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IMAGE: Fluorescent innocuous organic substances used as testing techniques to simulate the trajectory followed by a pollutant. view more
Credit: University of Malaga
Led by Professor Andreas Hartmann, from the University of Freiburg (Germany), the researchers analyzed the presence of several pollutants in water from many karst aquifers of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, relating fast infiltration processes to an increased concentration of these substances. The findings of this research are published in the scientific journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
This way, they warn that during rainfall events -when aquifers recharge, especially during autumn rainfall- the concentration of pollutants and pathogenic microorganisms can significantly exceed the safe levels, causing serious consequences for human consumption.
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IMAGE: A Beemmunity employee, Abraham McCauley, applies a pollen patty containing microsponges to a hive as part of colony trials. view more
Credit: Nathan Reid
ITHACA, N.Y. - A Cornell University-developed technology provides beekeepers, consumers and farmers with an antidote for deadly pesticides, which kill wild bees and cause beekeepers to lose around a third of their hives every year on average.
An early version of the technology ¬- which detoxified a widely-used group of insecticides called organophosphates - is described in a new study, Pollen-Inspired Enzymatic Microparticles to Reduce Organophosphate Toxicity in Managed Pollinators, published in
Nature Food. The antidote delivery method has now been adapted to effectively protect bees from all insecticides, and has inspired a new company, Beemmunity, based in New York state.
Using four experimental houses, researchers in Africa found that the number of female malaria mosquitoes collected in huts declined with increasing height, decreasing progressively as the hut s floor moved further from the ground.
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VIDEO: Sargassum, floating brown seaweed, have grown in low nutrient waters of the North Atlantic Ocean for centuries. Scientists have discovered dramatic changes in the chemistry and composition of Sargassum, transforming. view more
Credit: Brian Lapointe, Ph.D.
For centuries, pelagic Sargassum, floating brown seaweed, have grown in low nutrient waters of the North Atlantic Ocean, supported by natural nutrient sources like excretions from fishes and invertebrates, upwelling and nitrogen fixation. Using a unique historical baseline from the 1980s and comparing it to samples collected since 2010, researchers from Florida Atlantic University s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute and collaborators have discovered dramatic changes in the chemistry and composition of Sargassum, transforming this vibrant living organism into a toxic dead zone.