WHO, UNDP, UNEP and UNICEF have partnered to create a new compendium of 500 actions aimed at reducing death and diseases driven by environmental risk factors, the first such resource to unite this expertise from across the UN system. Environmental pollution and other environmental risks cause 24 per cent of …
marine boom: An unprecedented census of marine life is reporting three new fish species a week on an average. In the first interim report of the census, an international team of scientists predicts that as many as 5,000 unknown fish species may be lurking in the waters. By the time …
The Antarctic ozone hole is bigger than it has ever been at this time of the year, threatening populated regions of South America and New Zealand with harmful levels of ultraviolet radiation. Last year's hole was smaller than those recorded over the previous decade, leading to hopes that the protective …
simple remedy: Garlic not only keeps the vampires at bay, but also pests such as slugs and snails, which cause millions of dollars worth of damage in countries with cool or temperate climates. Scientists from the uk-based University of Newcastle upon Tyne have found that the pungent herb could act …
It was the Kursk tragedy revisited as Russia lost another of its nuclear submarines to the Barents Sea. The incident, in which nine servicemen were killed, came just three years after the nuclear submarine Kursk went down with a crew of 118. This time it was the 40-year old nuclear-powered …
“there is radiation everywhere on earth. Mining in Nalgonda will not increase it.” This comment of S D Prasad, adviser to public sector undertaking Uranium Corporation of India Limited (ucil), typifies the Indian authorities’ insouciant disregard for the impact of uranium mining on human health and the environment. It was …
previous estimates of the neutron rays that Hiroshima atomic bomb survivors were exposed to are accurate. This was revealed during a study conducted by a team of scientists from the us and Germany. The research will help end a long-standing controversy on whether the existing standards to estimate risk for …
the Chernobyl nuclear disaster has not only affected human beings, but has even drastically changed the lives of worms. Scientists have recently discovered that worms exposed to excess radiation have started copulating instead of reproducing asexually. This find is the first clear evidence of how wildlife is affected by radioactive …
for the first time, it has been found that depleted uranium (du) used during the Bosnia and Herzegovina conflicts of 1994-95 has contaminated local water sources. Furthermore, the highly radioactive metal was found in air samples of some buildings currently in use, states a un report Depleted Uranium in Bosnia …
it takes just a few pounds of plutonium or uranium to create a nuclear bomb. If a small amount of these elements were to land up in the wrong hands, then it would prove disastrous. "The threat is real,' says Graham Allison, director of the Belfer Centre for Science and …
a space-saving technique being used to store spent nuclear fuel in the us has dramatically increased the risk of a catastrophic radiation release. So says a study conducted by a multi-institutional team of researchers, led by Frank von Hippel from the us-based Princeton University. Strapped for long-term storage options, the …
Southern California residents can take it easy. State health officials have decided to more than triple the number of potassium iodide (ki) pills distributed among communities around the state's two nuclear plants. The decision comes after health experts and residents near the San Onofre and Diablo Canyon nuclear power stations …
this is mind-blowing: smog not only chokes your lungs, but also teems up with bacteria that adversely affect human health. This was found by us meteorologist Forrest Mims, who works independently. He measured levels of airborne bacteria in Alta Floresta, Brazil, by taking air samples at different times of the …
During recent laboratory experiments, researchers have discovered that mice slathered with caffeine develop fewer skin tumours than untreated animals. This suggests that the chemical that adds zip to coffee also provides protection against skin cancer. The researchers from New Jersey-based Rutgers University found that a skin lotion spiked with caffeine …
a study carried out in Delhi has added another dimension to the effect of vehicular pollution on human health. Researchers have found that haze caused by pollutants can significantly reduce ultraviolet (uv-b) rays available to synthesise vitamin d. Levels of the vitamin in the blood of children living in a …
magnetic wood could be a plank in the battle against noisy cellphone users. The material absorbs microwave radio signals, making it impossible to use a mobile phone in any room lined with it. Magnetic wood, so called because it is packed with minute magnetic particles, is the brainchild of Hideo …
mobile phone radiation can cause changes in human cells that might affect the brain, indicates a study conducted by Finland's radiation and nuclear safety authority. According to the study, exposure to radiation from mobile phones can cause increased activity in hundreds of proteins in human cells. The researchers focused on …
by the 2030s, climate change could become the main factor leading to ozone loss, surpassing even industrial products such as chlorofluorocarbons (cfcs), says a new National Aeronautics and Space Administration (nasa) study. While attributing this to changes occurring in water vapour and temperature in the upper atmosphere due to rising …
Beware of prawns, shrimps, herbs and spices. They could be irradiated. Recently, Britain's Food Standards Agency (fsa) found that a large number of dietary supplements in the uk are irradiated. Irradiation, which exposes eatables to controlled radiation to kill micro-organisms, is a scientifically accepted technique. However, many consumer groups have …
