What is a dead zone?

"Dead zone" is a more common term for hypoxia, which refers to a reduced level of oxygen in the water.

Hypoxic zones are areas in the ocean of such low oxygen concentration that animal life suffocates and dies, and as a result are sometimes called "dead zones." One of the largest dead zones forms in the Gulf of Mexico every spring. Each spring as farmers fertilize their lands preparing for crop season, rain washes fertilizer off the land and into streams and rivers.

Less oxygen dissolved in the water is often referred to as a “dead zone” because most marine life either dies, or, if they are mobile such as fish, leave the area. Habitats that would normally be teeming with life become, essentially, biological deserts.

Hypoxic zones can occur naturally, but scientists are concerned about the areas created or enhanced by human activity. There are many physical, chemical, and biological factors that combine to create dead zones, but nutrient pollution is the primary cause of those zones created by humans. Excess nutrients that run off land or are piped as wastewater into rivers and coasts can stimulate an overgrowth of algae, which then sinks and decomposes in the water. The decomposition process consumes oxygen and depletes the supply available to healthy marine life.

Dead zones occur in many areas of the country, particularly along the East Coast, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Great Lakes, but there is no part of the country or the world that is immune. The second largest dead zone in the world is located in the U.S., in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Probiotics the key to CURING nut allergies for life

Peanut allergies are one of the most common food allergies, and one that children are often unable to grow out of. Though a recent study may be set to change that. Led by allergist and immunologist Professor Mimi Tang, a team of Australian researchers have uncovered a successful treatment for children with peanut allergies. Even more compelling is the fact that the experimental trial was carried out four years ago and yet its effects continue to protect the children from allergic reactions many years later.

The original clinical trial was carried out in 2013 at Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Melbourne, Victoria. A total of 48 children were enrolled in the trial and were randomly given either a placebo or PPOIT, which stands for “probiotic with peanut oral immunotherapy”. This radical form of treatment was the combination of peanut protein and the probiotic lactobacillus rhamnosus. In lieu of avoiding peanuts in their entirety, Tang designed this based on the idea of reprogramming the immune system response to peanuts into eventual tolerance, the effects of which were further boosted by the presence of probiotics.

This occurred once daily over a period of 18 months. At the end of that stage of the trial, the researchers found that 82 percent of the children who received PPOIT had developed a tolerance to peanuts; by contrast, only four percent of the children from the placebo group had acquired the same tolerance. Following this, the children whom the researchers deemed peanut-tolerant were asked to consume peanuts for about four years after the trial’s conclusion.

During the follow-up, it was discovered that 80 percent of the PPOIT-treated participants continued to eat peanuts and 70 percent remained tolerant to peanuts well after the trial ended.

Tang has called the results, published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, nothing short of “exciting” and “life-changing for the children.” Speaking to the DailyMail.co.uk, Tang commented: “We had children who came into the study allergic to peanuts, having to avoid peanuts in their diet, being very vigilant around that, carrying a lot of anxiety,” she said. “At the end of treatment, and even four years later, many of these children who had benefited from our probiotic peanut therapy could now live like a child who didn’t have peanut allergy.”

“These children had been eating peanut freely in their diet without having to follow any particular program of peanut intake in the years after treatment was completed,” Tang noted before adding: “This is a major step forward in identifying an effective treatment to address the food allergy problem in Western societies.” (Related: Probiotics taken during pregnancy decrease risk of allergies in kids.)

What is lactobacillus rhamnosus?

As a probiotic, lactobacillus rhamnosus is a beneficial type of bacteria typically obtained by eating fermented foods like yogurt. According to LiveStrong.com, probiotics work by releasing certain chemicals when broken down by the body. These chemicals inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria, in turn decreasing the risk of disease and infection.

What makes lactobacillus rhamnosus unique is its ability to boost immune system function. Consumption of this probiotic has been connected with increased phagocytic activity in perotineal cells and blood. Phagocytic activity, in turn, is essential to the health of any living organism since weak phagocytic activity will often times result in chronic fungal and bacterial infections.

