We know the climate will be healthier if we switch from gasoline to biofuel, solar fuel and wind power. It turns out that PEOPLE will be healthier too.
It’s not just the air we breathe, it’s the workers who toil in the industries that are associated fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas. These are dangerous jobs!
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In Latinos, anyway – Hispanics who move to the US have higher rates of cancer than their relatives who stay home. This may be due to under reporting in their home countries, but it’s something that is concerning researchers who are searching desperately for some of the causes of this dreaded disease.
Miami researcher Paulo S. Pinheiro thinks it’s important that we not lump all Spanish-speaker together. He says, “Hispanics are not all the same with regard to their cancer experience. Targeted interventions for cancer prevention and control should take into account the specificity of each Hispanic subgroup: Cubans, Puerto Ricans or Mexicans.”
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Despite the fact that we’ve elected a black president, race is still a problem in the US. We know that humans originated in Africa, so why did some people’s skin turn white, anyway?
Scientists used to tell us that people’s skins turned lighter when they migrated north and needed more sun exposure in order to get enough vitamin D. Melanin, the pigment that turns skin dark, blocks out this vitamin. Vitamin D deficiency can lead to rickets and even to a deformed pelvis in women, which would interfere with childbirth. But the truth is that much of this is still a mystery.
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Once we learned that they can survive a nuclear war (while we won’t). Now it turns out they’re impervious to global warming as well. I guess we have to accept the fact that they will always be around (even if we are not).
Researchers have learned that cockroaches can hold their breath for as long as 40 minutes, which will help them survive the rise in sea levels. In fact, they actually change the way they breathe in response to changes in humidity, oxygen levels and CO2 levels.
New Scientist, Shanta Barley quotes researcher George McGavin as saying, “Two hundred and fifty million years of physiological fine tuning has produced a creature that will be around for a long time to come. Cockroaches, I’m afraid to say, will do well in the face of climate change.”read more