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The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) teaches that same-sex parents are detrimental to the normal development of the children they parent. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) supports this teaching and provides sociological evidence to substantiate it. In this essay, we critically analyze that teaching and the USCCB’s evidence. Part one explains the ethical inconsistencies in the CDF’s teaching on same-sex parenting. Part two considers the relationship between theology and science. Part three investigates the ‘signs of the times’ and the changing demographics of families in the US. Part four presents overwhelming sociological data that demonstrates that same-sex parents promote the human development of children. Part five calls for the revision of Catholic teaching against same-sex parenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a recent article in this journal, Thomas Finegan replies to our earlier article in this journal, which proposes a theological and ethical argument for the Catholic church to recognize same-sex civil unions as a lower-case sacrament. His critique focuses on the theological significance of embodiment as a one flesh union taught by Jesus, defended throughout Catholic tradition, and justified philosophically. We respond that Finegan's critique misrepresents our argument and is mistaken biblically, anthropologically, and sacramentally, and suffers from scotosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An updated version of the Particle Analysis by Laser Mass Spectrometry (PALMS) instrument, termed PALMS-NG (-Next Generation), has been designed to characterize particles in the troposphere and stratosphere. Two PALMS-NG instruments have been built: a Purdue University version, which has flown on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) ER-2 and DC-8, and a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) version, which has flown on the NASA WB-57F. The general design and construction are nearly identical. New features and construction techniques are described here. These include a new inlet, optics for an extended size range of particle measurement, and a unique bipolar s-shaped mass spectrometer with higher resolution. These make the -NG instrument a significant improvement over the original flight PALMS which was first flown 25 years ago. Copyright © 2024 American Association for Aerosol Research [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Each year, commercial ships emit over 1.67 Tg of particulate matter (PM) pollution into the atmosphere. These ships rely on the combustion of heavy fuel oil, which contains high levels of sulfur, large aromatic organic compounds, and metals. Vanadium is one of the metals most commonly associated with heavy fuel oil and is often used as a tracer for PM from ship exhaust. Previous studies have suggested that vanadium-containing PM has impacts on human health and climate due to its toxicological and cloud-formation properties, respectively; however, its distribution in the atmosphere is not fully understood, which limits our ability to quantify the environmental implications of PM emitted by ships. Here, we present data obtained from a Particle Analysis by Laser Mass Spectrometry (PALMS) instrument on the NASA DC-8 aircraft during the 2016–2018 Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom) and show that ∼ 1 % of the accumulation mode particles measured in the marine boundary layer of the central Pacific and Atlantic oceans contain vanadium. These measurements, which were made without targeting ship plumes, suggest that PM emitted by ships is widespread in the atmosphere. Furthermore, we observed vanadium-containing ship exhaust particles at altitudes up to 13 km, which demonstrates that not all ship exhaust particles are immediately removed via wet deposition processes. In addition, using laboratory calibrations, we determined that most vanadium-containing ship exhaust particles can contain up to a few weight percent of vanadium. This study furthers our understanding of both the chemical composition and distribution of PM emitted by ships, which will allow us to better constrain the climate, health, and air quality implications of these particle types in the future. We note that these data were collected prior to the 2020 International Maritime Organization (IMO) sulfur regulation and stand as a reference for understanding how ship emissions have evolved in light of these regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The atmospheric sulfur cycle plays a key role in air quality, climate, and ecosystems, such as pollution, radiative forcing, new particle formation, and acid rain. In this study, we compare the spatially and temporally resolved measurements from the NASA Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) mission with simulations from five AeroCom III models for four sulfur species (dimethyl sulfide (DMS), sulfur dioxide (SO 2), particulate methanesulfonate (MSA), and particulate sulfate (SO 4)). We focus on remote regions over the Pacific, Atlantic, and Southern oceans from near the surface to ∼ 12 km altitude range covering all four seasons. In general, the differences among model results can be greater than 1 order of magnitude. Comparing