All posts tagged: environment

Tomato plants are covered in tiny anti-pest booby traps

Tomato plants are covered in tiny anti-pest booby traps

The hairs on tomato plants are actually tiny pest traps Jalaal Research Group/University of Amsterdam For hungry insects, walking along a tomato stalk in search of a green meal can be like navigating a minefield. Jared Popowski at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands was trying to measure the mechanical properties of tomato plants in the lab. Then a tiny hair on one of the stalks started oozing liquid – and it happened so quickly that his camera barely caught it. He had inadvertently triggered one of the plant’s pest-protection mechanisms. Source link

California’s Wildfires Show No Signs of Slowing Down

California’s Wildfires Show No Signs of Slowing Down

On Tuesday, Santa Ana winds swept seaward through Southern California, scattering embers and then fanning flames of a growing wildfire. By nighttime, residents received urgent text alerts warning of potential 100 mph gusts—a terrifying escalation that transformed a precarious situation into a full-blown crisis. As the winds howled, more embers took flight, sparking new fires in dry, brittle brushlands that hadn’t seen significant rain in over eight months. Los Angeles County, primed by drought-like conditions, was a tinderbox waiting for a spark. Firefighters faced an uphill battle against winds so severe that airplanes used to drop water and flame retardants were grounded. Officials warned in a Wednesday morning press release that “all residents of Los Angeles county are in danger.” Evacuation orders have since displaced tens of thousands of residents, with thousands more awaiting updates. By Wednesday evening, three major fires had consumed over 13,000 acres with containment efforts lagging: The Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades and Malibu, Hurst Fire in Sylmar, and Eaton Fire near Pasadena have showed no signs of slowing down, are …

Healthier Cities Will Require a Strong Dose of Nature

Healthier Cities Will Require a Strong Dose of Nature

If current global trends are correct, in 2025, around 41 million people will die from noncommunicable diseases (NCDs)—which include cancer, heart disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory illness, and severe mental illness—representing around 74 percent of all deaths globally. Despite major advances in medicine over the past few decades, the numbers dying from NCDs are still on the increase. One of the main factors for the rise of NCDs is urbanization: Research clearly shows that people who live in urban areas without access to green spaces have a higher incidence of NCDs. Given that by 2050, two out of every three people are likely to be living in cities, these trends are extremely worrying. On the other hand, a number of recent population-level studies in cities across the globe indicate that people who live in greener areas not only present a lower rate of NCDs but also have significantly better physical and mental health. This relationship remains statistically strong regardless of the individual’s socio-economic status, age, or gender. In fact, the evidence for this association is so …

This Tropical Virus Is Spreading Out of the Amazon to the US and Europe

This Tropical Virus Is Spreading Out of the Amazon to the US and Europe

outbreaks of Oropouche virus have flared up in the Amazon for decades, but historically the pathogen has little troubled the rest of the world. But this seems to be changing. In 2024, the virus showed that it can travel. Most of this year’s 11,000-plus cases occurred in Brazil and Peru, where the virus is an old acquaintance, but it has also been found in 2024 in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Panama, and Cuba—the latter reporting 603 cases as well as in-country transmission for the first time. Infected travelers also transported the virus to North America and Europe: This year it was found twice in Canada and 94 times in the United States—with 90 cases reported in Florida—while 30 imported cases were found across Spain, Italy, and Germany. For those who study Oropouche and other arboviruses—the family of viruses transmitted by arthropods such as mosquitoes and ticks—the situation is worrying. Despite having clues about its transmission cycle, there’s insufficient information to accurately predict Oropouche’s future behavior. “We have some pieces of the puzzle, but there is …

‘Mirror life forms’ may sound like science fiction, but scientists warn they could be deadly to humans and destroy the environment

‘Mirror life forms’ may sound like science fiction, but scientists warn they could be deadly to humans and destroy the environment

When you look in a mirror, the reflection is fundamentally you, but with a perfect reversal of all your features. This illustrates a phenomenon we also see in the tiny world of molecules. Some molecules exist as mirror images of themselves, known as “enantiomers”, that can’t be superimposed on one another. This concept is known as chirality, or “handedness”. It’s important because mirror images of the same molecules can have completely different effects and functions in biology. Writing in the journal Science, a group of 40 renowned scientists have warned that within the next decade, it may be possible to create entire mirror-image life forms made up of these enantiomers – specifically, microbial life such as bacteria. This poses real dangers, they argue. “Mirror bacteria” could evade people’s immune systems, they suggest, causing deadly infections. Such infections could also lead to a substantial proportion of plant and animal species being displaced, completely disrupting the environment. Mirror-image molecules are structurally identical, just as your left and right hands are structurally identical and can perform exactly the …

