Breeding better seeds: Healthy food for more people
Your morning cereal or oatmeal. The bread on your sandwich. The corn chips for your snack, and the cookies for dessert. Not one would be possible with the humblest of ingredients: the seed......»»
The extreme floods that devastated Spain are hitting more often. Is Australia ready for the next one?
Spain is still reeling from recent floods in the Valencia region. In some areas, a year's worth of rain fell in a single day. Sudden torrents raced through towns and cities. More than 200 people are dead. Rapid analysis suggests daily rainfall extrem.....»»
Record-high pollution sickens thousands in Pakistan"s cultural capital of Lahore
Record-high air pollution in Pakistan's cultural capital of Lahore is sending more people to hospitals and private clinics, doctors said Wednesday as authorities warned a complete lockdown could be imminent if residents fail to don face masks and fol.....»»
Public health initiatives needed to promote healthy working at home, say researchers
Home-worker's perceptions of their workload and their ability to switch off after the working day are among a list of factors associated with health and well-being related behaviors......»»
Washington coast avian flu outbreak devastated Caspian terns, jumped to seals
An epidemiological study found that 56% of a large breeding colony of Caspian terns died from a 2023 outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza at Rat Island in Washington state. Since then, no birds have successfully bred on the island, raising c.....»»
Are Tablets Back in Style? New Data Seems to Think So
More people are buying tablets again. The post Are Tablets Back in Style? New Data Seems to Think So appeared first on Phandroid. While it’s safe to say that tablet devices didn’t really “disappear,” we’re at.....»»
Conspicuous consumption may have evolutionary roots, researchers suggest
It's sometimes said that people buy products they don't really need, with money they don't really have, to impress people they don't really like. This behavior is known as conspicuous consumption because these consumers want others to see them with t.....»»
Helping the most vulnerable stay cool in extreme heat
The health effects of heat waves hit some communities harder than others. People with preexisting health conditions, as well as those who have low income or are physically or socially isolated, very old or very young, from racial or ethnic minority g.....»»
Indonesia volcano erupts again after killing nine day earlier
A volcano in eastern Indonesia erupted again on Tuesday, blowing an ash column into the sky a day after it spewed fireballs on nearby villages that killed nine people......»»
Hubble and Webb are the dream team—don"t break them up, researchers say
Many people think of the James Webb Space Telescope as a sort of Hubble 2. They understand that the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has served us well but is now old and overdue for replacement. NASA seems to agree, as they have not sent a maintenance m.....»»
Mini-transmitters show infections with parasites affect local flight behavior of swallows
Swallows infected with parasites move less and in smaller ranges than healthy ones—with detrimental effects on their foraging success and their survival. As a result, infected individuals foraged in less productive areas, such as cultivated farmlan.....»»
Campaign rewards gamers on Roblox for engaging with the US election. What does it mean for global politics?
If historical trends are anything to go by, most young people in the United States will not vote in this week's presidential election. For example, in the 2016 presidential election, less than half of Americans aged 18 to 29 cast their ballot......»»
Missing a deadline has a bigger impact than you might think, according to study
Missing a deadline has more complex consequences than you might think. Researchers at the University of Toronto found that if you submit a piece of work late, people will think it's lower in quality than if you were to submit the exact same work on t.....»»
Biologists reveal the genetic "switch" behind parrot color diversity
From the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro to the shoulders of pirates: parrots are synonymous with color for people across the world. In a study published in the journal Science, scientists from The University of Hong Kong, together with an international t.....»»
Drugmaker shut down after black schmutz found in injectable weight-loss drug
The warning comes amid a legal war over compounded weight-loss drugs. The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to use any drugs made by a compounding pharmacy in.....»»
Svalbard Global Seed Vault evokes epic imagery and controversy because of the symbolic value of seeds
Two-thirds of the world's food comes today from just nine plants: sugar cane, maize (corn), rice, wheat, potatoes, soybeans, oil-palm fruit, sugar beet and cassava. In the past, farmers grew tens of thousands of crop varieties around the world. This.....»»
Not the usual suspects: Research reveals novel genetic basis of pest resistance to biotech crops
If left unchecked, insect pests can devastate crops. To minimize damage and reduce the need for insecticide sprays, crops have been genetically engineered to produce bacterial proteins that kill key pests but are not harmful to people or wildlife. Ho.....»»
Organosilicon chemistry offers options for replacing PFAS in food and medical industries
Due to the unique properties of PFAS, almost no other chemical substances can compete with them. That explains why it is so hard to find a replacement for these toxic "forever chemicals," which accumulate in the environment and do not break down over.....»»
Elon Musk turns X’s block button into a “glorified mute button”
X change lets blocked users see posts made by the people who blocked them. X, formerly Twitter, is now letting blocked users see posts made by the people who blocked them. "We're.....»»
Dams have taken half the water from Australia"s second biggest river—and climate change will make it even worse
The largest wetland on Australia's second longest river, the Murrumbidgee in the southern Murray-Darling Basin, is drying up. This is bad news for the plants, animals and people who rely on the vast Lowbidgee Floodplain. So it's important to understa.....»»
Rainwater samples reveals it"s literally raining "forever chemicals" in Miami
PFAS are in Miami's rainwater. And it is the latest evidence the synthetic "forever chemicals"—that have raised health concerns for people and wildlife—hitch a ride on the water cycle, using the complex system to circulate over greater distances......»»