It took years of begging and pleading, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finally agreed in February to start testing for glyphosate in food. The agency announced just a few days ago that U.S. honey samples tested positive for the chemical, which is an ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide. [1]
Mulberry, Florida is now home to a giant sinkhole that has caused 215 million gallons of radioactive water to leak into the state’s supply of drinking water.
Everyone has household dust, and until recently, it was thought to be a low-risk side effect of not being obsessively clean. However, new research has emerged to demonstrate that household dust contains way more toxins than we thought, with most of them coming from everyday products and cleaning supplies.
A Russian surveillance system recently released harrowing footage of a tiny kitten crossing a busy highway and dodging traffic for several minutes before being scooped up by a benevolent stranger.
The kitten, who comes from Kaliningrad, Russia, was shown on camera attempting to cross a busy highway. He was miraculously able to dodge traffic for three and a half minutes in a breath-taking video. After several near misses in which drivers swerve around him or drive over him so they don’t injure him, a man stops and puts on his hazard lights. [1]
A terminally-ill 17-year-old in Belgium has been granted the right to an assisted suicide. The federal commission on euthanasia stated that the unnamed minor was suffering from severe and unbearable pain before granting them the right to end his/her life. This is the first minor to be granted permission since the government decided that age restriction was no longer relevant for assisted euthanasia. The death of the minor was confirmed on Saturday.
In order for the minor to go ahead with the decision, the teenager’s parents had to grant permission.
The agritech world got a lot bigger this week when German chemical giant Bayer inked an agreement to acquire Monsanto for $66 billion in cash. The 2 companies had been bickering for months, and this was the 3rd refurbished offer. In the end, Bayer agreed to pay $128 per share, up from the company’s previous offer of $127.50. [1]
The agreement makes it the largest all-cash deal on record.
Markus Manns of Union Investment, one of Bayer’s top 12 investors, said:
According to a new Finnish study published in the European Journal of Nutrition, a healthy diet in the first 3 years of school is linked to enhanced reading skills.
The study involved a collaboration between University of Eastern Finland and University of Jyväskylä. For the research, 161 Finnish children aged 6 to 8 were studied, with researchers following the participants through their journey from 1st to 3rd grade.
A team of scientists at the University of Johns Hopkins and Germany’s University of Bonn have found that beams of light can help replace electric shocks for patients who suffer from potentially fatal heart rhythm disorders. [1]
A new review of several studies confirms that the radiation from cell phones can actually negatively impact a man’s sperm. This has been more so the case since these phones have begun to fit easily into men’s pockets, meaning the source is even closer to those family jewels.
Meet Diego the Giant Tortoise. He may be over 100 years old, but that hasn’t stopped this sex-crazed tortoise from almost single-handedly saving his entire species. The tortoise from the Chelonoidis hoodensis subspecies, who hails from the island of Española, has fathered over 800 children. He is now the father of at least 40% of his species that are released into the wild. [1]
