Eco Factor: Solar-powered heaters to help bats save important calories.
It seems like solar power is the answer, not just for mankind but for other mammals as well. Scientists have predicted that solar-powered heaters can help bats live a long life and make them immune to a deadly fungus that has caused deaths of more than 80% of bats in northeastern United States and Canada.
The fungus, known as Geomyces Genus, make bats rouse from hibernation more often than usual. Whenever bats rouse from hibernation, precious calories are spent to bring their body temperatures back to normal. After a usual rouse, bats fly to warmer areas to keep their bodies warm, but an unusual rousing can mean that bats could starve to death.
Research conducted on the hibernation patterns of several brown bats has revealed that bats could survive this unnatural rousing if their body temperature is somehow artificially increased. It also suggests that many bats can survive if their caves were somehow artificially warmed with heaters. Researchers at the University of Winnipeg have developed a heater known as “bat box,” which runs off solar energy and keeps the hibernated bats warm. Once these bats rouse, warm caves make life easy for them.
The Dark Side:
The research is still in its infancy and only after thorough testing any downsides of the research will be known.
Via: NationalGeographic
