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Week starting 8/8/11
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8/12/11
How tanning changes the brain. People who frequently use tanning beds experience changes in brain activity during their tanning sessions that mimic the patterns of drug addiction, new research shows. New York Times [Registration Required]
UC experts explain radiation risks - real and relative UC scientists explain radiation risks from everyday background radiation, medical imaging and nuclear power plant accidents in the aftermath of meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan.
As ecosystems, cities yield some surprises. In Boston, scientists measuring the city’s greenhouse gas emissions have found what they call a “weekend effect,” a clear drop-off in the amount of carbon dioxide entering the city’s atmosphere on Saturdays and Sundays. That is just one effort in a nascent program to understand the nation’s cities, home to 80 percent of the population, as functioning ecosystems. New York Times [Registration Required]
8/10/11
US launches eco-network. The era of big data is coming to ecology. The United States is moving forward with an environmental moni¬toring network that promises to help transform a traditionally small-scale, local science into a continental-scale group enterprise. The result will be a vast database that scientists can mine to tackle broad questions such as how global warming, pollution and land-use change are affecting ecosystems across the country. Nature
Banned chemical levels high in pregnant women Pregnant women participating in a pilot study at San Francisco General Hospital had the highest levels of banned chemicals used in flame retardants in their bodies compared with other expectant mothers in other studies conducted worldwide. Ami Zota, postdoctoral fellow at UCSF’s Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment and lead author of the study is quoted along with UCSF’s Jackson Morrill and Tracey Woodruff.
Apple Paying Consumers for PCs Apple has expanded its recycling program with an option that will pay owners of iPhones, iPads, Macs and even PCs a fair market value for their old electronics, AppleInsider reports.
Organic farming reduces resistance of bacteria to antibiotics, study finds. Poultry farmers who adopt organic practices and stop giving their birds antibiotics significantly reduce the resistance of bacteria to antibiotics in their flocks, according to a study released Wednesday. Washington Post
8/9/11
WM, Davita launch Dialisys Recycling Trial - Dialysis service provider DaVita Inc. and a subsidiary of recycling and refuse collection firm Waste Management are hoping to recycle 350,000 pounds of waste from kidney dialysis in a new recycling pilot.
Real Men Don’t Do Green? A recent study found that one of the negative and inaccurate perceptions of green is that “it is feminine and not for men.” As a business person, most definitely male and unquestionably green, I was puzzled when I read that because it is so contrary to what we have experienced since launching our green business almost five years ago.
Groups call for scientists to engage the body politic. In American public life, researchers are largely absent. Trained to stick to the purity of the laboratory, they tend to avoid the sometimes irrational hurly-burly of politics. Now several groups are trying to change that. New York Times [Registration Required]
8/8/11
Eco-friendly claims create confusion. To be sure, consumers want safer, and greener, products. So marketers are responding. Products are labeled recycled, recyclable, ozone-friendly, nontoxic, and more. Labels and certifications wear your politics on their sleeves. Philadelphia Inquirer, Pennsylvania. [Registration Required]
Building the green-collar economy. The lure of renewable energy sources is that they help fight climate
change. Four experts argue that the transition to a clean economy could also jump-start economic growth and put a new generation to work. Discover
It’s glymes time: EPA takes on obscure chemicals in consumer products. Hardly anyone has heard of them, but millions of pounds of glymes are used every year to make household products. Now time is running out for glymes – at least when it comes to new uses in consumer products. The US EPA announced that it plans to clamp down on these little-known ingredients used by a broad array of industries, including manufacturers of lithium batteries, inkjet cartridges, paints, prescription drugs and microchips. Environmental Health News
8/7/11
C8 study raises questions about thyroid impacts. A new West Virginia University study cautions that exposure to the toxic chemical C8, also known as PFOA, may affect the function of the thyroid gland and says more research on the matter is needed. Charleston Gazette, West Virginia.
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