Numerous studies carried out over the years pointed towards lactobacillus rhamnosus as a powerful combatant against allergies, so it comes as no big surprise that its inclusion in Tang’s treatment increased its efficacy and longevity.

Visit HealingArts.news for more stories.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk
Livestrong.com
SelfHacked.com
TheLancet.com

Is this why so many city dwellers have health issues? Air pollution found to radically increase stress hormones and alter metabolism

There really is something to be said for getting out into the fresh country air for a day. There is a tangible difference in how much better one feels in the country than in the city, especially if you have a very demanding job. While the stresses and strains of fast-paced city life may partly explain this feeling, new research by Dr. Haidong Kan and colleagues from Fudan University in Shanghai, China, indicates that the air pollution found in industrialized cities also causes a spike in stress hormones, resulting in the development of diseases like stroke, diabetes and heart disease, and ultimately shortening lifespan.

Reuters is reporting that the study, which was published in the journal Circulation, focused specifically on the long-term health effects of the inhalation of particulate matter (PM) smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter from industrial pollution. While the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that the level of 2.5 PM be kept below 10 to maintain the health of city residents, in some cities these levels exceed 50.

For their study, researchers divided 55 healthy college students from the city of Shanghai, which has moderate pollution levels compared to other Chinese cities, into two groups. Functioning air purifiers were placed in the dorm rooms of one group, while non-working units were placed in the remaining students’ rooms for nine days. After a 12-day gap the machines were swapped and another nine-day test was conducted. The participants were given blood and urine tests at the end of each nine-day period to determine their exposure to PM.

Interestingly, the scientists determined that even over just the nine-day period, levels of the stress hormones cortisone, cortisol, norepinephrine and epinephrine rose when the participants were exposed to the dirtier air. Their blood sugar, amino acid, fatty acid and lipid levels also rose, as did their blood pressure levels. The students also exhibited other indicators of molecular body tissue stress. This combination of stressors would likely lead to heart disease, diabetes and other health problems over time. (Related: Discover other ways in which our environment affects our health at Enviro.news)

“This research adds new evidence on how exposure to PM could affect our bodies, which may (ultimately) lead to higher cardiovascular risk,” Dr. Kan told Reuters Health. “Our result may indicate that particulate matter could affect the human body in more ways than we currently know. Thus, it is increasingly necessary for people to understand the importance of reducing their PM exposure.” (Related: Deep breathing of polluted air puts bike riders at higher risk of lung cancer and strokes.)

Exposure to pollution may not be the only way in which cities can negatively impact our health.

A 2014 study by researchers from the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim, Germany, set out to determine the impact of stress on city dwellers’ brains. They discovered that in comparison to their country cousins, city slickers did not handle stress well at all.

The researchers purposely induced stress in study participants and then studied its effects on two areas of the brain: The amygdalas and the perigenual anterior cingulate cortex (pACC).

The Guardian explains their findings:

The amygdalas are known to be involved in assessing threats and generating fear, while the pACC in turn helps to regulate the amygdalas. In stressed citydwellers, the amygdalas appeared more active on the scanner; in people who lived in small towns, less so; in people who lived in the countryside, least of all.

And something even more intriguing was happening in the pACC. … Again, those with rural childhoods showed the least active pACCs, those with urban ones the most. In the urban group moreover, there seemed not to be the same smooth connection between the behaviour of the two brain regions that was observed in the others. An erratic link between the pACC and the amygdalas is often seen in those with schizophrenia too. And schizophrenic people are much more likely to live in cities.

Clearly, living in the city is not the best choice when it comes to either our mental or physical health. For those of us who have no option, however, it is important to get out into the country and breathe that fresh, clean air as often as possible.

