PFAS forever chemicals found in English drinking water. Why are they everywhere and what are the risks?
PFAS chemicals (per-and poly fluoroalkyl substances), also known as forever chemicals, are rarely out of the news at the moment. The latest concern about this chemical group is their presence in drinking water in England......»»
Stunning images of Jupiter’s moon Europa show it has a floating icy shell
NASA's Juno mission has imaged Jupiter's intriguing moon Europa, a top target of habitability research due to its liquid water ocean beneath a thick icy crust......»»
Scientists develop new geochemical "fingerprint" to trace contaminants in fertilizer
An international team of scientists has uncovered toxic metals in mineral phosphate fertilizers worldwide by using a new tool to identify the spread and impact of such contaminants on soil, water resources, and food supply......»»
How I upgraded my water heater and discovered how bad smart home security can be
Could you really control someone's hot water with just an email address? Enlarge / This is essentially the kind of water heater the author has hooked up, minus the Wi-Fi module that led him down a rabbit hole. Also, not 140-degre.....»»
Airborne technology brings new hope to map shallow aquifers in Earth"s most arid deserts
Water shortages are expanding across the Earth. This is particularly acute in desert areas of the Middle East that are subject to both drought and extreme conditions such as flooding. As a result of these uncertainties, there is an increasing relianc.....»»
Scientists use generative AI to answer complex questions in physics
When water freezes, it transitions from a liquid phase to a solid phase, resulting in a drastic change in properties like density and volume. Phase transitions in water are so common most of us probably don't even think about them, but phase transiti.....»»
Mixup of drinking and irrigation water sparks dangerous outbreak in children
Of 13 children sickened, 7 hospitalized and 2 had life-threatening complications. Enlarge / A child cools off under a water sprinkler. (credit: Getty | JASON SOUTH) In 1989, a city in Utah upgraded its drinking water sy.....»»
Penalties for dropping out of ecosystem services incentive programs should equal lost environmental benefits
Payment for Ecosystem Services programs (PES) are important tools that governments around the world use to improve water quality, protect forests and wildlife habitat, and sequester carbon. Under these programs, landowners—usually farmers—are pai.....»»
Multi-scale, nanomaterial-based ice inhibition platform enables full-cycle cryogenic protection for mouse oocytes
Safe and high-quality fertility preservation is of growing significance for women in clinical trials. Current primary methods for cryopreserving human oocytes are slow freezing and vitrification, but existing techniques pose risks of biochemical toxi.....»»
Repurposed beer yeast encapsulated in hydrogels may offer a cost-effective way to remove lead from water
Every year, beer breweries generate and discard thousands of tons of surplus yeast. Researchers from MIT and Georgia Tech have now come up with a way to repurpose that yeast to absorb lead from contaminated water......»»
Researchers uncover what makes some chickens more water-efficient than others
In the first scientific report of its kind, researchers in Arkansas have shown that chickens bred for water conservation continued to put on weight despite heat stress that would normally slow growth......»»
Scientists develop an affordable sensor for lead contamination
Engineers at MIT, Nanytang Technological University, and several companies have developed a compact and inexpensive technology for detecting and measuring lead concentrations in water, potentially enabling a significant advance in tackling this persi.....»»
Thirsty in paradise: Water crises are a growing problem across the Caribbean islands
In the popular imagination, the Caribbean is paradise, an exotic place to escape to. But behind the images of balmy beaches and lush hotel grounds lies a crisis, the likes of which its residents have never experienced......»»
Tracing the origins of organic matter in Martian sediments
Although Mars presents a barren, dusty landscape with no signs of life so far, its geological features such as deltas, lakebeds, and river valleys strongly suggest a past where water once flowed abundantly on its surface. To explore this possibility,.....»»
Tiny pieces of plastic pose one of the biggest threats to Chicago River wildlife and water quality
Wendella engineer Miguel Chavez climbed down a ladder and over a small dock to pull up a trap floating in the Chicago River near the Michigan Avenue Bridge. The size of a standard garbage can, the trap is designed to collect trash and can hold up to.....»»
Researchers reveal how genetically identical water fleas develop into different sexes
Daphnia are tiny crustaceans, or "water fleas," that are extremely adaptable to their environment. This is due to their remarkable phenotypic plasticity, i.e., their ability to change their form or behavior despite their genetic makeup remaining unch.....»»
Researchers develop algorithms to understand how humans form body part vocabularies
Human bodies have similar designs. However, languages differ in the way they divide the body into parts and name them. For example, English speakers have two words for foot and leg, whereas other languages express the concepts foot and leg in one wor.....»»
AI’s rapid growth puts pressure on CISOs to adapt to new security risks
The increased use of AI further complicates CISO role as industries begin to realize the full potential of GenAI and its impact on cybersecurity, according to Trellix. GenAI’s impact on CISO responsibility GenAI has rolled out at an immense spe.....»»
Chemicals used to meet NHTSA flammability standard might be carcinogenic, study finds
Potentially carcinogenic chemicals used to meet auto safety regulators' flammability standards were present in essentially all vehicles tested in a study from the Green Science Policy Institute and Duke University......»»
Natural biosurfactants: The future of eco-friendly meat preservation
A recent study has unveiled the potential of biosurfactants—natural compounds produced by microbes—to dramatically improve the preservation of meat products. This innovative approach could replace synthetic chemicals, enhancing food safety and qu.....»»
Q&A: Researcher exposes child labor trafficking as a hidden crime after investigating 132 victims
Children trafficked for their labor often work in public view in restaurants, laundromats, agricultural fields and water parks, but little has been known about their plight......»»