh-tech com-

ponents fare in inhospitable environments e.g. the impact of frost and heat.

Whataboutthe problem of theft? Valuable pieces of equipment will be placed in

remote areas moni-toring is nigh on impos-sible.

Car parks will beuseless given that they are commonly covered in cars during the day, when all the sunlight is around for business.

In the longer term will the problem of black outs and cyber

31

A full car park will block sunlight at the most valu-able time of the day/Will the road get enough energy to melt ice if it is already covered in snow? And lets not forget about trees and buildings that often cast

shadows over roads

32

attacks be addressed? This has the potential of causing absolute havoc.

What about lightpollution? This is already proving to be an annoy-ance around the world. Laying down roads that light up wont exactly help the situation.

Admittedly, it does look like a worrying col-lection of set-backs and opponents simply say, why not just cover the millions of empty roofs around the world with proven, high efficiency solar panels?

So, does this spell the end of solar roadways? I wouldnt be so sure

The Brusaws refuse to take these criticisms lying down and have issued answers to many FAQs. For example, their embossed glass design will not only create trac-tion but also refract light onto the sensors below, apparently reducing the problem of the changing angle of the sun. Some of these replies are a little generic and wool-ly though, so a direct rebuttal to the critics, with hard facts and fig-ures, would be useful. The FAQ section of their website can be found in the link below.http://www.solarroad-ways.com/faq.shtml

But its not all about the Brusaws. This idea is also being developed in the Netherlands, with the building of a solar cycle path in the north-

ern town of Krommenie. A 70 metre stretch of road is actually current-ly in use (something that has been missing from the Idaho cam-paign) and supports around 2000 cyclists a day, cost 3million Euros to build (half covered by the government) and, an extension of 100 metres, will power three houses.

Initially developed by TNO (a Dutch scien-tific research compa-ny), the design is called SolaRoad, and is slight-ly different to Solar Freakin Roadways. One variation for example, is that the solar cells are embedded in rect-angular concrete slabs rather than in a tessel-lating pattern.

A STEP FORWARD

33

The main difference though, is that they have put more emphasis on green energy rather than extra benefits. The engineers behind this project are hopeful it could be expanded more to the main roads to help power traffic lights and cars in the future, but not to the same outrageous extent as their American cousins. This shift in focus renders a lot of the criticisms more irrelevant, which opponents have acknowledged.

So, maybe this is 2-1 to the pio-neers

It is clear that we are still in a period of trials and testing for these solar roads, and the Dutch example demonstrated this in December 2014 (a month after opening). Cold weather caused the top layer to become detached from its anchor and so a metre section was deacti-vated.

But, before the cynics pounce, this is just par for the course for any ground breaking project. It wouldnt be a trial without a few tribulations.

The emergence of SolaRoad has stifled protestations somewhat, because it seems to be more of a well thought out, sensible and real-istic project. However, many are indeed still focussing on the sheer expense of such a project, which is a fair point to some extent, espe-

ANY WORD FROM THE NAYSAYERS?

SolaRoad cells are embedded in concrete slabs, rather than tessellating panels

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cially if you live in the dream-land that is Solar Freakin Roadways.

The Brusaws and others say that starting small will generate capital to build more, but even that doesnt look likely, considering how far off we are from actually making a profit on these things. As much as wed all love to believe that there will still be energy left over to sell, the compelling maths shown by crit-ics shows that this is very far from reality.

To give some kind of perspective, one such astronomical estimate of the total cost of Solar Freakin Roadways is 56 trillion dollars (or around $20 million per mile), which is just under four times the national debt of the USA. This is admittedly only an estimate, and is one of the only ones available. The Brusaws are yet to have offered an official detailed quote, which is actually quite worrying in itself.

the total cost of Solar Freakin Roadways is 56 trillion dollars (or

around $20 million per mile), which is just under four times the national

debt of the USA.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the Dutch SolaRoad, assuming it will lengthen to 100m, will cost around 3 million Euros (3.5 million dollars), which seems expensive considering that it will only pro-duce enough energy to power three houses. But thats neither here nor there. It is what this 3 million rep-resents that is important a step towards a renewable and sustain-able future.

