Researchers envision sci-fi worlds involving changes to atmospheric water cycle

Human activity is changing the way water flows between the Earth and atmosphere in complex ways and with likely long-lasting consequences that are hard to picture.

Land use change is altering where clouds form and how precipitation is distributed. Meanwhile, weather modification activities like cloud seeding are shifting how nations plan for water use in the face of climate change. These and other changes to the planet's atmospheric water cycle were once hard to imagine but are increasingly part of modern water management on the planet.

Colorado State University Assistant Professor Patrick Keys is an expert in climate and societal change. He has been studying these types of issues for years and realized there was a potential gap when it came to understanding -- not only in the public but among the water research community -- the lasting implications of these changes.

To better grasp how those kinds of activities could shape the world, he enlisted water scientists from around the globe to write story-based scenarios about the possible futures humanity is facing but perhaps can't quite comprehend yet. The results were recently published in Global Sustainability as part of a creative pathway to understand atmospheric water research with an eye towards the potential economic and policy issues that may be just beyond the horizon.

The work features striking artist-made images that pair with traditional science fiction narratives as well as alternative story forms like first-person journal entries. Keys said the package offers a wide path -- grounded in science -- to build a shared understanding of future water management activities and problems.

"Stories are everywhere and are an integral part of human life," he said. "They tell you something different from a graph in a research paper. They allow you to explore how people may feel or react to these kinds of changes. This kind of work provides agency for people and an opportunity to consider these changes no matter their background or level of understanding."

Research for this work came in three distinct phases, according to Keys. First, he used computational text analysis to find recurring themes in journal abstracts about the current state of atmospheric water cycle research. He then sorted the data -- identifying clusters of recurring terms against a grid of common economic goods principles for discussion. The goal, he said, was to better describe the ways humans and institutions may interact with the atmospheric water cycle in the future. Specifically: how entities in the future, such as countries or private actors, could eventually act to protect their own resources or how they may leverage advantages to gain access to water as a crucial natural resource in the future.

It's those relationships and interactions, Keys wanted to explore in the third part of this research and where science fiction comes into play.

Science fiction and reality of atmospheric water resources beyond 2050 With a better grip on the potential future relationships of water management in this space, Keys next asked experts to imagine a world that is decades in the future where activities like cloud seeding were common and the long-term results are more apparent.

The result was an exercise in science fiction storytelling with the specific goal of probing reality and envisioning even the weirdest possible outcomes.

"I think we have a sense that some futures are more likely than others, but we need to realize that to adequately cover the possible trajectories our world could head toward, models alone may not cut it," he said. "Especially when we are talking about things that are hard to quantify, like culture or perception, that may wind up playing a large part in the actual outcomes."

To create the narratives Keys hosted a series of workshops with interdisciplinary water experts from all fields and backgrounds and walked them through a 'futures thinking' approach. The experts were not siloed by discipline and topic during the exercise, with the hope of sparking even more creativity. In the end, 10 story-based scenarios were developed and are included in the paper. Keys also worked with the artist Fabio Comin over the course of a year to create the accompanying imagery.

Keys is based in the Department of Atmospheric Science in the Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering. He had several partners in the paper including postdoctoral fellow Rekha Warrier from the Human Dimensions of Natural Resources Department at CSU. Other researchers came from the University of California, Davis, the University of California, Los Angeles, the Stockholm Resilience Centre, and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

Keys said he is now using similar approaches for another project with the Colorado Water Center. He added that one of his goals with both projects was to ignite conversations around the water cycle at what is becoming a key moment for action globally.

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Researchers pump brakes on 'blue acceleration' harming the world ocean

Protecting the world's oceans against accelerating damage from human activities could be cheaper and take up less space than previously thought, new research has found.

The University of Queensland's Professor Anthony Richardson collaborated on the study, which looks to halt the rapid decline of marine biodiversity from expanding industrial activities in marine areas beyond national jurisdictions (ABNJ).

"This 'blue acceleration' as we call it, has seen a greater diversity of stakeholders interested in ABNJs, such as the high seas and the international seabed beyond exclusive economic zones," Professor Richardson said.

"This has led to an issue where current marine protection methods look at each sector separately -- such as fishing, shipping, and deep-sea mining industries -- all of which have their own suite of impacts on species, communities, and ecosystems."