with observations, model-simulated SO 2 is generally low, whereas SO 4 is generally high. Simulated DMS concentrations near the sea surface exceed observed levels by a factor of 5 in most cases, suggesting potential overestimation of DMS emissions in all models. With GEOS model simulations of tagging emission from anthropogenic, biomass burning, volcanic, and oceanic sources, we find that anthropogenic emissions are the dominant source of sulfate aerosol (40 %–60 % of the total amount) in the ATom measurements at almost all altitudes, followed by volcanic emissions (18 %–32 %) and oceanic sources (16 %–32 %). Similar source contributions can also be derived at broad ocean basins and on monthly scales, indicating the representativeness of ATom measurements for global ocean. Our work presents the first assessment of AeroCom sulfur study using ATom measurements, providing directions for improving sulfate simulations, which remain the largest uncertainty in radiative forcing estimates in aerosol climate models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Respiratory aerosols with diameters smaller than 100 μ m have been confirmed as important vectors for the spread of diseases such as SARS-CoV-2. While disposable and cloth masks afford some protection, they are typically inefficient at filtering these aerosols and require specialized fabrication devices to produce. We describe a fabrication technique that makes use of a folding procedure (origami) to transform any filtration material into a mask. These origami masks can be fabricated by non-experts at minimal cost and effort, provide adequate filtration efficiencies, and are easily scaled to different facial sizes. Using a mannequin fit test simulator, we demonstrate that these masks can provide filtration efficiencies of over 90% while simultaneously providing greater comfort as demonstrated by pressure drops of <20 Pa. We also quantify mask leakage by measuring the variations in filtration efficiency and pressure drop when masks are sealed to the mannequin face compared to when the mask is unsealed but positioned to achieve the best fit. While leakage generally trended with pressure drop, some of the best performing mask media achieved <10% reduction in filtration efficiency due to leakage. Because this mask can provide high filtration efficiencies at low pressure drop compared to commercial alternatives, it is likely to promote greater mask wearing tolerance and acceptance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large increases in the number of low earth orbit satellites are projected in the coming decades [L. Schulz, K.-H. Glassmeier, Adv. Space Res. 67, 1002–1025 (2021)] with perhaps 50,000 additional satellites in orbit by 2030 [GAO, Large constellations of satellites: Mitigating environmental and other effects (2022)]. When spent rocket bodies and defunct satellites reenter the atmosphere, they produce metal vapors that condense into aerosol particles that descend into the stratosphere. So far, models of spacecraft reentry have focused on understanding the hazard presented by objects that survive to the surface rather than on the fate of the metals that vaporize. Here, we show that metals that vaporized during spacecraft reentries can be clearly measured in stratospheric sulfuric acid particles. Over 20 elements from reentry were detected and were present in ratios consistent with alloys used in spacecraft. The mass of lithium, aluminum, copper, and lead from the reentry of spacecraft was found to exceed the cosmic dust influx of those metals. About 10% of stratospheric sulfuric acid particles larger than 120 nm in diameter contain aluminum and other elements from spacecraft reentry. Planned increases in the number of low earth orbit satellites within the next few decades could cause up to half of stratospheric sulfuric acid particles to contain metals from reentry. The influence of this level of metallic content on the properties of stratospheric aerosol is unknown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Each year, commercial ships emit over 1.2 Tg of particulate matter (PM) pollution into the atmosphere. These ships rely on the combustion of heavy fuel oil, which contains high levels of sulfur, large aromatic organic compounds, and metals. Vanadium is one of the metals most commonly associated with heavy fuel oil and is often used as a tracer for PM from ship exhaust. Previous studies have suggested that vanadium-containing PM has impacts on human health and climate due to its toxicological and cloud formation properties, respectively; however, its distribution in the atmosphere is not fully understood, which limits our ability to quantify the environmental implications of PM emitted by ships. Here, we present data obtained from Particle Analysis by Laser Mass Spectrometry (PALMS) instrument on the NASA DC-8 aircraft during the 2016–2018 Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom) and show that ~1% of the accumulation mode particles measured in the marine boundary layer of the central Pacific and Atlantic Ocean contain vanadium. These measurements, which were made without targeting ship plumes, suggest that PM emitted by ships is widespread in the atmosphere. Furthermore, we observed vanadiumcontaining ship exhaust particles at altitudes up to 13 