Excitingly, many institutions and organisations are commercial-ly interested in this concept. For example the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has been mulling over the possibility of installing these road-

SO WHATS NEXT?

35

ways in the UKs capital. There is one caveat here though - his focus is currently on the Brusaws cam-paign. I would urge him to remain a little closer to home and look into the Dutch offering first (especially considering Boris obsession with cycling).

Several critics of the solar road concept do actually agree that it is an attractive project and shouldnt necessarily be cast asunder. In this world though, profitability is a barrier to all things; if some-thing doesnt make money it wont become mainstream. This rules out the all singing all dancing Solar Freakin Roadways at least for now, as we simply do not have the capi-tal. However, it is important not to squash the idea into the ground. To shoot down pioneering work is to halt the progression of the human race. Lets start at a grassroots

level and build from there.

Projects like the Dutch SolaRoad are useful for smaller, more niche applications like high-tech parks, playgrounds, pavements and cycle paths. And who knows, we may see some serious developments in the future. First, traffic lights may be powered using this technology, then streetlights, then cars, then whole streets. Sooner or later whos to say we cant end up with cities?

Research into renewable alterna-tives to fossil fuels is essential. With time, breakthrough will build upon breakthrough and we will emerge with a sustainable energy source that will benefit the whole planet. It is this goal that we must focus on.

Can you imagine

the streets of London

replaced by solar cells

LiteraLLy integrative:

By

ANETTE BOPP

M

36

ANTHROPOSOPHIC

MEDICINE

ore and more patients want to be treated not only by conventional therapies but also in a holistic way with complementary meth-

ods and therapies. This is for good rea-son: an individual is not simply a body; there is also psyche and personality to be

taken into account as well. Furthermore, every human being lives in a certain pro-fessional, personal, and social context. Anthroposophic medicine has occupied this subject in a holistic-integrative man-ner for more than 90 years.

37

Anthroposophic medi-cine is not an alter-native medicine. It doesnt seek to replace conventional medicine. On the contrary it is an extension of it, dealing not only with the phys-ical but also with the soul and spirit. Based on accepted medi-cal science, it draws on everything useful that modern medicine has to offer: medical technology, laborato-ry tests, medication, operations, and inten-sive care. But thats not the only benefit. In addition, it assesses the individual as a whole entity, examining the aspects that determine a persons uniqueness according to anthro-posophical norms. For instance, this may include physique and body language, physi-cal flow, handshake, sleeping habits, sen-sitivity to changes in

temperature, breath-ing, and biorhythms. Anthroposophic medi-cine therefore attempts to include the individu-ality of the patient, as well as the accepted features of an illness, in the treatment pro-cess. For just as each person is unique, so is each treatment.

Anthroposophic medi-cine is not pre-deter-mined. It avoids pure routine. Even if the same disease pic-tures constantly recur, each illness mani-fests itself differently in each patient a manifestation insepa-rable from the unique-ness of the individual. Anthroposophic medi-cine therefore aims to form a picture of the physical, psychologi-cal, and personal cir-cumstances that have

paved the way for an illness to take hold. Taking such factors into consideration during diagnosis and therapy and re-applying the process to every new patient, guided by sci-entific findings, medi-cal experience, per-

38

sonal discernment, and intuition, is fundamen-tal to anthroposophic medicine. Any medi-cine that ignores the person as an individual cannot claim to be true human medicine.

Moreover, anthropo-sophic medicine sup-plements conventional medicine with various special forms of treat-ment. These include

naturopathic medi-cines, modified physi-cal and palliative treat-ments (involving baths, compresses, bandages and special [rhythmic] massages) as well as artistic forms of treat-ment, such as sculp-ture, painting, music

therapy, elocu-tion, and euryth-my therapy. The aim of all artistic forms of treat-ment is that the patient stimu-lates the internal healing process of body and soul under guidance from their thera-pist.

Drug therapy within anthro-posophic medi-cine is based on the ancient prin-ciple: as little as possible and Photo credit: (C) Stephan Brendgen

Anthroposophic therapies deal with more than just the physical body of human beings.

