Scientists have found minuscule shreds of plastic everywhere – in rivers and lakes, at the bottom of the sea, on the tallest mountain on earth, blowing in the wind and moving through our food chain. Now they’re trying to find out how all this plastic is affecting human health. Plastic pollution is everywhere we look. Plastic […]

A chemical exposure incident at Daikin-America’s fluorochemicals plant in Alabama led to the deaths of two workers and the hospitalisation of a third, the US government’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha) has concluded. Osha has proposed fines of over $230,000 (£170,00) for nine serious violations related to the incident. Osha’s investigation found that on […]

Oh dear! The HISTSCI_HULK has been woken from his post festive slumbers and is once again on the rampage. What has provoked this outbreak so early in the new year? He chanced to see a post, that one of my followers on Facebook had linked to, celebrating Newton’s new-style birthday on 4 January. As is […]

Researchers in the UK have developed a process that could drastically cut the carbon emissions associated with manufacturing cement. The low-temperature process produces both calcium hydroxide and sodium carbonate, and carbon dioxide that would otherwise be released gets stored as a stable and useful mineral. Limestone decarbonisation, a major process required for cement production, is […]

Methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, and it has a pronounced effect within first two decades of its presence in the atmosphere. In the recent international climate negotiations in Glasgow, abatement of methane emissions was identified as a major priority in attempts to curb global climate change quickly. Now, a […]

Thank you fortaking the time toreflecton the proximitiesto violencein your lifeand social networks. You said youpersonally knowX people whomight physically hurtanother person.How many of these hurtsinvolved a gunand whendid they erodeyour sense of community? You said youpersonally knowY people whohave been shotby someone else.How many of these peopleswere shot on purposeand when does Ybecome a […]

A study from the University of Houston College of Pharmacy, and published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, has evaluated the risk of overactive bladder (OAB) as a side effect of cholinesterase inhibitor (ChEI) drugs taken for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The research was based on the dissertation work of the study’s first author Prajakta Masurkar. Dementia is […]

There is more going on in the deep, dark ocean waters than you may think: Uncountable numbers of invisible microorganisms go about their daily lives in the water columns, and now researchers have discovered that some of them produce oxygen in an unexpected way. The study is led by Beate Kraft and Donald E. Canfield […]

Two new studies published today in the journal Current Biology show that environmental DNA (eDNA) collected from air can be used to detect a wide range of animal species and offers a novel, non-invasive approach to monitoring biodiversity. The findings were made by two independent groups of researchers, one based in Denmark, the other based in the […]

Researchers have used MRI imaging to map visual brain activity in stroke survivors with sight loss that gives new hope for rehabilitation and recovery. Scientists from the University of Nottingham have revealed new insights by combining data from clinical sight tests with brain imaging to precisely map the areas of the brain affected by sight […]