LS,
RN14 - August 2007
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Vulnerabilities surrounding the use of nuclear power
The first threat is at the source of the raw material for nuclear
power itself, the uranium mine, processing plant, and transport route.
The second threat is from saboteurs with expertise in the industry and
the security of nuclear installations. Finally, at the waste end of the
nuclear industry, a second US team point out that the significant
quantities of spent radioactive fuel could also represent a security
nightmare.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070725143452.htm
http://www.brightsurf.com/news/headlines/31813/Three-pronged_nuclear_attack.html
Oil Spill Clean-up Agents Threaten Coral Reefs
In a setback for efforts to protect endangered coral reefs from oil
spills, researchers in Israel report that oil dispersants -- the best
tool for treating oil spills in tropical areas --are significantly more
toxic to coral than the oil they are used to clean up.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070730172426.htm
Making Development Less Risky
Financial risk management is likely to come to the forefront of
strategies for poverty reduction. Impoverished farmers cannot obtain
fertilizers on credit because of the potential for a catastrophic loss
in the event of a crop failure. Microfinance has already introduced
markets for the poor. Microinsurance and other kinds of risk management
will likewise yield important tools.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&colID=31&articleID=AC3DC4F7-E7F2-99DF-3DFD7E970647621C
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&articleID=C05A17DA-E7F2-99DF-356F1509CB77DBF4
EU rejects latest attempt to grow GMOs in Europe
Although the big GMO companies claim that using genetically
modified potatoes in industrial processes is an environmentally
friendly option, the FoE claims that this is absurd considering the
associated health and environmental risks. The European Food Safety
Authority (EFSA) gave the GM potato the green light, but has been
criticised for overlooking several important health and environmental
risks. The latest application to grow GMOs in Europe has been rejected
by the EU member states, as the EU Agriculture Council has failed to
approve the commercial growing of a genetically modified potato. There
have now been no new GMOs grown in the EU for the past ten years.
http://www.maltamedia.com/artman2/publish/eu/article_2861.shtml
also: http://www.progress.org/2007/gene118.htm
Killer Electrons In Space damage satellites in orbit and pose a
hazard to astronauts
‘Killer’ electrons are highly energetic, negatively charged
particles found in near-Earth space. In the aftermath of the storm, the
CARISMA (Canadian Array for Realtime Investigations of Magnetic
Activity) magnetometer chain observed a type of Ultra Low Frequency
(ULF) electromagnetic wave, well-known for creating killer electrons.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070726113249.htm
Air Pollution Linked To Clogged Arteries
That's the message of a new UCLA study linking diesel exhaust to
atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, which significantly
increases one's risk for heart attack and stroke.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070726090009.htm
Tonsils may help transmit HIV during oral sex
Researchers stress that the risk of acquiring HIV through oral sex
is far too low to warrant preventive tonsillectomies. But they say the
finding might have implications for preventing transmission of the
virus from HIV-infected mothers to their children through breastfeeding.
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn12354
Nanowaste needs attention of EPA, industry and investors to manage
potential risks
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must make key decisions
about how to apply the two major end-of-life statutes to nanotechnology
waste in order to ensure adequate oversight for these technologies,
concludes a new report from the Wilson Center’s Project on Emerging
Nanotechnologies. However, the report notes that the Agency lacks much
of the data on human health and eco-toxicity that form the basis for
such determinations, creating some tough challenges ahead in EPA’s
decision-making process.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-07/poen-nna072507.php
Phone towers pose 'no short-term risks'
Scientists at the University of Essex say they have conducted one
of the largest studies into whether symptoms such as tension, anxiety
and tiredness could be linked to phone towers. According to the study,
the heart rate, blood pressure and skin conductance - considered a good
measure of physiological response to environmental stress - of
participants was not affected by whether the tower was on or off.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/1988744.htm
also see:
http://www.health.am/ab/more/radiation-from-phones-damaged-their-health/
Global hazards of travel
The World Health Organization (WHO) released results from Phase 1
research. Findings indicate that the risk of developing venous
thromboembolism (VTE) approximately doubles after travel lasting four
hours or more. However the study points out that even with this
increased risk, the absolute risk of developing VTE, if seated and
immobile for more than four hours, remains relatively low at about 1 in
6000.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070722213927.htm
Signs of brain shrinkage seen in soccer players
Using high-resolution MRI brain scans, researchers found evidence
of reduced gray matter in the brains of 10 male college soccer players,
compared with 10 young men who had never played the sport.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?alias=signs-of-brain-shrinkage&chanId=sa003
Risk of metabolic syndrome due to sedentary behaviour
With the help of powerful new imaging technologies, a team of
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers at Yale University
School of Medicine has found that insulin resistance in skeletal muscle
leads to alterations in energy storage that set the stage for the
metabolic syndrome.
