Charles Darwin and conspicuous consumption: Why bling is blingy
Luxury brands are a prominent feature of modern society. Thorstein Veblen coined the term "conspicuous consumption" to describe how the upper classes showcased expensive goods without inherent practical benefits to demonstrate their economic power......»»
Researching ways to improve sustainability and reduce waste in the seafood industry
Nutritionists have been touting the health benefits of seafood for years. Dietary guidelines recommend that the average adult get at least two servings of seafood per week. But the push to increase our consumption of seafood can put a strain on the s.....»»
Fast-growing parts of Africa see a surprise: less air pollution from seasonal fires
Often, when populations and economies boom, so does air pollution—a product of increased fossil-fuel consumption by vehicles, industry and households. This has been true across much of Africa, where air pollution recently surpassed AIDS as the lead.....»»
Apple Mac mini M1 power consumption is 3 times lower than Intel model
When Apple revealed the first line of M1-powered devices, it made a number of claims about the performance and energy efficiency of these systems when compared to Intel-powered counterparts. And at least according to reviewers and early adopters, the.....»»
Much to glean when times are rough
Scientists say stable seafood consumption amongst the world's poorer coastal communities is linked to how local habitat characteristics influence fishing at different times of the year......»»
Digitization is key element in the growth potential of agroecological cooperatives
The coronavirus crisis has led to some of the general public developing a critical view of the current food consumption model, as shown by a recent survey by the Catalan Consumer Agency, which reveals that 60.5% of all Catalans tend to think that the.....»»
GoT alums among announced cast for Netflix Sandman adaptation
Gwendoline Christie and Charles Dance join Tom Sturridge as Morpheus. Enlarge / Tom Sturridge has snagged the coveted role of Dream, aka Morpheus, in the Netflix adaptation of The Sandman. (credit: DC Comics) At long last, Netflix has announce.....»»
New study unravels Darwin"s "abominable mystery" surrounding origin of flowering plants
The origin of flowering plants famously puzzled Charles Darwin, who described their sudden appearance in the fossil record from relatively recent geological times as an "abominable mystery". This mystery has further deepened with an inexplicable disc.....»»
Is there a link between cashless payments and unhealthy consumption?
The widespread use of cashless payments including credit cards, debit cards, and mobile apps has made transactions more convenient for consumers. However, results from previous research have shown that such cashless payments can increase consumers' s.....»»
Increasing Energy Inefficiency
We are getting less efficient at converting energy into usable forms Source: Wikipedia This is perhaps the first—and certainly the most celebrated—of all flow charts, created by Charles Joseph Minard to depi.....»»
Detecting trace amounts of multiple classes of antibiotics in foods
Widespread use of antibiotics in human healthcare and livestock husbandry has led to trace amounts of the drugs ending up in food products. Long-term consumption could cause health problems, but it's been difficult to analyze more than a few antibiot.....»»
Dramatic increase in microplastics in seagrass soil since the 1970s
Large-scale production of vegetables and fruit in Spain with intensive plastic consumption in its greenhouse industry is believed to have leaked microplastic contaminants since the 1970s into the surrounding Mediterranean seagrass beds. This is shown.....»»
New tool for assessing the benefits, risks and sustainability of the consumption of fish
Researchers from the Universitat Rovira i Virgili's (Tarragona/Spain) research group TecnATox have optimized the website FishChoice, which helps to consume fish and seafood in a sustainable fashion and not just maximize benefits and minimize risks. T.....»»
Taking sieving lessons from nature
Generating membranes using electrochemical polymerization, or electropolymerization, could provide a simple and cost-effective route to help various industries meet increasingly strict environmental regulations and reduce energy consumption......»»
Genetic rewiring behind spectacular evolutionary explosion in East Africa
Genetic rewiring could have driven an evolutionary explosion in the shapes, sizes and adaptations of cichlid fish, in East Africa's answer to Darwin's Galapagos finches......»»
Long-range energy transport in perovskite nanocrystal films
Producing clean energy and reducing the power consumption of illumination and personal devices are key challenges to reduce the impact of modern civilization on the environment. As a result, the surging demand for solar cells and light-emitting devic.....»»
Study of flowers with two types of anthers solves mystery that baffled Darwin
Most flowering plants depend on pollinators such as bees to transfer pollen from the male anthers of one flower to the female stigma of another flower, enabling fertilization and the production of fruits and seeds. Bee pollination, however, involves.....»»
Fossils" soft tissues helping to solve puzzle that vexed Darwin
Remarkably well-preserved fossils are helping scientists unravel a mystery about the origins of early animals that puzzled Charles Darwin......»»
Construction of carbon-based cell-like-spheres for robust potassium anode
With the rapid development of smart portable electronics and electric vehicles, the consumption of lithium resources will increase dramatically and the cost of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) may increase significantly in the future. In addition, the sh.....»»
Dog Domestication May Have Begun Because Paleo Humans Couldn"t Stomach the Original Paleo Diet
A new theory described today in Scientific Reports posits that hunter-gatherers whose omnivorous digestive system prevented too much protein consumption likely shared surplus meat with wolves. Those scraps may have initiated a step toward domesticati.....»»
LED horticultural lighting sees growing demand
Demand for LED horticultural lighting, due to the coronavirus pandemic and technological improvement in luminous efficiency, is on the rise, with application extending to controlled-environment agriculture (CEA), according to Charles Wu, global marke.....»»