In response, researchers assessed the design of different networks of marine protection areas (MPA) across the Indian Ocean that target rich biodiversity areas with minimal impact on profitable human activity.

"Essentially, we assessed the potential trade-offs associated with including multiple stakeholders in a cross-sectoral, as opposed to sector-specific, protected area network, for ABNJs in the Indian Ocean," Professor Richardson said.

"First, we created three sector-specific plans -- involving fishing, shipping, and mining separately -- to identify optimal locations for strict, no-take, MPAs.

"We then created a cross-sectoral no-take plan that minimises the opportunity cost to all stakeholders simultaneously, looking at the overall picture with each stakeholder in mind.

"After generating these plans, we compared the three sector-specific solutions, as well as their sum, to the cross sectoral solution."

Lead researcher from the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Léa Fourchault, said the cross-sectoral approach met the same conservation targets at much lower additional costs for each stakeholder than if all sector-specific plans are implemented without coordination.

"For example, the fishing sector might lose 20 per cent of its potential revenue under the cross-sectoral plan, but it would lose 54 per cent if all sector-specific plans were implemented simultaneously without coordination," Ms Fourchault said.

"This was consistent for the shipping and mining sectors, with the shipping sector now losing two per cent, instead of 26 per cent of its potential revenue, and the mining sector now losing one per cent instead of close to eight per cent.

"Our results also show that we can reduce the size of MPAs from 25 per cent of the spatial plan to eight per cent while meeting the same conservation objectives.

"This would still achieve 30 per cent coverage for important biodiversity features, including key life-cycle areas for marine megafauna, areas of biological and ecological interest, and areas important to deep-sea ecosystems, such as seamounts, vents, and plateaus."

Researchers believe the cross-sectoral approach can be a first step to implementing the conservation objectives of the recently signed United Nations High Seas Treaty.

"The code from our research is available online and can be used by scientists, conservationists and politicians alike -- and can be applied to any ocean on Earth," Ms Fourchault said.

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Humans are disrupting natural 'salt cycle' on a global scale, new study shows

The planet's demand for salt comes at a cost to the environment and human health, according to a new scientific review led by University of Maryland Geology Professor Sujay Kaushal. Published in the journal Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, the paper revealed that human activities are making Earth's air, soil and freshwater saltier, which could pose an "existential threat" if current trends continue.

Geologic and hydrologic processes bring salts to Earth's surface over time, but human activities such as mining and land development are rapidly accelerating the natural "salt cycle." Agriculture, construction, water and road treatment, and other industrial activities can also intensify salinization, which harms biodiversity and makes drinking water unsafe in extreme cases.

"If you think of the planet as a living organism, when you accumulate so much salt it could affect the functioning of vital organs or ecosystems," said Kaushal, who holds a joint appointment in UMD's Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center. "Removing salt from water is energy intensive and expensive, and the brine byproduct you end up with is saltier than ocean water and can't be easily disposed of."

Kaushal and his co-authors described these disturbances as an "anthropogenic salt cycle," establishing for the first time that humans affect the concentration and cycling of salt on a global, interconnected scale.

"Twenty years ago, all we had were case studies. We could say surface waters were salty here in New York or in Baltimore's drinking water supply," said study co-author Gene Likens, an ecologist at the University of Connecticut and the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. "We now show that it's a cycle -- from the deep Earth to the atmosphere -- that's been significantly perturbed by human activities."

The new study considered a variety of salt ions that are found underground and in surface water. Salts are compounds with positively charged cations and negatively charged anions, with some of the most abundant ones being calcium, magnesium, potassium and sulfate ions.

"When people think of salt, they tend to think of sodium chloride, but our work over the years has shown that we've disturbed other types of salts, including ones related to limestone, gypsum and calcium sulfate," Kaushal said.

When dislodged in higher doses, these ions can cause environmental problems. Kaushal and his co-authors showed that human-caused salinization affected approximately 2.5 billion acres of soil around the world -- an area about the size of the United States. Salt ions also increased in streams and rivers over the last 50 years, coinciding with an increase in the global use and production of salts.

Salt has even infiltrated the air. In some regions, lakes are drying up and sending plumes of saline dust into the atmosphere. In areas that experience snow, road salts can become aerosolized, creating sodium and chloride particulate matter.

