Category: News

  • Studying Climate Before the Modern Era

    Understanding the past is always useful in predicting the future. In this case, how climate fluctuates over time due to natural effects before and and his industry affected it. Tree-rings, ice-cores, and speleothems can all be used to reconstruct climate of the past millennia. But these records may be of local effects and not global…

  • Study Suggests Plants Can Be Altruistic Too

    Altruism is the behavior that exudes the selfless concern of one to benefit the well being of another at one’s own expense. In the animal kingdom, some of these altruistic notions can be when a dog raises orphaned cats or squirrels or when Vervet monkeys will warn fellow monkeys of the presence of predators even…

  • Beat Depression and Feel Better with More Fruits and Vegetables

    According to new research out of the New Zealand’s University of Otago, consuming more fruits and vegetables increases calm, happiness, and energy in one’s daily life. Perhaps it is the knowledge of eating wholesome, unprocessed foods that fundamentally affects our brains. The body knows that it is doing something right and feels better because of…

  • I’m Lovin’ It: McDonald’s Opts for Sustainable Fish, Modernity

    Last week, McDonald’s exhibited bold leadership by agreeing to shift their entire seafood supply-chain to Marine Stewardship Council-approved fish. This assures that fish products from McDonald’s will now be sourced from stocks that are sustainable, well-managed and environmentally sound. This amazing move signifies a leap forward for both the labeling model promoted by the Marine…

  • Costa Rican scientists trial aquatic agriculture to boost food security

    Costa Rican researchers are pioneering ‘aquatic agriculture’ — the method of growing crops on freshwater lakes and reservoirs — to boost food security in the developing world. The technique involves creating floating rafts on which vegetables, grains and flowers can be grown. Terrestrial crops such as grains and vegetables have their roots directly in the…

  • How Cells Communicate

    Scientists at UCLA and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science have discovered a possible method by which cancer cells and dying cells communicate with nearby normal nerve cells without being physically connected to them. Normal communication is done by chemical, hormonal or other physical connection. What this implies is unclear but it is…

  • Chevron Moving Forward on Permits for Shale Gas Projects in Romania

    The county council in Vaslui County, Romania awarded last December Chevron the right to drill an exploratory well for shale gas in a locality within the Barlad concession that covers some 600,000 hectares in North East Romania. Chevron will drill its first exploratory well in the Paltinis village, within the Bacesti locality in rural Vaslui.…

  • Gym or Raking Leaves?

    How important is rigorous gym exercise versus ordinary work day exercise/tasks? New research at Oregon State University suggests the health benefits of small amounts of activity – even as small as one- and two-minute increments that add up to 30 minutes per day – can be just as beneficial as longer periods of physical exercise…

  • Peatland Forest Loss and Climate Change

    The destruction of tropical peatland forests is causing them to haemorrhage carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, scientists say. The research, published in Nature, suggests peatland contributions to climate change have been badly underestimated. ‘If you don’t consider carbon lost through drainage then you underestimate the carbon losses from these deforested sites by 22 per cent,’…

  • Study: Risk of Heart Disease Down 32 Percent for Vegetarians

    Meat consumption around the world has been on the rise as incomes have grown. In the United States, more meat is consumed than anywhere else. For many, a meal simply is not a meal if it does not have at least a half-pound of flesh on it. Vegetarianism has been in practice by large groups…