for National Geographic News Solar-powered heaters could help
save the lives of bats infected with a deadly fungus, a new
computer model suggests. The fungus, a member of the Geomyces
genus, has caused deaths upward of 80 percent in several bat
populations in the northeastern United States and Canada.
Scientists haven't figured out a way to stop it from spreading.
One hypothesis is that the fungus rouses bats from their winter
hibernation more often than usual. As with many mammals, the
body temperatures of bats drop dramatically during hibernation.
When roused, the animals have to use precious calories to raise
their body temperatures again. "We think they're starving to
death, and there's a couple ways that can happen," said lead
study author Justin Boyles of Indiana State University.
"Arousing more often is one of those ways." To test this idea,
Boyles and his colleagues simulated the hibernation patterns of
about a thousand little brown bats. The model showed that more
frequent rousing could indeed cause