Archive for the ‘Water - Air Quality’ Category

Enzyme From A Microbe That Lives In A Cow’s Stomach Key To Turning Corn Plants To Fuel

Saturday, April 12th, 2008

An enzyme from a microbe that lives inside a cow's stomach is the key to turning corn plants into fuel, according to Michigan State University scientists.The enzyme that allows a cow to digest grasses and other plant fibers can be used to turn other plant fibers into simple sugars. These ...

Food Biotechnology: Real World Challenges - Students Are Taught Critical Thinking Using Controversial Agricultural Biotechnology Issues

Saturday, April 12th, 2008

Genetically modified crops have been widely adopted by American farmers. In spite of their use in the United States, the European Union (EU) imposed a 6-year freeze (1998-2004) on growing and importing transgenic crops.In 2002, transgenic food aid to African nations was rejected by the recipient governments. The EU's stand ...

Building Health And Nutrition From The Ground Up

Friday, April 11th, 2008

As populations struggle to find an adequate supply of nutritious foods, more than two billion people worldwide suffer from hunger and malnutrition. Even within the prosperous United States, many individuals who are overfed are at the same time undernourished.A group of scientific organizations will explore the nutrition, agricultural, and socioeconomic ...

Enabling Micro-Organisms Help Nature Resist Attacks From Industry And Other Human Activities

Thursday, April 10th, 2008

Eco-Solution has developed a new technology platform, which enables it to design micro-organisms that for example help nature resist attacks from industry and other human activities. The processes developed by Eco-Solution are called "directed in vivo evolution". They allow Eco-Solution to apply biological treatments to industrial waste or effluents in ...

Queen’s Develops Safe ‘Green’ Decontamination Method

Wednesday, April 9th, 2008

Research by two Queen's scientists has resulted in an exciting new method for rapidly and safely destroying toxic agents such as chemical weapons and pesticides.Recently completed testing by an independent European defence corporation has shown the researchers' method to be greater than 99 per cent effective when used on the ...

Sea Salt Worsens Coastal Air Pollution: Study

Wednesday, April 9th, 2008

Air pollution in the world's busiest ports and shipping regions may be markedly worse than previously suspected, according to a new study showing that industrial and shipping pollution is exacerbated when it combines with sunshine and salty sea air.In a paper published in this week's advance online edition of the ...

Imported Aquacultured Reef Clams Found To Have Foreign Disease, University Of Florida

Wednesday, April 9th, 2008

Vividly colorful giant clams officially called tridacnids decorate many an upscale aquarium. But now experts say they boast an exterior beauty that masks an ugly truth: their potential for carrying foreign diseases. In findings that may impact the reef ...

The Impact Of Climate Change On Human Health

Wednesday, April 9th, 2008

Last year marked a turning point in the debate on climate change. The scientific evidence continues to mount. The climate is changing, the effects are already being felt, and human activities are a principal cause.In selecting climate change as the theme for this year's World Health Day, WHO aims to ...

Climate Change Already Affecting Human Health Says WHO Director General

Tuesday, April 8th, 2008

WHO Director General Dr Margaret Chan said yesterday, 7th April 2008, World Health Day, that climate change was already affecting human health and was giving "a glimpse of the challenges public health will have to confront on a large scale".Chan said the scientific evidence that the planet is warming is ...

World Health Day 2008 - UNICEF Cautions About The Impact Of Climate Change On The Health Of Women And Children

Tuesday, April 8th, 2008

The impact of climate change could fall disproportionately on women and children, UNICEF cautioned today, on the occasion of World Health Day 2008. The theme for World Health Day 2008 is climate change and health. The annual day commemorates the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO). "Nearly 10 million ...