Lifeboat Foundation

If you happen to be thirsty in the woods, there are a lot of things you can stick in your canteen to help clean up your drinking water. There are chlorine pills and filters (not crystals — never crystals). And now scientists have identified a certain kind of moss that could do it, too.

The moss is called Warnstorfia fluitans. It grows in Swedish wetlands contaminated with the toxic arsenic from nearby mining operations. Researchers found that the moss brought the arsenic levels of water down to drinkable levels surprisingly quickly, according to research published in the journal Environmental Pollution.

In northern Sweden, iron mines have contaminated much of the water with arsenic, a metal that is also toxic to humans. That harmful combination works its way into agricultural products like rice, traveling throughout the food web.

Continue reading “A Moss Can Naturally Clean Harmful Arsenic From Water” »

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Salmonella bacteria flip an electric switch as they hitch a ride inside immune cells, causing the cells to migrate out of the gut toward other parts of the body, according to a new study publishing on April 9 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Yaohui Sun and Alex Mogilner of New York University and colleagues. The discovery reveals a new mechanism underlying the toxicity of this common food-borne pathogen.

Salmonella are among the commonest, and deadliest, causes of food poisoning, causing over 400,000 deaths every year. Many of those deaths result when the bacteria escape the gut inside immune cells called macrophages. Macrophages are drawn to bacteria in the gut by a variety of signals, most prominently chemicals released from the site of infection. Once there, they engulf the bacteria as a regular part of their infection-fighting job. However, rather than remaining there, bacteria-laden macrophages often leave the site and enter the bloodstream, disseminating the bacteria and greatly increasing the gravity of the infection.

Continue reading “Bacteria flip an electric switch to worsen food poisoning” »

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Despite its diminutive size, the creature still managed to pack a lot of nightmare fuel. Those 45 tentacles were used to snatch up food, creep along the ocean floor and scare off predators.

Oh, and those “tubes” also had their own armor.

Continue reading “Scientists Discover Ancient ‘Cthulhu’ Fossil That Will Give You Nightmares” »

A team of researchers with members from Norway, Austria, Russia and Germany has found a kind of bacteria that oxidizes methane. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes their findings and suggest their work could lead to progress in combating global warming.

Scientists have reached consensus that global warming is happening, and that it is because humans continue to pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The main culprit is carbon dioxide, but there are other greenhouse gases making their way into the atmosphere, as well—one of them is methane. Humans produce methane naturally, via flatulence, as do animals. It also results from production of rice and other crops, and released it during oil extraction. To combat global warming, we stop emitting methane, or find a way to remove it. In this new effort, the researchers report a natural way to remove methane from the air by supporting a type of bacteria that oxidizes it.

Scientists have suspected for many years that one or more types of bacteria oxidize methane because testing has shown that methane levels drop in places where there is soil present.

Continue reading “Bacteria that oxidizes methane found in common soil” »

A biodegradable replacement for petroleum-based products has to meet all sorts of standards and, so far, attempts at viable replacements from renewable sources have faced limited success due to processing and economic constraints. Among the obstacles, products to date have been too brittle for food packaging.

But new research from The Ohio State University has shown that combining natural rubber with bioplastic in a novel way results in a much stronger replacement for plastic, one that is already capturing the interest of companies looking to shrink their environmental footprints.

Almost all plastics — about 90 percent — are petroleum-based and are not biodegradable, a major environmental concern.

Continue reading “Potential for Earth-friendly plastic replacement” »

It’s the first-ever quantification of the damage caused by plastic pollution on a global scale.

Global plastic pollution and the damage it causes to marine ecosystems now has a price tag attached to it. A team of researchers from the UK and Norway analyzed the many ways in which plastic pollution damages or destroys natural resources, and came up with a staggering figure – $2.5 billion – as the annual cost to society.

Much of our current understanding about plastic pollution is on a local level that cannot be interpreted easily on a global scale; and yet, this is a global threat. An estimated 8 million tons of plastic enter the oceans annually, and because of its material persistence and ability to disperse widely, must be viewed from a broader perspective if we hope to tackle it effectively. The researchers, whose study was just published in Marine Pollution Bulletin, looked at the many ways in which marine ecosystems benefit the planet, including food provision for billions of people, carbon storage, waste detoxification, and cultural benefits (recreational and spiritual). When these benefits are threatened by the presence of plastic, it “has the potential to significantly impact the wellbeing of humans across the globe, owing to the loss of food security, livelihoods, income and good health.”

Continue reading “Ocean plastic pollution costs the planet $2.5 trillion per year” »

In a new study published in the journal Human Biology, archaeologists from the Tel Aviv University reveal the molecular similarities between Neanderthals and woolly mammoths by studying three case studies.

Scientists discover that two completely different species can evolve and develop the same genetic characteristics. In a landmark study, Neanderthals and woolly mammoths are found to be very similar to each other.

I do think that due to the many problems of super fungus that are basically very damaging to human health I think there are other fungi that can basically stop this with like mosses and other symbiotic fungis that can basically boost the defenses of nature itself and the human populations aswell. Usually you have a super fungus because there is not a natural fungis that can shoulder the defense against malignant destruction fungus. There is always a natural defense against large scale destruction fungus that can just eat this fungi and also give food to people. But it is because the basically natural defenses against fungi that are poisonous makes it so that the super fungus are evolving too quickly. A simple basically moss that spread and be a defensive measure eating the poisonous fungi then creating a better environment.

Every year, an estimated 23,000 Americans die from antibiotic-resistant superbugs – germs that evolve so quickly, existing treatment options can’t eradicate them.

But it’s not just deadly drug-resistant bacterial infections that are spreading. We also have to worry about drug-resistant fungal infections, too.

Continue reading “A Deadly Superfungus Is Spreading Across The World, And We Don’t Know How to Stop It” »

Plastic pollution is something everyone should not be aware of. In the news, a lot of focus has been on the plastic pollution created by the fashion and food industry, but sometimes it seems like the toy industry is getting a pass. If you think about it, the majority of children’s toys are made of plastic. According to Plastics, 90 per cent of all toys on the market are made of plastic, which is a ridiculous amount of plastic. So where do the discarded toys, that do not end up charity shops, end up? Plastic toys are becoming a substantial environmental problem, especially as quite a few can be found living in their new home, the rubbish dump.

Raising sustainability-conscious kids is not easy, so why are companies not making it easier for parents? Well, a few small startups have been leading the movement by embracing circular economy principles. They are focusing on locally making toys from recycled straw, sawdust and plastic milk bottles, but I do wonder whether their efforts to create a sustainable toy market will lead to large mass producers like Hasbro. I am optimistic and believe it is possible. My optimism strengthened when I heard that Danish toy company Lego has begun the production of a new line of sustainable Lego accessories made from plant-based polyethene derived from sugarcane ethanol, as opposed to the polyethene from oil.

“The investment announced is a testament to our continued ambition to leave a positive impact on the planet, which future generations will inherit.”

Continue reading “Lego Makes A ‘Breakthrough’ In Producing Plant-based Bioplastics Toys Available Next Month” »