Salinization is also associated with "cascading" effects. For example, saline dust can accelerate the melting of snow and harm communities -- particularly in the western United States -- that rely on snow for their water supply. Because of their structure, salt ions can bind to contaminants in soils and sediments, forming "chemical cocktails" that circulate in the environment and have detrimental effects.

"Salt has a small ionic radius and can wedge itself between soil particles very easily," Kaushal said. "In fact, that's how road salts prevent ice crystals from forming."

Road salts have an outsized impact in the U.S., which churns out 44 billion pounds of the deicing agent each year. Road salts represented 44% of U.S. salt consumption between 2013 and 2017, and they account for 13.9% of the total dissolved solids that enter streams across the country. This can cause a "substantial" concentration of salt in watersheds, according to Kaushal and his co-authors.

To prevent U.S. waterways from being inundated with salt in the coming years, Kaushal recommended policies that limit road salts or encourage alternatives. Washington, D.C., and several other U.S. cities have started treating frigid roads with beet juice, which has the same effect but contains significantly less salt.

Kaushal said it is becoming increasingly important to weigh the short- and long-term risks of road salts, which play an important role in public safety but can also diminish water quality.

"There's the short-term risk of injury, which is serious and something we certainly need to think about, but there's also the long-term risk of health issues associated with too much salt in our water," Kaushal said. "It's about finding the right balance."

The study's authors also called for the creation of a "planetary boundary for safe and sustainable salt use" in much the same way that carbon dioxide levels are associated with a planetary boundary to limit climate change. Kaushal said that while it's theoretically possible to regulate and control salt levels, it comes with unique challenges.

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Earth's stability and ability to support civilization at risk: Six of nine planetary boundaries exceeded

A new study updates the planetary boundary framework and shows human activities are increasingly impacting the planet and, thereby, increasing the risk of triggering dramatic changes in overall Earth conditions.

For over 3 billion years, the interaction between life (represented by the planetary boundary, Biosphere Integrity) and climate have controlled the overall environmental conditions on Earth. Human activities, for example replacing nature with other land uses, changing the amount of water in rivers and in soil, the introduction of synthetic chemicals to the open environment, and the emission of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere all influence these interactions.

Respecting and maintaining interactions in the Earth system so that they remain similar to those that have controlled Earth conditions over the past ~12,000 years are critical for ensuring human activities do not trigger dramatic changes in Earth condition -- changes that likely would decrease the Earth's ability to support modern civilizations.

The nine "planetary boundaries" represent components of the global environment that regulate that stability and liveability of the planet for people. The degree of breaching of the safe boundary levels is caused by human-driven activities impacting the components. The planetary boundaries framework applies the newest scientific understanding of the functioning of the Earth system to identify a "safe operating space" for humanity by proposing limits for the extent to which human activities can be allowed to impact critical processes without risk of potentially triggering irreversible changes in the Earth conditions that support us.

For the first time, metrics for all boundaries are presented. Six of the boundaries are found to be transgressed, and transgression is increasing for all boundaries except the degradation of the Earth's ozone layer. A global focus on climate is not enough. Development of Earth system models that accurately reproduce interactions between boundaries, especially Climate and Biosphere Integrity, is an urgent priority.

The study, published in Science Advances, represents the third update of the framework carried out by twenty-nine scientists from eight different countries.

The Earth's "blood pressure" is too high

The trend of increasing transgression of the boundaries is worrying explains Katherine Richardson, professor at Globe Institute, Leader of the Sustainability Science Centre at the University of Copenhagen, and leader of the study:

"Crossing six boundaries in itself does not necessarily imply a disaster will ensue but it is a clear warning signal. We can regard it as we do our own blood pressure. A BP over 120/80 is not a guarantee of a heart attack but it increases the risk of one. Therefore, we try to bring it down. For our own -- and our children's -- sakes we need to reduce the pressure on these six planetary boundaries."

An important conclusion of the study is that more focus is needed on interactions between the boundaries:

"Focus on human-caused climate change is not enough if we want to protect the earth system from irreversible harm," says Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), and original proposer of the framework in 2009.