Sources include:

Reuters.com

TheGuardian.com

Gulf of Mexico DEAD ZONE caused by agricultural runoff from U.S. farms

Every year, a hypoxic zone appears along the Gulf of Mexico. Otherwise known as a “dead zone,” it is an area of water that contains little to no oxygen. The significantly reduced levels essentially makes the body of water a biological desert. Hypoxic zones usually occur around summertime. But while these areas are considered to be a natural phenomenon, scientists fear that increased human activity may be contributing to the number of dead zones being observed worldwide. More disturbingly, human factors may also be causing the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico to grow. Scientists predict that for this year, the hypoxic zone in the area will cover 10,089 square miles. This is about the size of Vermont. Biologists declare that bold and new approaches need to be made now to prevent a biological crisis. They have expressed a desired target reduction of 59 percent in the amount of nitrogen runoffs in the area. This would shrink the hypoxic zone to the size of Delaware.

Approaches to achieve this end are identified in a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers from the University of Michigan believe that this goal is achievable, though it would require the adjustment of large scale agricultural practices. The magnitude of the problem prompted an intergovernmental panel to extend the reduction program to 2035. This should give enough time, official spokespeople of the panel say, to achieve the goal of a hypoxic zone with a size of only 1,950 square miles.

What truly causes a hypoxic zone is yet to be fully determined, but scientists believe that the one in the Gulf of Mexico may be due to excessive farmland runoff containing fertilizer and livestock waste. These sources release significant amounts of nitrogen and phosphorous which further contribute to the reduction of oxygen in the water. Thankfully, this is a factor that can be easily addressed with proper management techniques.

Aquatic ecologist Dan Scavia, who was the lead author of the paper, says on Science Daily, “the bottom line is that we will never reach the action plan’s goal of 1,950 square miles until more serious actions are taken to reduce the loss of Midwest fertilizers into the Mississippi River system.”

Scavia noted that for the last 20 years, the average nitrate load dumped into the Gulf of Mexico has not changed, despite the numerous conservation projects made along the Mississippi Basin states. Supposedly, more than $28 billion has been spent in trying to reduce the amount of nitrogen levels. (Related: Ocean Dead Zones Now Top 400.)

“Clearly something more or something different is needed,” Scavia noted. “It matters little if the load-reduction target is 30 percent, 45 percent or 59 percent if insufficient resources are in place to make even modest reductions.”

Some of the proposed solutions are to alter fertilizer application rates, planting cover crops (fast-growing plants which would prevent soil erosion), using alternatives to biofuels, and improving overall nutrient management. What is important, according to the team, is that these solutions be applied methodically and in conjunction with one another. This would introduce an amplified effect, in which both nitrogen and phosphorous levels would be reduced together. This “dual-nutrient strategy” is crucial in achieving a significant nutrient-load reduction.

You can read more stories like this on Enviro.news.

Sources include:

ScienceDaily.com

OceanService.NOAA.gov

GCOOS.Tamu.edu

NPR.org

Mainstream media food propaganda claims CHIPS are better for you than an avocado

 If there’s one nutrient that we need to consume on a daily basis, it’s protein. Not only does protein help us maintain and build up muscle mass, it curbs hunger and makes us less likely to snack in-between meals. Obtaining protein is commonly associated with meat consumption, but eating too much meat can have ill-effects on our bodies. So how then do we go about ensuring we get our daily dose of protein? Definitely not by reaching for a big of chips, that’s for sure.

Potato chips and french fries are not foods that immediately spring to mind when you think of possible protein sources, yet that’s what one article from the DailyMail.co.uk is claiming. Written by one Angela Dowden, the article states outright that McCain brand potato chips can help you meet your recommended daily intake of protein.

“Potatoes are only two percent protein, but this serving size provides a good proportion of our daily needs. The flour coating also contains protein,” wrote Dowden. She then notes that a 220 g bag of 22 McCain chips can deliver 6.6 g of protein in total. Dowden further states that a bag of McCain chips is better than a large avocado in terms of protein content since an avocado is packed with a mere 3.7 g of protein.

