Feast a Fortnight

Feast A Fortnight

A bi-weekly round up of the news and views that caught my eye over the past two weeks.

For February 12th to February 26th, 2012:

Diving with wild crocodiles (BBC News)
"As prehistoric predators, crocodiles have a fearsome man-eating reputation, but little is known of their behaviour underwater in the wild. Now scientists are risking their lives to study the reptiles in their natural habitat. But can it ever be safe to dive with a crocodile?"

Canadian government is muzzling it's scientists (BBC News)
"Speakers at a major science meeting being held in Canada said communication of vital research on health and environment issues is being suppressed."

Picture from BBC News

Italy plans to tax Vatican on commercial properties (BBC News)
Times must be tough when even the Vatican has to pay taxes......

Stonehenge design was inspired by sounds (BBC News)
"Music could have been an inspiration for the design of Stonehenge, according to an American researcher. "

First mapping of carbon monoxide in the Earth's atmosphere by the European Space Agency/Planck 

ESA/Planck

Dandelion tea touted as possible cancer killer (BBC News)
"Researchers hope to test dandelion tea on patients at a Windsor, Ont., clinic after it was found the roots of the weed killed cancer cells in the laboratory."

Nanoparticles in Food, Vitamins Could Harm Human Health, Researchers Warn "ScienceDaily (Feb. 16, 2012) — Billions of engineered nanoparticles in foods and pharmaceuticals are ingested by humans daily, and new Cornell research warns they may be more harmful to health than previously thought."

Car tracks beyond the asphalt

Credit: © andersphoto / Fotolia

"ScienceDaily (Feb. 24, 2012) — The contamination caused by road traffic not only affects the air, it also seeps under the asphalt and harms the adjacent soil and plants."

Eating citrus fruit may lower women's stroke risk 
"Science Daily (Feb 23, 2012) - Eating higher amounts of a compound in citrus fruits, especially oranges and grapefruit, may lower ischemic stroke risk. Women who ate high amounts of the compound had a 19 percent lower risk of ischemic stroke than women who consumed the least amount."


Texting affects ability to interpret words
"ScienceDaily (Feb. 16, 2012) — Research designed to understand the effect of text messaging on language found that texting has a negative impact on people's linguistic ability to interpret and accept words."

Turmeric-based drug effective on Alzheimer's flies
"ScienceDaily (Feb. 14, 2012) — Curcumin, a substance extracted from turmeric, prolongs life and enhances activity of fruit flies with a nervous disorder similar to Alzheimers, according to new research."

Men behaving nicely: selfless acts by men increase when attractive women are nearby (Science Daily)
Go figure.......

Environmental factors must be included in GDP say scientists (Business Green)
"Countries must move beyond tracking economic growth using measures of gross domestic product (GDP) and incorporate environmental and social dimensions into a new measure of wealth if they are to avoid an escalating series of climate, biodiversity and poverty crises."

Manitoba 2010 climate report - shows rising emissions (Manitoba Wildlands)
"The Climate Change and Emissions Reduction Act had established an emissions reduction target of 6% below 1990 levels by 2012. But acting Conservation Minister Dave Chomiak admitted in December 2011 that Manitoba was unlikely to achieve this target. Manitoba's 2010 emissions are more than 12% above 1990 levels."

 Study says insecticide used on GM corn highly toxic to bees (The organic & non-GMO report)
"An insecticide used as a seed treatment on genetically modified corn and other crops has been found to be highly toxic to honey bees, according to a study published recently in the journal PLoS ONE.