Monsanto may be in trouble in Europe. After months of controversy over disparaging studies concerning Round Up’s main ingredient, glyphosate, the Committee on Environment, Food Safety & Public Health (ENVI) has formally objected to the re-authorization by the European Commission of the herbicide.
Voting to uphold this objection were 36 members, while 6 members voted against it and 18 did not vote.
The biotech industry once told the world that Bt insecticidal crops were only harmful to insects and were harmless to pets and people. But a new study of the ecotoxicological risks of widespread commercial Bt spraying found otherwise. Introban®, a Bt-containing product, caused 100% lethality in amphibians.
There is a 10% chance the Yellowstone Supervolcano could blow sometime in the next 80 years; and while that’s a pretty slim chance, the event would devastate humanity.
Experts at the European Science Foundation (ESF) are warning that instances of volcanic eruptions are the highest in 300 years. They fear that a major eruption could kill millions of people and wreak havoc on the planet.
In a time when radiation exposure from a number of sources, including air travel, nuclear power, and former testing grounds seems unavoidable, any news of radio-protective substance is good news. Fortunately, emerging research is indicating that melanin in fungi, which is also the pigment responsible for skin color in humans, may not only enable some fungi to survive ionizing radiation, but also to feed off of it.
Monsanto recently lost a bid to take over Swiss pesticide company, Syngenta, one if its largest competitors. Instead, China National Chemical Corporation (Chem China) successfully bought out Syngenta for a whopping $43 billion cash offer.
Beer is loaded with carbohydrates that can make you fat – everyone knows this. We even have a name for the distended stomachs of heavy beer drinkers: “beer bellies.” It’s the sort of beverage that the weight-conscious person or diabetic individual either avoids entirely or enjoys only once in a great while.
But what if a brewsky could fight disease?
Actually, beer has numerous health benefits, but scientists are working to emphasize the healthful properties in the alcoholic beverage that offer those benefits.
New research shows a 43% increase in clinical trials funded by drug companies during 2006-2014. Can you say “conflict of interest?”
Concerns have been expressed over the past few years about the independence of clinical trials, due to the funding of some trials by corporations with vested interests. New data from Johns Hopkins University suggests that this is now the norm rather than the exception. The clinical trials that allow a drug to go to market are most often funded by the pharmaceutical industry.
Depression currently affects almost 15 million people in the US every year. Similar numbers can be found in Europe. Depression and anxiety disorders cost us approximately $42 billion annually, comprising a whopping third of the mental health bill of the country. Is it possible that simple cannabinoids in medical marijuana can help treat this debilitating and costly mental health condition? [1]
We’ve all stood outside on a wintry day, trying to catch snowflakes on our tongues. Heck, some people even make snow ice cream.
But scientists in Canada have found that snow absorbs nanosized particles and certain organic components of car exhausts. [1]
Maybe you should avoid the white snow as much as the yellow kind.
The word is out. Glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic,” according to the World Health Organization’s IARC, several agencies in the EU, and California’s Environmental Protection Agency. But what can a wife do when her husband dies from exposure to the chemical over a lifetime of farming?
