Scientists are turning cotton waste into plastic that actually biodegrades
When a cotton gin is used to separate cotton fibers from their seeds, a lot of lint is produced as a waste product. In fact, approximately 32 million tons of cotton lint is produced annually, with about a third of that simply being burnt or put in landfills. Thanks to recent research out of Read More...
Each Spring, 70,000 snakes come to this region in Canada to mate
Tokyo has its cherry blossoms, the Netherlands has its tulip fields, and Paris offers itself. But the Canadian province of Manitoba has a remarkably distinct springtime attraction too: tens of thousands of amorous snakes writhing around in pits. While Manitoba’s tourist agency doesn’t Read More...
Scientists convert type A blood to ‘universal’ with the help of gut bacteria
Everyone inherits a certain blood type – A, B, AB, or O – which also determines the type of blood you can receive via transfusion. Inject a recipient with an incompatible type, and the reaction can be fatal. The difference between the various blood types centers on the sugar molecules, or blood Read More...
Indian town makes it a condition for new buildings to plant at least two trees
In a step to make the environment greener, a municipality in the district of Kerala, India, has decided to pass legislation that will require newly constructed buildings to have at least two native fruit trees planted mandatorily. The rule will apply to any new buildings, commercial or Read More...
Pomegranates may hold key compound to slowing down aging
Since aging is a key driver of many diseases, targeting that process could be a handy catch-all for treating a range of diseases and improving the quality of life for pretty much everybody. That’s why, for a long time, researchers have been busy looking for various ways to slow down the process Read More...
Scientists have developed a ‘virtual biopsy’ that detects skin tumors painlessly
Doctors typically perform a biopsy on a patient in order to diagnose or identify a cancerous tumor, which usually involves using a scalpel to remove a piece of a patient’s skin or tissue. As you might suspect, this can be an uncomfortable, invasive, and time-consuming procedure. With that in Read More...
How activists in this Californian city stopped a gas plant from being built
When NRG Energy, one of the largest electric power producers in the country, won a contract to build a new gas plant on the beach in Oxnard, California, in 2014, nearly everyone assumed it was a done deal. The region’s electric utility, Southern California Edison, needed a new source of power to Read More...
A new marketplace is paying farmers to capture carbon emissions
If farmers make changes to the way they manage soil on farms—and that happened on farmland globally—it could theoretically suck a trillion tons of CO2 from the atmosphere, or as much as humans have emitted since the Industrial Revolution. The changes aren’t particularly complicated, and Read More...
A guide to vacationing without stressing about work for a moment
Time away from the office isn’t always as stress-free as it sounds. A 2018 survey from the American Psychological Association (APA) found that 21% of U.S. adults felt stressed during their time off and 28% worked more than they thought they would on vacation. In order to relax fully on Read More...
These mini villages teach kids the rules of the road
While a bike ride on city streets can be a blast for kids, for parents it can be a worrying affair watching their kids maneuver around cars and through traffic lights. Of course, the best way for kids to learn the rules of the road is through the first-hand experience, but if kids can get that Read More...