km, which demonstrates that not all ship exhaust particles are immediately removed via wet deposition processes. In addition, using laboratory calibrations, we determined that most vanadiumcontaining ship exhaust particles can contain up to a few wt % vanadium. This study furthers our understanding of both the chemical composition and distribution of PM emitted by ships, which will allow us to better constrain the climate, health, and air quality implications of these particle types in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sulfur cycle plays a key role in atmospheric air quality, climate, and ecosystems. In this study, we compare the spatial and temporal distribution of four sulfur-containing species, dimethyl sulfide (DMS), sulfur dioxide (SO2), particulate methanesulfonate (MSA), and particulate sulfate (SO4), that were measured during the airborne NASA Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) mission and simulated by five AeroCom-III models to analyze the budget of sulfur cycle from the models. This study focuses on remote regions over the Pacific, Atlantic, and Southern Oceans from near the ocean surface to ~12-km altitude range, and covers all four seasons. These regions provide us with highly heterogeneous natural and anthropogenic source environments, which is not usually the case for traditional continental studies. We examine the vertical and seasonal variations of these sulfur species over tropical, mid-, and high-latitude regions in both hemispheres. We identify their origins from land versus ocean and from anthropogenic versus natural sources with sensitivity studies by applying tagged tracers linking to emission types and regions. In general, the differences among model results can be greater than one-order of magnitude. Comparing with observations, simulated SO2 is generally low while SO4 is high, and the model-observation agreement is much better in ATom-4 (April-May, 2018). There are much larger DMS concentrations simulated close to the sea surface than observed, indicating that the DMS emissions may be too high from all models. Anthropogenic emissions are the dominant source (40-60% of the total amount) for atmospheric sulfate simulated at locations and times along the ATom flight tracks at almost every altitude, followed by volcanic emissions (18-32%) and oceanic sources (16-32%). Similar source contributions can also be derived at broad ocean basin and monthly scales, indicating that any reductions of anthropogenic sulfur emissions would have global impacts in modern times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sulfur cycle plays a key role in atmospheric air quality, climate, and ecosystems. In this study, we compare the spatial and temporal distribution of four sulfur-containing species, dimethyl sulfide (DMS), sulfur dioxide (SO2), particulate methanesulfonate (MSA), and particulate sulfate (SO4), that were measured during the airborne NASA Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) mission and simulated by five AeroCom-III models to analyze the budget of sulfur cycle from the models. This study focuses on remote regions over the Pacific, Atlantic, and Southern Oceans from near the ocean surface to ~12-km altitude range, and covers all four seasons. These regions provide us with highly heterogeneous natural and anthropogenic source environments, which is not usually the case for traditional continental studies. We examine the vertical and seasonal variations of these sulfur species over tropical, mid-, and high-latitude regions in both hemispheres. We identify their origins from land versus ocean and from anthropogenic versus natural sources with sensitivity studies by applying tagged tracers linking to emission types and regions. In general, the differences among model results can be greater than one-order of magnitude. Comparing with observations, simulated SO2 is generally low while SO4 is high, and the model-observation agreement is much better in ATom-4 (April–May, 2018). There are much larger DMS concentrations simulated close to the sea surface than observed, indicating that the DMS emissions may be too high from all models. Anthropogenic emissions are the dominant source (40–60 % of the total amount) for atmospheric sulfate simulated at locations and times along the ATom flight tracks at almost every altitude, followed by volcanic emissions (18–32 %) and oceanic sources (16–32 %). Similar source contributions can also be derived at broad ocean basin and monthly scales, indicating that any reductions of anthropogenic sulfur emissions would have global impacts in modern times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay traces the development of the Christian teachings on the (im)morality of taking interest on a loan, initially called usury, and homosexual behaviour from their beginnings in the scriptures, through the tradition, down to the present day. It demonstrates the development of the teaching on usury, thanks to the interventions of the theologians, from absolutely immoral to perfectly moral; highlights the trajectory of the teaching on homosexual behaviour; and suggests that it too, again thanks to the teaching of the theologians, is moving along the same trajectory from absolutely immoral to perfectly moral. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]