http://www.brightsurf.com/news/headlines/31602/Metabolic_syndrome_--_dont_blame_the_belly_fat.html
related:
http://www.health.am/ab/more/milk-and-dairy-products-protect-metabolic-syndrome/
Grapefruit linked to increased risk for breast cancer
Women who ate one quarter of a grapefruit or more every day had a
higher risk of breast cancer than those who did not eat the fruit at
all. Researchers suspect that the fruit boosts the levels of oestrogen
in the body and the hormone has previously been linked with a higher
risk of the disease.
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=27688
Handwriting, not passwords, safer online
Your handwriting could be the best form of online security, say the
developers of a new system that may one day replace
difficult-to-remember passwords and PIN codes.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/1976978.htm
The savvy parent's guide to sun safety
The trhuth about 6 myths
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/family/07/06/par.sun.safety/index.html
U.N. official says biofuels raise food supply risk
The head of the U.N. Environment Program said that Cuban leader
Fidel Castro and others are justified in raising concern about the
potential for ethanol production to threaten food supplies for the
poor. There is significant potential and risk for competition between
food production and production for a global biofuels market.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyid=2007-07-04T211743Z_01_N04291575_RTRUKOC_0_US-ENERGY-CUBA-UN.xml
Gadgets 'threaten energy savings'
The growing popularity of hi-tech devices, such as flat-screen TVs
and digital radios, threaten to undermine efforts to save energy. UK
consumers spend £12bn a year on electronics, much of which is less
efficient than older technology, a study by the Energy Saving Trust
found.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6266082.stm
Germany's embryo protection law is 'killing embryos rather than
protecting them'
Instead of preserving life, Germany’s embryo protection law has had
the unintended consequence of increasing the number of foetuses killed
after fertility treatment according to new figures presented at the
European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology today
(Wednesday). The German embryo protection law, passed in 1991,
stipulates that no more than three embryos can be created per cycle of
IVF and all three, regardless of their quality, must be transferred to
the patient’s womb at one time, and cannot be frozen or discarded. For
the first time, figures for 2004 from the ESHRE European IVF monitoring
consortium show that out of 8,500 deliveries in Germany in 2004 there
were 222 foetal reductions performed (representing 2.6%). Foetal
reductions are performed when a woman has a multiple pregnancy and
doctors consider it necessary to reduce the number of foetuses she is
carrying in order to increase the chances of the remaining ones
surviving. It is also performed when doctors discover that foetuses are
abnormal.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-07/esfh-gep070307.php
New GM tests to determine risks
Scientists at the Scottish Crop Research Institute, working in
partnership with a team at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, will
research improved and more rapid methods for determining whether plant
genes may be disrupted by the genetic modification process and if
entirely new proteins might arise from the GM process.
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/business.cfm?id=1037052007
Extinctions in the insect world could threaten life as we know it
If humans vanished, only three species of insect that depend on the
existence of humans, would join them in extinction. But mass insect
extinction could mean no more nematodes and other worms moving soil
around, and bees and other pollinators aiding plant reproduction.
Agricultural yields would drop, bringing starvation, war and an
"ecological dark age."
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Science/2007/06/30/wilson__insects_essential_to_human_life/9315/
compiled by PBP
risk (-at-) sciencemedia.eu