Israel’s Mediterranean coastline has been littered with tar as the result of an oil spill off the coast, putting marine life and those cleaning it up at risk. Source: https://www.livescience.com/tar-washes-up-on-israel-beaches.html
Tag: toxic
Are Texas Blackouts a Warning About the Follow-on Effects of Climate Change?
This week in America, “continent-spanning winter storms triggered blackouts in Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi and several other states,” reports the New York Times. But that was just the beginning… One-third of oil production in the nation was halted. Drinking-water systems in Ohio were knocked offline. Road networks nationwide were paralyzed and vaccination efforts in 20 states were disrupted. The crisis carries a…
Biofuel-Powered Rocket Makes Historic Launch in Maine
Despite bad weather and early technical difficulties, employee-owned bluShift Aerospace “made history Sunday afternoon when it launched its prototype rocket, Stardust 1.0,” reports Maine’s Portland Press Herald:
The company became the first in Maine to launch a commercial rocket and the first in the world to launch a rocket using bio-derived fuel… It carried three payloads, two commercial and one, free of…
Monarch butterflies are in trouble: Here’s how to help in your own yard
The 2020 annual count of monarch butterflies in the western United States found shockingly few, confirming fears that the insect is on the brink of extinction. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/monarch-butterflies-of-western-us-nearing-extinction-what-you-can-do…
Iodine thruster could help clear space junk
A commercial nanosat called SpaceTy Beihangkongshi-1 – launched November 2020 – has successfully used an iodine thruster to change its orbit around Earth. This new thruster might help clear space junk by steering small satellites, at the end of their missions, back into Earth’s atmosphere where they’d burn up. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/iodine-thruster-might-help-clear-space-junk…
Massive Blackouts Have Hit Iran. The Government is Blaming Bitcoin Mining.
Massive blackouts and smog have hit cities across Iran. It’s a toxic mix as the country, already under economic duress and suffocating U.S. sanctions, simultaneously battles the region’s worst coronavirus outbreak. Blackouts are not new in Iran, where an aging and subsidized electricity sector is plagued by alleged mismanagement. But this time, government officials say that bitcoin mining at cryptocurrency farms…
Ancient Mayan civilization used advanced water treatment technology
The oldest known example of a water treatment system in the Western Hemisphere was recently discovered in Guatemala. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/ancient-mayan-civilization-used-advanced-water-treatment-technology…
Deadly centipede ‘king’ rules over a poison hellscape cave
Dozens of species live in Romania’s toxic Movile Cave, and a newly described centipede species is the “king” of this unique ecosystem. Source: https://www.livescience.com/venomous-centipede-king-rules-hell-cave.html
How Toxic Fumes Seep Into the Air You Breathe on Planes
An anonymous reader shares an investigative report by LA Times: The plane had begun its descent into Boston. Inside the cockpit, the captain was slumped in his seat. Sitting beside him, copilot Eric Tellmann was starting to pass out. Tellmann managed to strap on his oxygen mask, then grabbed the captain’s arm and forced him to follow suit. Reviving slowly, the…
Biomarker of Alzheimer’s Found To Be Regulated By Sleep Cycles
Following a 2018 study demonstrating how disrupted sleep can accelerate the buildup of toxic plaques associated with the disease, scientists from Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) in St. Louis have now identified a protein implicated in the progression of the disease that appears highly regulated by the circadian rhythm, helping them join the dots and providing a potential new therapeutic…