"Next to climate change, integrity of the biosphere is the second pillar of stability of our planet. Our research shows that mitigating global warming and saving a functional biosphere for the future have to go hand in hand," co-author Wolfgang Lucht, Head of PIK's department of Earth System Analysis, stresses.

Use of biomass affects biodiversity

The need to respect the Land Use Change boundary puts focus on the increasing global use of biomass as an alternative for coal, oil, and gas. Biomass is the product of photosynthesis, the process where plants convert the sun's energy to energy that can be used by other living organisms and, thus, supplies the energy that supports biodiversity.

"Our study shows that humans are appropriating the equivalent of ~30 % of the energy that was available to support biodiversity before the Industrial Revolution," says Richardson.

"Surely, the removal of so much of the energy that otherwise would have been available to nature must be a driver of biodiversity loss. Therefore, we propose the adoption of Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production (HANPP), i.e., biomass use, as one of two metrics when assessing human impacts on biodiversity."

Better Earth system models needed

"A world that develops within science defined boundaries is the only way to navigate our current situation with rising, potentially catastrophic risks, at the planetary scale. We already recognise this on Climate, where the Paris agreement has adopted the climate planetary boundary of holding the 1.5°C limit. Similarly, the world has accepted the planetary boundary on biodiversity, when decided at the 2022 Montreal-Kunming COP15, to halt and reverse biodiversity loss on land and in the ocean," says Johan Rockström and continues:

"Our study shows, however, that this is by far not enough. The Planetary Boundaries science provides a 'guide for action' if we truly want to secure prosperity and equity for all on Earth, and this goes well beyond climate only, requiring novel Earth system modelling and analysis, and systematic efforts to protect, recover and rebuild planetary resilience."

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Joro spiders aren't scary: They're shy

Despite their intimidating appearance, the giant yellow and blue-black spiders spreading across the Southeastern U.S. owe their survival to a surprising trait: They're rather timid.

According to a new study from the University of Georgia, the Joro spider may be the shyest spider ever documented.

"One of the ways that people think this spider could be affecting other species is that it's aggressive and out-competing all the other native spiders," said Andy Davis, lead author of the study and a research scientist in UGA's Odum School of Ecology. "So we wanted to get to know the personality of these spiders and see if they're capable of being that aggressive.

"It turns out they're not."

The researchers compared more than 450 spiders' responses to a brief and harmless disturbance across 10 different species.

While most spiders froze for less than a minute before resuming their normal activities, the Joro spiders remained motionless for more than an hour.

"They basically shut down and wait for the disturbance to go away," Davis said. "Our paper shows that these spiders are really more afraid of you than the reverse."

In fact, Joros are relatively harmless to people and pets. Joros won't bite unless cornered. And even if you did manage to somehow annoy a Joro into biting you, its fangs likely wouldn't be large enough to pierce your skin.

Most spiders begin moving quickly after stress, Joros remain immobile for 60+ minutes

To examine the spiders' reaction to stress, the researchers used a turkey baster to gently blow two rapid puffs of air onto individual spiders. This minor disturbance causes the spiders to "freeze" for a period of time, going absolutely still.

The researchers tested more than 30 garden spiders, banded garden spiders and marbled orb weavers. They also analyzed similar data from previously published, peer-reviewed papers that assessed the response of 389 more spiders, comprising five additional species.

All of those spiders began moving again after an average of about a minute and half of stillness.

The Joros, however, stayed frozen with no body or leg movement for over an hour in most cases.

The only other spider species that exhibited a similarly extended response was the Joro spider's cousin, the golden silk spider. Known as Trichonephila clavipes, the golden silk spider and the Joro spider are from the same genus.

Joros may be invasive, but they're not aggressive

Officially known as Trichonephila clavata, the East Asian Joro spider first arrived in Georgia around 2013. The species is native to Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China, and likely hitched a ride stateside on a shipping container.

The species has since rapidly spread across the state and much of the Southeast. Joro spiders easily number in the millions now. And there's not much we can do to stop them from increasing their range.

Davis' previous research even suggested the invasive arachnids could spread beyond their current habitats and through most of the Eastern Seaboard.

"Most people think 'invasive' and 'aggressive' are synonymous," said Amitesh Anerao, co-author of the study and an undergraduate researcher at the university. "People were freaking out about the Joro spiders at first, but maybe this paper can help calm people down."

