A team of researchers at the University of Delaware has found that incorporating rice husk to soil can decrease toxic inorganic arsenic levels in rice grain by 25 to 50 percent without negatively affecting yield. (more…)
Scientists draw conclusions after review of more than 150 studies; suggest further scientific study
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Unconventional oil and gas (UOG) operations combine directional drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” to release natural gas from underground rock. Recent discussions have centered on potential air and water pollution from chemicals used in these processes and how it affects the more than 15 million Americans living within one mile of UOG operations. Now, Susan C. Nagel, a researcher with the University of Missouri, and national colleagues have conducted the largest review to date of research centered on fracking byproducts and their effects on human reproductive and developmental health. They determined that exposure to chemicals released in fracturing may be harmful to human health in men, women and children and recommend further scientific study. (more…)
As towns across Cape Cod struggle with problems stemming from septic systems, a recent study by a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientist focuses on one specific toxic by-product: mercury. In a study of local groundwater, biogeochemist Carl Lamborg found microbial action on wastewater transforms it into more mobile, more toxic forms of the element.
His findings were published in Environmental Science and Technology in November 2013. (more…)
Paul Anastas, the Yale chemist widely known as the “father of green chemistry,” talks about greenhouse gases, science policy, Richard Nixon, and being “a sworn enemy of the status quo.” (more…)
We all know about the harm that can be caused by pesticides. While being misused, pesticides can have a negative impact on the plants, animals and human health. Animals that eat the treated with pesticides plants, have a small amount of pesticides left in their organisms. Being a food to a human, such animals represent a certain risk to human health. Not only the meat can be intoxicated with pesticides but also eggs, milk and the further products of milk production.
While working with pesticides, people accumulate them in the organism, what, in turn, may lead to the chronic diseases. Human needs have increased immensely, and people nowadays can’t eliminate the use of pesticides. (more…)
Using molecular simulations that modeled a potassium channel and its immediate cellular environment, atom for atom, UChicago scientists have discovered that just 12 molecules of water cause the long post-activation recovery period required by such ion channels before they can function again. The research has revealed a new mechanism in the function of a nearly universal biological structure that will have broad implications, ranging from fundamental biology to the design of pharmaceuticals.
“Our research clarifies the nature of this previously mysterious inactivation state. This gives us better understanding of fundamental biology and should improve the rational design of drugs, which often target the inactivated state of channels,” said Benoît Roux, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, whose team’s findings were published online July 28 in Nature. (more…)
A team of 70 scientists from the U.S., China, Australia and Japan today reports having sequenced and annotated the genome of the “sacred lotus,” which is believed to have a powerful genetic system that repairs genetic defects, and may hold secrets about aging successfully. The scientists sequenced more than 86 percent of the nearly 27,000 genes of the plant, Nelumbo nucifera, which is revered in China and elsewhere as a symbol of spiritual purity and longevity.
“The lotus genome is an ancient one, and we now know its ABCs,” said Jane Shen-Miller, one of three corresponding authors of the research and a senior scientist with UCLA’s Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life. “Molecular biologists can now more easily study how its genes are turned on and off during times of stress and why this plant’s seeds can live for 1,300 years. This is a step toward learning what anti-aging secrets the sacred lotus plant may offer.” (more…)
A Brown University class on the effect that climate change could have on human health has produced a free new curriculum for high school teachers. The nine-module unit, which reflects feedback from teachers, includes lecture background and ideas for warm-ups, in-class activities, and assessment.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Katherine Smith’s students had to wait until they came to Brown University to learn how climate change could affect human health. Now that Smith and her fall semester class have developed a rich new curriculum on the subject for high school teachers, future 10th to 12th graders might not have to wait so long.
The curriculum, a nine-module set of backgrounders, lecture notes and suggested lesson plans and classroom activities, is now available for free download. In 180 total pages, it covers topics ranging from an overview of climate change to more specific units such as how global warming could affect infectious disease, allergies, and the global food supply. (more…)
