pollution

Image from Wikimedia Commons

Though it may be a bit premature to heap too much praise upon duckweed (Spirodela polyrhiza) -- after all, relatively little is still known about its properties -- the early signs, at least according to a team of Rutgers scientists, seem very promising. A team of plant biologists from Rutgers' Waksman Institute of Microbiology have convinced the DOE to focus resources on the genomic sequencing of the diminutive aquatic plant, claiming it holds immeasurable potential for f...

In a complete turnabout the Food and Drug Administration has issued a health warning over amalgam dental fillings after insisting for years that they were safe. A change in stance which is a major victory for activists who claim fillings can cause a range of problems, including heart conditions and Alzheimer's disease.

According to their website, the FDA now states that fillings contain mercury that "may have neuro-toxic effects on the nervous systems of developing children and fetuses".
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In a taste of what would come if the U.S. were to take the lead in developing global alternative energy solutions, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has signed a multi-million dollar agreement to bring their expertise to an assessment of health risks in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) due to environmental factors.

And since the U.A.E. has gone from a small nomadic and seafaring economy to one that is highly industrialized in just the last 40 years as one of the fastest developing nations in the world the truth is that there is plenty of cause for concern. A fact leadership in that country fully recognizes, and is attempting to tackle before...

This year’s Sea No Evil event , also known as the Sea Shepherd Art Show aims to bring art, music and the environment together under one roof in Riverside, CA. The location – The Riverside Art Musem. The date – Saturday, July 12, 2008. The acts – recording artist Matt Costa, DJ Shephard Fairey and art by over 53 artists will be on display. The event is co-hosted by RVCA, the Artist Network Program and Monster Media.

For those of you in the LA or Riverside area, mark your calendars now to come out to Riverside for a good cause. Musical acts include Mat...

(Photo: Air pollution in Santiago de Chile. Credit: Aaron Mccoy/Getty Images) Several media in Latin America warned yesterday that Santiago, Chile's capital city, is having its worst time in terms of air pollution since 1989.

In the current year, the government has declared six pre environmental-emergencies, a state in which it forbids the circulation of 360 thousand vehicles, stops the operation of over 800 industries, and forbids the use of chimneys in households. But that seems not to be enough, and pollution is causing society and political sectors to remain dissatisfied.

Besides the city's geographic location, one of the reasons...

Australia has been in the grip of a one-in-a-thousand-year drought. A while back we looked at how this was affecting the ability of cities to provide basic drinking water services and what it meant for agriculture. Then we perked up with stories on how individual Australians and their municipalities have again embraced rainwater harvesting. With gusto. (Governments have even being

There has been a flurry of publicity surrounding the ongoing Chevron Texaco case in recent weeks. Pushing the point home most forcefully of all is this animation created for Amazon Watch by political cartoonist Mark Fiore. Find out more about the latest ne...

There is an Organisation in San Francisco called Matter of Trust, which, as one of its many projects, collects human hair from thousands of salons across the country and sends it to Georgia to be woven into mats.

These mats are then used to absorb used motor oil. The used, oil-soaked mats are seeded with oyster mushrooms, which thrive on and absorb the black gunk, and after three months the whole lot can then be safely composted.

Something that all coastal town folk should consider setting up...

via Tiny Choices