39

only as long as necessary. In cases of acutely severe and life-threat-ening illness, the use of allopathic or conventional drugs (like antibi-otics or cortisone, etc.) is usually unavoidable. However, whenever possible, symptoms are not sup-pressed; instead the intention is to activate powers of self-healing with the aid of homeopathic and other produced anthroposophic drugs and to stimulate the body into finding its own natural rhythm once more. In this field, anthroposophic medi-cine follows a holistic and pluralistic approach.

A well-known example of a typi-cal anthroposophic drug therapy is mistletoe, which is used as medici-nal plant in oncology. In Europe its the most common and most investigated drugs in integrative oncology. More than one hundred clinical studies have proved the advantages in quality of life when patients used mistletoe in addition to, e.g., chemotherapy, radiation, or other conventional cancer treat-ments. Some studies even indicate that there is also the possibility of

life extension.

With its synthesis of natural and spiritual science anthroposoph-ic medicine links the conventional pathogenic approach (focusing on the illness) to a salutogenic medical perspective (focusing on health). This produces a holistic apprecia-tion of health, illness, and treat-ment and thats exactly what modern humanity needs. In this day and age, patients dont want to be seen merely as an illness, but as a person with an illness.

Anthroposophic medicine is practised in more than 80 coun-tries around the world: in Cape Town and Helsinki, Moscow and Los Angeles, Hamburg and Manila, and Sao Paulo and Santiago de Chile. The first anthroposoph-ic hospital for acute care was Geme i n s cha f t s k r ankenhaus Herdecke (www.gemeinschaftsk-rankenhaus.de), founded in 1969. It has a capacity of 471 beds for all important medical departments with 1250 employees and more than 50,000 patients a year (inpatients

40

and outpatients). Moreover, there are another two big hospitals for acute care in Berlin and Stuttgart and eleven specialized hospitals, rehabilitation clinics, or medical departments. In addition, there are professional associations for thera-pists and nurses and a civil organ-isations like GESUNDHEIT AKTIV Anthroposophic Medicine (www.gesundheit-aktiv.de), which stands for a holistic health system.

Sources:

Anthroposophic Medicine its nature, its

aims, its possibilities and Anthroposophic

Treatments principles, spectrum, applica-

tion, brochures published by the Medical

Section at the Goetheanum, http://www.

medsektion-goetheanum.org/home/publika-

tionen/.

Website Verband Anthroposophischer Kliniken

e.V.

Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke

www.gemeinschaftskrankenhaus.de

Gesundheit Aktiv

www.gesundheit-aktiv.de

Photo credit: (C) Stephan Brendgen

The Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke is one of the leading and best equippedhospitals in Germany which offers anthroposophic therapies.

By

OLGA ANTCZAk

41

PhytoteLmata anD other extreme habitats of DragonfLy DeveLoPment: A REVIEW

Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Hydrobiology, University of Lodz, Banacha st. 12/16, Pl-90-237 d, Poland

E-MAIL

ola.antczak10@gmail.com

T42

ABSTRACT:

ypical biotopes inhabited by the dragonflies larvae are rivers, creeks, streams, lakes, ponds, bogs, as well

as tanks in excavation pits. It turns out, however, that there are species of dragonflies resistant to severe environmental conditions, capable of living in very unusual habitats. There are species inhabiting water-falls, saline water or even tempo-rary desert pools. Several tropical species inhabit plant-held waters - phytotelmata water bodies in leaves, roots, tree hollows. There are also terrestrial or semi-terrestrial dragonflies, which are adapted to live in moss, on wet rocks or ground litter. The diversity of habitats and adaptations of dragonflies related to these harsh conditions is enormous. These dragonflies enrich the ecosys-tems, as an important component of food webs, and their presence cer-tainly increases the aesthetic value of the landscape. The importance of protecting these extraordinary developmental habitats is crucial in context of the conservation of the odonata fauna.