Creating a Global Package to Solve the Problem of Plastics

Creating a Global Package to Solve the Problem of Plastics

According to the United Nations, plastic production skyrocketed from 2 million metric tons in 1950 to about 400 million in 2024. This number is expected to triple by 2060. Only 10 percent of this plastic is currently being recycled and reused. The rest will remain in our environment for centuries, polluting the planet, from oceans to mountains, contaminating food chains and human bodies, where it risks damage to our organs and brains. In 2025, we will start putting an end to plastic pollution. Since 2022, policymakers in the United Nations, representing over 170 countries, have been negotiating a legally binding Global Plastics Treaty addressing the full lifecycle of plastics, from design to production to disposal. This treaty shares many of the mechanisms present in the 1987 Montreal Protocol, which eventually led to the phasing out of CFCs, the chemicals responsible for ozone depletion. As such, it can be as successful, despite opposition to it. The treaty was due to be finalized by the fifth and final session, in Busan, South Korea, at the end of …

Was TV in the ’80s a sexist environment? Jilly Cooper’s hit series Rivals wallows in bygone age of excess | UK News

Was TV in the ’80s a sexist environment? Jilly Cooper’s hit series Rivals wallows in bygone age of excess | UK News

“You can’t flirt any more. We used to have so much more fun!” Dame Jilly Cooper, 87, looks back with nostalgia to her heyday towards the end of the last century. So do the many fans of her stories in print, audiobooks and on screen. Rivals, Disney’s dramatisation of her 1988 “bonkbuster”, set in the fictional Cotswolds county of Rutshire, has been one of the TV hits of the year on both sides of the Atlantic. A second series was commissioned. Cooper says she is “orgasmic with excitement and cannot wait for the return of my superhero Rupert Campbell-Black”, as played by the actor Alex Hassell. There will be plenty of action left for the libidinous Campbell-Black because – Spoiler Alert! – Series One ends with his TV franchise battle with David Tennant as Lord Baddingham still unresolved. Younger viewers probably don’t know what a TV franchise was, which makes it all the more remarkable that Rivals is so popular. Most people probably tune in for the romance of Rivals’ English countryside setting, for the …

Better ways to recover metals needed for technology from electronic waste could benefit the environment and human health

Better ways to recover metals needed for technology from electronic waste could benefit the environment and human health

Our increasing reliance on technology is placing pressure on the global supply of materials that are essential for manufacturing electronic devices. Raw materials are being mined to cover the demand for smartphones, laptops, computer servers and electric vehicles, placing strain on the environment. A greater emphasis on renewable technology and on artificial intelligence will only add to this challenge. But can we recover more of the materials we need for these devices from waste electronics? Improved methods to extract these metals and other elements will be key to reducing the pressure on our planet and its resources. Some of the most important materials required for electronic devices include gold, platinum, rhodium, cobalt and lithium, as well as the 17 “rare-earth elements”, which includes materials such as neodymium and lanthanum. All these metals are mainly used in current and emerging technology, and the demand for them is likely to outstrip supply over the next few decades. Gold is found in the printed circuit boards crucial for electronic devices, while various rare-earth metals are used in display …

A rising tide of e-waste, made worse by AI, threatens our health, the environment and the economy

A rising tide of e-waste, made worse by AI, threatens our health, the environment and the economy

Our growing reliance on technology at home and in the workplace has raised the profile of e-waste. This consists of discarded electrical devices including laptops, smartphones, televisions, computer servers, washing machines, medical equipment, games consoles and much more. The amount of e-waste produced this decade could reach as much as 5 million metric tonnes, according to recent research published in Nature. This is around 1,000 times more e-waste than was produced in 2023. According to the study, the boom in artificial intelligence will significantly contribute to this e-waste problem, because AI requires lots of computing power and storage. It will, among other things, lead to more turnover of computer servers used in the data centres that support the extra computational needs of AI systems. This rising tide of e-waste, coupled with the limited lifetimes of hi-tech devices, could affect global sustainability goals. E-waste contain toxic and hazardous substances such as mercury, which can pose serious risks to human health and the environment. E-waste is among the fastest-growing types of solid waste globally: more than 5 …

Trump’s power plays overshadow global climate summit – POLITICO

Trump’s power plays overshadow global climate summit – POLITICO

“I think there’s a common understanding and agreement that he’s going to start with Paris and then look at other ideas,” said the official, who was granted anonymity to discuss evolving policy considerations. Mandy Gunasekara, who was chief of staff at the EPA during the last Trump administration, has advocated that Trump follow through this time on leaving the climate framework. “I think people have a clear picture of how the U.N. process is misused to tie the hands of domestic policy,” she said, inaccurately characterizing the non-binding commitments that countries make under the Paris climate agreement. “And that … creates the type of policy motivation necessary to consider withdrawing from the UNFCCC versus just a derivative issue like the Paris Agreement.” The U.S. under Trump may still find ways to participate in global climate conversations, particularly with regard to deploying new technology such as advanced nuclear power or carbon capture, said U.S. Energy Association CEO Mark Menezes, who was No. 2 in Trump’s previous Energy Department. But contributing new sums of money to developing …