Joro spiders built to withstand human activity

Joros are regularly spotted in areas native Georgia spiders don't typically inhabit.

They build their golden webs between powerlines, on top of stoplights and even above the pumps at local gas stations -- none of which are particularly peaceful spots.

The researchers believe the Joro spiders' shyness may help them better endure the barrage of noise, vibrations and visual stimuli they consistently encounter in urban settings. Their prolonged freeze response to being startled could help conserve the Joro spiders' energy.

If you're wondering how something so mild-mannered could spread the way Joro spiders have, you aren't the only one.

"One thing this paper tells me is that the Joros' rapid spread must be because of their incredible reproductive potential," Davis said. "They're simply outbreeding everybody else. It's not because they're displacing native spiders or kicking them out of their own webs."

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Stressed out: Mapping the human footprint on coastal areas globally

A global mapping project led by University of Queensland researchers has revealed the major stressors placed upon global coastlines by human activity.

The team quantified and mapped the presence and extent of major land-based and marine stressors, finding that 97 per cent of coastal areas globally had at least one major stressor present.

Professor Salit Kark from UQ's School of Biological Sciences said the research team were surprised at the sheer extent and far-reaching impact revealed by the footprint map created.

"There is hardly anywhere on the planet, outside of the polar and arctic regions, that does not show some form of human pressure on their coastline," Professor Kark said.

"In essence, we have influenced the majority of coastal areas globally.

"We therefore should aim to map and understand our impacts, and also leave some untouched coastlines."

UQ PhD candidate Hannah Allan said the research outlined the spatial extent and magnitude of 10 major land-based stressors and 10 major marine stressors that occur across coastlines globally.

"The threats human activity pose to coastal ecosystems and biodiversity come from both the land and sea, sometimes arriving far from human activity," Ms Allan said.

"Therefore, coastal conservation must incorporate land-sea connections.

"Human population size, tourism, and roads were some of the biggest contributors to the terrestrial component of Australia's coastal human footprint.

"As for marine stressors, increasing sea surface temperatures, nutrient pollution, and shipping were found to be major drivers of human pressure on Australian coastlines."

Professor Noam Levin said a map of this kind, which assembles both terrestrial and marine stressors and presents the coastal human footprint globally, has rarely been attempted.

"This research offers valuable insights that could help decision-makers and managers identify where to mitigate particular impacts," Prof. Levin said.

"For example, the database underlying the human footprint can show specific areas with high oil and gas operations, such as in Western Australia.

"This can help develop preparedness procedures for the very realistic chance of environmental disasters that impact coastal areas, such as oil spills.

"An added benefit of our new global map is that it helps prioritise these decisions based on how widespread the potential pressures of our human footprint in certain areas of the world might be.

"Coastal areas, where 90 per cent of Australians live, were not immune to these stressors.

"For Australia, the highest human footprint was found in the coastal cities, in the order of Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, and Brisbane.

"We also mapped 160 areas on the planet with the most pristine coastal areas, including several in Australia.

"Of those, nearly 40 per cent were totally unprotected -- opening an opportunity to identify coastal areas for further conservation actions.

"A key finding was that light pollution is increasing, with more white LEDs being used, placing great strain on areas of high importance for biodiversity, disrupting the natural patterns of wildlife."

Moving forward, researchers are looking to fine-tune the mapping process, looking more specifically at Australia's coastlines.

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How to pull carbon dioxide out of seawater

As carbon dioxide continues to build up in the Earth's atmosphere, research teams around the world have spent years seeking ways to remove the gas efficiently from the air. Meanwhile, the world's number one "sink" for carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is the ocean, which soaks up some 30 to 40 percent of all of the gas produced by human activities.

Recently, the possibility of removing carbon dioxide directly from ocean water has emerged as another promising possibility for mitigating CO2 emissions, one that could potentially someday even lead to overall net negative emissions. But, like air capture systems, the idea has not yet led to any widespread use, though there are a few companies attempting to enter this area.

Now, a team of researchers at MIT says they may have found the key to a truly efficient and inexpensive removal mechanism. The findings were reported this week in the journal Energy and Environmental Science, in a paper by MIT professors T. Alan Hatton and Kripa Varanasi, postdoc Seoni Kim, and graduate students Michael Nitzsche, Simon Rufer, and Jack Lake.

