An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Conversation: When wildfires swept through the hills near Santa Cruz, California, in 2020, they released toxic chemicals into the water supplies of at least two communities. One sample found benzene, a carcinogen, at 40 times the state’s drinking water standard. Our testing has now confirmed a source of these chemicals, and it’s clear…
Tag: toxic
Hackers at Center of Sprawling Spy Campaign Turned SolarWinds’ Dominance Against It
An anonymous reader shares a report: On an earnings call two months ago, SolarWinds Chief Executive Kevin Thompson touted how far the company had gone during his 11 years at the helm. There was not a database or an IT deployment model out there to which his Austin, Texas-based company did not provide some level of monitoring or management, he told…
Your skin should be toxic to ticks. Here’s why it’s not.
A toxin from an ancient bacteria helps ticks survive and transmit Lyme disease to the humans they feed on, a new study finds. Source: https://www.livescience.com/ancient-bacteria-ticks-lyme-disease.html
Earth’s early atmosphere may have been toxic like the one on Venus
After the moon formed, Earth was probably left with an ocean of molten rock, which may have given the planet a thick atmosphere full of carbon dioxide like the one on Venus Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2260767-earths-early-atmosphere-may-have-been-toxic-like-the-one-on-venus/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Reading Facebook comments on news articles can make you a toxic person
People who read comments on Facebook posts by news outlets are more likely to use toxic language when making comments themselves, researchers have claimed Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2260546-reading-facebook-comments-on-news-articles-can-make-you-a-toxic-person/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Facebook Moderators Say Company Is Asking Them To ‘Risk Our Lives’
In an open letter published Wednesday, a group of Facebook moderators say the company is putting them and their families at risk by asking them to go back to work in the midst of the pandemic. Engadget reports: The content reviewers say that while workers with a doctor’s note can be excused from going to the office, those with high risk…
New Nasal Spray Prevents Covid Infection in Ferrets, Study Finds
The New York Times reports: A nasal spray that blocks the absorption of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has completely protected ferrets it was tested on, according to a small study released on Thursday by an international team of scientists. The study, which was limited to animals and has not yet been peer-reviewed, was assessed by several health experts at the request of…
Death of Sea Life Off Russia Peninsula ‘Caused by Algae’
Blooming algae was behind a recent mass death of sea animals that saw octopuses and seals wash up on the shore off a Russian peninsula, scientists said on Friday in the final conclusion to their probe. From a report: Locals in Kamchatka, a volcanic peninsula in Russia’s Far East, raised the alarm in September after the animals were found dead and…
The body fires ‘blobs of fat’ packed with toxic proteins to fight bacteria
Scientists have known about these ‘blobs of fat’ for more than 130 years, but they’re just understanding all the roles they play in the body. Source: https://www.livescience.com/fat-blobs-immune-system.html
Spinach Gives Fuel Cells a Power Up
Researchers at the Department of Chemistry, American University, used spinach to make a carbon-rich catalyst that can be used to improve the performance of fuel cells and metal-air batteries. IEEE Spectrum reports: The spinach was a used a precursor for high-performance catalysts required for the oxygen reduction reactions (ORRs) in fuel cells. Traditionally, fuel cells have used platinum-based catalysts, but not…