43

1. INTRODUCTION

Dragonflies (Odonata) are widespread hemi-metabolous insects. They are amphibiotic - their larvae are strong-ly associated with the aquatic environment, while adults are flying insects connected with water throughout their lives, especially during oviposition. According to the type of inhabited micro-habitat, there are two groups of dragonflies larvae - one living on sand or gravel as well as decomposed organic matter, and the second one being phytophiles living mainly among macrophytes. Those microhabitats are mainly found in run-ning waters, both natural and anthropogenic, like rivers, streams, drain-age ditches or channels.

Equally preferable are different kinds of stand-ing waters like lakes, ponds, bogs, swamps, as well as tanks in gravel pits, quarries, clay and peat excavations. But in some cases, tiny and temporary water reser-voirs, like phytotelmata seem to be enough.

2. DISCUSSION

What we call an extreme place to live is relative, but for this review the extremely challenging habitats, which require special adaptations from drag-onflies living there, were selected. The first species is semi-terrestrial Uropetala carovei, which inhab-its highland spring-fed bogs in New Zealand (Wolfe 1953, Corbet 1962, Silsby 2001). It drills little burrows in the

seepage area, often with two openings or sev-eral chambers on the basis (Fig.1). However, there was no case of finding more than one larva in single burrow (Wolfe 1953). Larvae live in the chambers embedded in a fine silt with their caudal plates above. The burrows are constructed in such a way as to allow water infiltration to the inside, so that they are provid-ed with the necessary moisture to breathe through their rectal gill. Therefore, Uropetala larvae can spend even several months out of the water (Wolfe 1953, Corbet 1999). That construction can take various forms, depen-dent on several factors. Firstly the larva lives just below the water level, but older instars are found at the great-er depth (Wolfe 1953). Uropetala dragonflies

also use their burrows for hunting. They show nocturnal activity, when the entrances of their burrows are even less visible. The darkness is used to hunt for small arthropods by taking them by surprise (Wolfe 1953, Winstanley & Rowe 1980).

44

Fig. 1. The burrow of Uropetala carovei type with several chambers (Wolfe 1953, modi-

fied)

Similar burrows are drilled by the other Petaluridae larvae, for example Petalura gigantea, which was described by Tillyard (1911). In addition, a few fully terrestrial species, like Hawaiian Megalagrion oahuense, are known. Its habitat is a rhi-zome mat of ferns like Dicranopteris linearis or Gleichenia sp. growing on the steep hillsides (Corbet 1962, Silsby 2001). The larvae breathe using atmo-spheric oxygen thanks to the high humidity of the air. Moreover, they have a few morpho-logical adaptations to prevent excessive loss of moisture - they are stocky and hairy, their body is strongly short-ened and their caudal lamellae are squat and thickly covered with setae (Corbet 1962).

Larvae, which inhabit reservoirs peri-odically drying out, have to deal with simi-lar problems. Australian Synthemis eustalacta occupies summer-dry pools and is able to survive in shallow, dry sand up to 10 weeks without being moist-ened. After this period of time the larva is so dry that in its first con-tact with water it floats on the surface (Tillyard 1910, Corbet 1999). It is probably also caused by the structure of the hydrophobic wax cov-ering the body sur-face (Corbet 1999). However, there are not many drought-resis-tant larvae. Common adaptation for droughts is a modification of voltinism (Suhling et al. 2004, Corbet et al. 2006). Odonata often use the strategy of accelerating the devel-opment cycle in order

45

to emerge from the pool before drying out. It is an especially common mechanism for the sea-sonal-rainfall pools in deserts (Corbet 1999, Suhling et al. 2004). In contrast, some dragon-flies can withhold their development by the egg diapause. Indian Potamarcha congener can have the eggs in that state up to 80 days (Corbet 1999). During the temporary zone larvae often get buried in the wet sand and when the pond gets refilled by water, they continue their devel-opment (Corbet 1999, Suhling et al. 2004). Another species of this genus, Megalagrion amaurodytum (= M. koelense) breeds in the leaf axils of Astelia and Freycinetia in the wet upland forests of Hawaii, although it is able to survive with-out the water (Corbet