If we’re going to judge foods solely by their protein content, then you can definitely do so much better than potato chips. The sheer variety of fruits and vegetables available on the market means that there has to be at least a few reliable sources of plant-based protein. And, blessedly, there are:

• Edamame – One cup of cooked edamame, or boiled green soybeans, can deliver 18 g of protein.
• Tempeh – For every three ounces of tempeh, you get 16 of protein. What’s even better is that tempeh is a fermented food and is therefore easier to digest for some people.
• Lentils – A half-cup serving will provide nine g of protein. Lentils have the added benefit of being low in calories too.
• Black beans – With 7.6 g of protein for every half cup of cooked black beans, a full cup can provide a fair amount of this important nutrient.

Unlike McCain chips, these foods won’t make you pack on fat. According to FatSecret.co.uk, a 100 g serving of McCain Home Chips is composed of 25 percent fat and 69 percent carbohydrates. Never mind that the flour coating is also supposed to be a decent source of protein, in her own words. The cons far outweigh the pros, simple as that.

Dowden doesn’t seem to think so, however, because she wrote: “Although deemed an indulgence, chips can be more effective for diets.”

A lot of other foods are “effective for diets”, and none of them are as heavily processed or fat- and carbohydrate-laden as a big of chips.

Her other suggestions for plant-based protein sources were better than chips (such as quinoa, humus, and cashews), yet she seemed fixated on these unhealthy potato products. (Related: Plant-Based Protein Is Becoming Increasingly Popular.)

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying something indulgent every once in a while, but trying to pass it off as something that’s truly and totally good for you just won’t do.

If the comments section is anything to go by, Dowden’s propaganda-tinged love letter to potato chips was at least met with the reactions it deserved. As the top comment by user Graelwyn goes: “Avocado isn’t about the protein for goodness sake, it is about the healthy fats and vitamins. Do some research before writing such a ridiculously misleading article. Throw half an avocado with some chicken, rice and vegetables and you have a very healthy, balanced meal. It might not be as enticing as fast food, but if packs much more of a nutritional punch and is a lot more filling.”

Visit FoodScience.news for similar stories.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk
Prevention.com
FatSecret.co.uk

Contaminated HOUSE DUST found to promote growth of body fat

By now it is pretty self-evident that the United States is fighting a growing obesity problem. Most of us are aware that a diet low in fresh fruits and vegetables and high in junk food, along with a lifestyle virtually devoid of physical activity is making Americans overweight. Now, a startling new study by the American Chemical Society, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, would seem to indicate that there could be another sneaky contributor to the nation’s obesity problem: house dust.

This might seem like an utterly ridiculous idea at first glance, but on closer inspection it actually makes sense. Previous research has confirmed that certain environmental pollutants like flame retardants, bisphenol-A (found in plastic) and phthalates (substances added to plastics to make them more flexible), are endocrine-disrupting chemicals – or EDCs – meaning they interfere with the body’s hormonal system. These EDCs have serious effects on reproductive and neurological functions, and impair immunity. Studies have also found that exposure to EDCs at a young age can cause obesity later in life, which is why they have been labeled “obesogens.” [Related: Learn more about how EDCs cause obesity, diabetes and developmental problems.]

Fine particles of EDCs end up in common household dust, where people in turn inhale or ingest them, or absorb them through the skin. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has confirmed that children ingest about 50 milligrams of household dust each day!

To confirm the effects of this house dust on human weight, the American Chemical Society (ACS) researchers analyzed dust samples collected from 11 North Carolina homes. These samples were then tested in mouse pre-adipocyte cell model 3T3-L1 cells to see the effect of various compounds on triglyceride accumulation (triglycerides are a type of fat).

As reported by Science Daily, “Extracts from seven of the 11 dust samples triggered the pre-adipocytes to develop into mature fat cells and accumulate triglycerides. Extracts from nine samples spurred the cells to divide, creating a larger pool of precursor fat cells. Only one dust sample had no effect. Additionally, among the 44 individual common house dust contaminants tested in this model, pyraclostrobin (a pesticide), the flame-retardant TBPDP, and DBP, a commonly used plasticizer, had the strongest fat-producing effects.”

