Fathers exposed to chemicals in plastics can affect the metabolic health of their offspring for two generations, a University of California, Riverside, mouse study reports. Plastics, which are now ubiquitous, contain endocrine disrupting chemicals, or EDCs, that have been linked to increased risk of many chronic diseases; parental exposure to EDCs, for example, has been … Read more
Fathers exposed to chemicals in plastics can affect the metabolic health of their offspring for two generations, a University of California, Riverside, mouse study reports. Plastics, which are now ubiquitous, contain endocrine disrupting chemicals, or EDCs, that have been linked to increased risk of many chronic diseases; parental exposure to EDCs, for example, has been … Read more
A new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria has shown that common levels of traffic pollution can impair human brain function in only a matter of hours. The peer-reviewed findings, published in the journal Environmental Health, show that just two hours of exposure to diesel exhaust causes … Read more
The need for technology that can capture, remove and repurpose carbon dioxide grows stronger with every CO2 molecule that reaches Earth’s atmosphere. To meet that need, scientists at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have cleared a new milestone in their efforts to make carbon capture more affordable and widespread. They have created … Read more
New collaborative research led by scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, shows reduced krill supplies lead to fewer pregnancies in humpback whales — a finding that could have major implications for industrial krill fishing. The study, published January 15 in Global Change Biology, is based on eight years of data on humpback whale … Read more
Microplastics — tiny particles generated as plastics weather and fragment — pose a growing threat to ecosystem and human health. A new laboratory study shows these threats extend beyond direct physical or chemical impacts, revealing that the presence of microplastics increases the severity of an important viral fish disease. Lead author on the study, published … Read more
According to national USDA statistics, no-till and conservation tillage are on the rise, with more than three quarters of corn and soybean farmers opting for the practices to reduce soil erosion, maintain soil structure, and save on fuel. However, these estimates are based primarily on farmer self-reporting and are only compiled once every five years, … Read more
The bacterium Rhodococcus ruber eats and actually digests plastic. This has been shown in laboratory experiments by PhD student Maaike Goudriaan at Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ). Based on a model study with plastic in artificial seawater in the lab, Goudriaan calculated that bacteria can break down about one percent of the fed … Read more
High-severity wildfire is increasing in Sierra Nevada and Southern Cascade forests and has been burning at unprecedented rates compared to the years before Euro-American settlement, according to a study from the Safford Lab at the University of California, Davis and its collaborators. Those rates have especially shot up over the past decade. For the study, … Read more
Steel is one of the most important materials in the world, integral to the cars we drive, the buildings we inhabit, and the infrastructure that allows us to travel from place to place. Steel is also responsible for 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In 2021, 45 countries made a commitment to pursue near-zero-emission steel … Read more