1962). Studies of Howarth and Watson show that M. amau-rodytum, as well as Pseudocordulia spe-cies, can even climb out if placed in free water (Corbet 1999). Williams (1936) described also other Megalagrion larvae crawling in a water-film on rocks. In many species of this genus the reduction of gills and tracheae is observed (Richards & Davies 1977). Worldwide 47 drag-onfly species are known to use phytotelmata as a larval habitat (Corbet 1999). Lyriothemis tri-color is an example of development in tree holes in India (Das et al. 2013), whereas in Borneo this is prob-ably the most impor-tant habitat in the for-est ecosystem (Corbet 1999). Water in these tanks is characterized by specific physical and

chemical conditions, such as low pH, high content of dissolved solids and nutrients, and oxygen deficien-cies. Therefore, the larvae have to have high tolerance to such conditions. In addition, there are even such adaptations as canni-balism. Megaloprepus caerulatus appears to be the best example of this mechanism. Only one larva can sur-vive for 1-2 liters of water in a tree hollow (Fincke 1994, 2011). In smaller habitats the larva, which hatched first, can patrol the space, eating all newly hatched larvae (Fincke 1996, 1999, 2011). In the biggest hollows as many as 30 larvae are able to develop (Fincke 2011). This behavior provides them sooner emergence at a larger size (Fincke 2011).

46

Mecistogaster orna-ta larvae use a differ-ent strategy to gain the necessary quanti-ty of dissolved oxygen in tree hollow tanks some of them live in symbiosis with algae growing on the dorsal surface of their body, including caudal lamel-lae. They face towards the sunlight, enabling the photosynthesis of the algae (de la Rosa & Ramirez-Ulate 1995,

Corbet 1999). Despite the most often occupied phytotelma-ta by Odonata being Bromeliaceae tanks as well as leaf axils of other plants and tree cavities, there are also species found in even smaller water bodies, like Hadrothemis cama-rensis, which is able to develop in bamboo stamps (Corbet 1962). Obviously, many of these untypical micro-

h a b i t a t s are fac-u l t a t i ve , occup ied in case of lack of the more suit-able sites ( C o r b e t 1 9 6 2 , S i l s b y 2001). There are also s e v e r a l d r a g o n -

flies, which ovipos-it and develop solely in extreme habitats. The larvae of the only true marine species, Erythrodiplax berenice, is unable to develop in freshwater (Wright 1943, Smith & Smith 1996), however in lab-oratory studies they have managed to live in the tap water for one month (Smith & Smith 1996). The natural habitats of this dragon-fly are rocky mangrove

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47

flats and tidal marshes (Dunson 1980, Smith & Smith 1996, Corbet 1999). Optimal salinity for them is around 36-38 ppt, although they are able to live in sea water up to 260% thanks to osmoregulatory abilities (Dunson 1980). Several Odonata occupy brackish water of varying salinity on San Salvador (the Bahamas) these ecosystems are inhabited by Erythemis sim-plicicollis, Orthemis ferruginea and Pantala flavescens (Smith & Smith 1996). Another interesting larval habi-tat is waterfalls. The best known example is the African dragonfly Zygonyx natalensis. After copula-tion, they fly in tandem through the water spray and then a female oviposits in the mats of roots, bryo-zoans or moss in the spray zone along a waterfall (Corbet 1962, Martens 1991). In Panama and Costa Rica Thaumatoneura inopina-ta shows similar behavior (Calvert 1914, Silsby 1991). These larvae are able to live on the wet vertical rocks behind rapidly falling water thanks to the dorsoventrally flat-tened body and long powerful legs with strong claws (Silsby 1991). In this article only part of

48

Why do Odonata develop in such harsh habitats?

very unusual and extraordinary lar-val development habitats has been described with probably plenty more to be yet discovered.