The existing methods for removing carbon dioxide from seawater apply a voltage across a stack of membranes to acidify a feed stream by water splitting. This converts bicarbonates in the water to molecules of CO2, which can then be removed under vacuum. Hatton, who is the Ralph Landau Professor of Chemical Engineering, notes that the membranes are expensive, and chemicals are required to drive the overall electrode reactions at either end of the stack, adding further to the expense and complexity of the processes. "We wanted to avoid the need for introducing chemicals to the anode and cathode half cells and to avoid the use of membranes if at all possible" he says.

The team came up with a reversible process consisting of membrane-free electrochemical cells. Reactive electrodes are used to release protons to the seawater fed to the cells, driving the release of the dissolved carbon dioxide from the water. The process is cyclic: It first acidifies the water to convert dissolved inorganic bicarbonates to molecular carbon dioxide, which is collected as a gas under vacuum. Then, the water is fed to a second set of cells with a reversed voltage, to recover the protons and turn the acidic water back to alkaline before releasing it back to the sea. Periodically, the roles of the two cells are reversed once one set of electrodes is depleted of protons (during acidification) and the other has been regenerated during alkalization.

This removal of carbon dioxide and reinjection of alkaline water could slowly start to reverse, at least locally, the acidification of the oceans that has been caused by carbon dioxide buildup, which in turn has threatened coral reefs and shellfish, says Varanasi, a professor of mechanical engineering. The reinjection of alkaline water could be done through dispersed outlets or far offshore to avoid a local spike of alkalinity that could disrupt ecosystems, they say.

"We're not going to be able to treat the entire planet's emissions," Varanasi says. But the reinjection might be done in some cases in places such as fish farms, which tend to acidify the water, so this could be a way of helping to counter that effect.

Once the carbon dioxide is removed from the water, it still needs to be disposed of, as with other carbon removal processes. For example, it can be buried in deep geologic formations under the sea floor, or it can be chemically converted into a compound like ethanol, which can be used as a transportation fuel, or into other specialty chemicals. "You can certainly consider using the captured CO2 as a feedstock for chemicals or materials production, but you're not going to be able to use all of it as a feedstock," says Hatton. "You'll run out of markets for all the products you produce, so not matter what, a significant amount of the captured CO2 will need to be buried underground."

Initially at least, the idea would be to couple such systems with existing or planned infrastructure that already processes seawater, such as desalination plants. "This system is scalable so that we could integrate it potentially into existing processes that are already processing ocean water or in contact with ocean water," Varanasi says. There, the carbon dioxide removal could be a simple add-on to existing processes, which already return vast amounts of water to the sea, and it would not require consumables like chemical additives or membranes.

"With desalination plants, you're already pumping all the water, so why not co-locate there?" Varanasi says. "A bunch of capital costs associated with the way you move the water, and the permitting, all that could already be taken care of."

The system could also be implemented by ships that would process water as they travel, in order to help mitigate the significant contribution of ship traffic to overall emissions. There are already international mandates to lower shipping's emissions, and "this could help shipping companies offset some of their emissions, and turn ships into ocean scrubbers," Varanasi says.

The system could also be implemented at locations such as offshore drilling platforms, or at aquaculture farms. Eventually, it could lead to a deployment of free-standing carbon removal plants distributed globally.

The process could be more efficient than air-capture systems, Hatton says, because the concentration of carbon dioxide in seawater is more than 100 times greater than it is in air. In direct air-capture systems it is first necessary to capture and concentrate the gas before recovering it. "The oceans are large carbon sinks, however, so the capture step has already kind of been done for you," he says. "There's no capture step, only release." That means the volumes of material that need to be handled are much smaller, potentially simplifying the whole process and reducing the footprint requirements.

The research is continuing, with one goal being to find an alternative to the present step that requires a vacuum to remove the separated carbon dioxide from the water. Another need is to identify operating strategies to prevent precipitation of minerals that can foul the electrodes in the alkalinization cell, an inherent issue that reduces the overall efficiency in all reported approaches. Hatton notes that significant progress has been made on these issues, but that it is still too early to report on them. The team expects that the system could be ready for a practical demonstration project within about two years.

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