Researchers at the University of California San Diego and Sapphire Energy have successfully grown genetically modified algae outdoors for the first time. They claim that the GM algae don’t harm native algae populations and, moreover, can fend off deadly bacteria. [1]
A recent lawsuit accuses biotech giant Monsanto of hiring an army of online trolls to attack critics of their glyphosate-based herbicide, RoundUp. [1]
Doctors at teaching hospitals are more likely to prescribe generic drugs over name-brand ones when pharmaceutical sales representatives are kept at bay, a study published in JAMA shows. [1]
By comparison, doctors working in hospitals that don’t keep pharma sales reps on a short leash – freely accepting meals and gifts, and letting reps have free reign of the hospital – prescribed far more name-brand medications.
On May 4, Johnson & Johnson was ordered by a Missouri jury to pay $110 million to a Virginia woman who claimed in a lawsuit that she developed ovarian cancer after using the company’s talc-based products for feminine hygiene for decades. [1]
Lois Slemp, 62, alleged that her use of J&J’s Shower-to-Shower and Baby Products over 4 decades, as well as asbestos particles found inside her, caused her cancer. [2]
If you’ve ever laid on a blanket and looked up at the night sky, you know how mind-blowing it is to consider the sheer number of stars in our galaxy – between 100 and 400 billion, according to scientists. Now, think about how heartbreaking it is to find out that there are more microscopic pieces of plastic in our oceans than there are stars in the Milky Way. [1]
Source: National Ocean Service
Chlorpyrifos is a pesticide that has the potential to harm both children and farm workers, but the EPA – the same agency that drew these conclusions – says it will not ban the chemical.
On March 26, 2017, EPA chief Scott Pruitt rejected his agency’s own chemical safety experts who, under Barack Obama, had recommended that chlorpyrifos – one of the nation’s most widely used insecticides – be permanently banned from agricultural use nationwide because of the danger it poses to farm workers. [1]
After some counties in New York banned trans fats, heart attacks and strokes fell by more than 6%, say researchers from Yale University. With a national trans fat ban scheduled for 2018, the finding shows that deaths, strokes, and non-fatal heart attacks could plummet nationwide.
A recent survey by Yahoo News and The Marist Poll reveals, among other things, that people – regardless of whether they have children or not – are more concerned about kids smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol than they are about kids using marijuana. [1]
For the survey, 1,122 adults age 18 and older were polled from March 1 through March 7, 2017.
In case you missed it … The rusty patched bumblebee has officially been put on the endangered species list, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says, after a delay and concerns that the species might not receive federal protection.
Earlier in April of this year, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), a non-profit group which emphasizes preventative medicine and vegan lobbyists, said in a lawsuit that the Los Angeles school district should not be allowed to serve hot dogs and other processed meats to students because the products increase the risk for cancer. [1]