3. CONCLUSION

Why do Odonata develop in such harsh habitats? One of the answers is definitely lack of other convenient breeding sites. What is more impor-tant, in most of such places there are not many predators. Therefore, the adaptations to the living in extreme habitats, like high saline waters and waterfalls, are often the survival strat-egy (Calvert 1914, Corbet 1999). In phy to -

telmata, for example, dragonfly and damselfly larvae are known to be the top predators (Fincke 1994). Furthermore, relatively large amounts of terrestrial and semi-terrestrial Megalagrion damselflies on Hawaii are most likely the result of adaptive radiation. Jordan et al. (2003) pointed out that high lev-els of endemism and species rich-ness can be correlated with islands ages. The emergence of the new island allowed the larvae to colo-nize the available ecological niche by developing new adaptations

49

and thus, many different ecological guilds were established (Jordan et al. 2003). Consequently, species of this genus inhabit equal amount of habitats as all other damselflies in the world combined (Simon 1987). Moreover, the larvae had the pos-sibility to colonize phytotelmata and terrestrial habitats due to the historical absence of mammals and ants in Hawaii (Jordan et al. 2003). Zimmerman (2001) presumes that the terrestrial Megalagrion oahuense larvae could, in the future, be an ancestor for the new order of insects, which would evolve in

Hawaii. One thing is certain - the survival of these extraordinary Odonata depends in greater scale on human activity. The ecosystems inhabited by dragonflies are under strong human pressure. It affects mainly tropical habitats, which are a hotspot of dragonfly biodiver-sity. In addition, these dragonflies are an essential component of the food web in many ecosystems. Therefore, there is an urgent need for their protection.

50

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am very grateful to Grzegorz Toczykforvaluablecomments.I also would like to thank Kamil

Hupaoforcheckingthelinguisticcorrectness.

Calvert P.P. 1914. Studies on Costa

Rican Odonata. V. The waterfall-dwellers:

Thaumatoneura imagos and possible male

dimorphism. Entomological News 25: 337-

348.

Corbet P.S. 1962. A Biology of Dragonflies.

Witherby, London.

Corbet P.S. 1999. Dragonflies. Behavior

and ecology of Odonata. Cornell University

Press, Ithaca, New York and Harley Books,

Colchester, UK.

Corbet P.S., F. Suhling, D. Soendgerath. 2006.

Voltinism of Odonata: a review. International

Journal of Odonatology. 9(1): 1-44.

Das et al. 2013. Range extension and lar-

val habitat of Lyriothemis tricolor Ris, 1919

(Odonata: Anisoptera: Libellulidae) from

southern Western Ghants India. Journal of

Threatened Taxa 5(17): 52375246.

de la Rosa C.L. & A. Ramrez-Ulate. 1995. A

note on phototactic behavior and on phoretic

association in larvae of Mecistigaster ornata

Rambur from Northern Costa Rica (Zygoptera:

Pseudostigmatidae). Odonatologica. 24 (2):

219-224.

Dunson, W.A., 1980: Adaptations of nymphs

of a marine dragonfly, Erythrodiplax bereni-

ce, to wide variations in salinity. Physiological

Zoology, 534: 445-452.

Fincke O.M. 1994. Population regulation of a

tropical damselfly in the larval stage by food

limitation, cannibalism, intraguild predation

and habitat drying. Oecologia. 100: 118-127.

Fincke O.M. 1996 . Larval behaviour of a giant

damselfly: territoriality or size-dependent

dominance? Animal Behaviour. 51: 77-87.

Fincke O.M. 1999. Organisation of predator

assemblages in neotropical tree holes: effects

of abiotic factors and priority. Ecological

Entomology. 24: 13-23.

Fincke O.M. 2011. Excess offspring as a

maternal strategy: constraints in the shared

nursery of a giant damselfly. Behavioral

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ing and oviposition behavior in Zygonyx

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CSIRO Publishing, Washington.

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(Odonata: Anisoptera: Libellulidae). In: N.B.

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W W W . I S P E C T R U M M A G A Z I N E . C O M

My brain is only a receiver, in the Universe there is a core from which we obtain knowledge, strength and inspiration. I have not penetrated into the secrets of this core, but I know that it exists.

- NIkOLA TESLA

FREE SUBSCRIPTION

Photo credit : Mateo Mom | Bildsymphonie

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