The researchers believe that even 3 milligrams of chemical-laden household dust can cause discernible effects. Since children are routinely ingesting over 15 times that amount, it is likely that this exposure will result in weight problems in later life.

This study highlights the importance of dusting your house properly, rather than just swirling it around with a feather duster. Good Housekeeping provides some practical tipson how to accomplish this:

1. Use a soft, damp cloth, microfiber duster or electrostatic duster to properly capture dust.
2. Work from the top of a room down, i.e. from the ceiling to the floor of any given room.
3. Electronic items like TVs and DVD players are magnets for dust, so remember to unplug and then clean them with your damp cloth.
4. Use a paint or microfiber brush to clean ornaments and knickknacks properly.
5. Remove dust from teddy bears and other soft toys by placing them in a sealed bag with a cup of baking soda. Shake the bag outside, then remove the items from the bag, shaking the baking soda off as you do so. Finish by vacuuming each item.
6. Unplug and then move appliances away from walls to properly clean behind and underneath them. Clean the appliance itself with a slightly damp sponge mop and then clean the floor and walls with warm, soapy water.
7. Use the soft-brush attachment of your vacuum cleaner to suck up dust from vents, and then wipe the surface with your damp cloth. Don’t forget to wash your air-conditioning filters in warm soapy water and then allow them to air dry before placing them back in the air-conditioning units.
8. Ceiling fans are notorious dust magnets. To avoid a huge mess, place a sheet or drop cloth on the floor beneath the fan and then, after making sure the fan is off, use damp paper towels and a soft-bristle brush and soap to clean the blades and casing. Remove any soapy residue with damp paper towels.

Sources for this article include:

ScienceDaily.com

GoodHousekeeping.com

Beware of the “dark side” of humanity during any collapse

While there have been countless books, movies and television shows about life after some type of apocalyptic event, chances are none of us will ever actually be forced to experience what its like trying to rebuild society from the ground up. More than likely, the majority of us will never be so hungry that we’re forced to get food from somewhere other than the local supermarket, craft our own tools and weapons just to make it through the day, or make decisions that are a matter of life or death. All that being said, there is still a burning question that millions of Americans across the country find themselves asking every now and then: what if?

What if society really did crumble like a house of cards? What if we really were forced to rebuild from the ground up? What would that look like? Would mankind be able to set aside our differences for the greater good, or would the ensuing chaos and fear bring out the worse in us?

All of these can be answered by addressing one more overarching question: are human beings good or evil by nature? It would appear that when reduced to their natural state as a species, humans possess the will and desire to work together with one another; if the opposite were true, then society would never have had the opportunity to be built in the first place. (Related: These are the top ten cities that would be rebuilt first after a societal collapse.) However, it would be inaccurate to say that human beings are entirely good in nature because, as demonstrated through people like Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, our species clearly has a dark side.

It is important to note that although its true that humans aren’t entirely good in nature, not everyone intends to perform unspeakable acts of evil like Hitler or the terrorists behind 9/11 either; in fact, the vast majority of people do not. There are varying degrees of darkness inside each of us, and while most of us live our entire lives apart from it, others are more eager to embrace it.

So how would human beings act in a post-societal world? Would we remain mostly good in nature, or would our dark side start to come out in response to all of the chaos and stress of trying to survive?

In 1961, sociologist Charles Fritz argued that just because human beings would experience a significant amount of stress after society collapses, it doesn’t necessarily mean people would lose themselves. Fritz came to this conclusion while stationed in Britain during the Blitz, where he reported seeing “a nation of gloriously happy people, enjoying life to the fullest, exhibiting a sense of gaiety and love of life that was truly remarkable.” He also noticed that the people continued to share supplies and speak with people they had never spoken to before.

A counterargument to Mr. Fritz would be to say that even though the Blitz lasted for roughly 8 months with the people of Britain being bombarded by German forces day in and day out, it still wasn’t an example of true societal collapse. In a situation where you don’t have any food, clean water is extremely difficult to obtain, and the law no longer exists, there’s no question that some people, even those who have lived their entire lives up until that point as good, decent individuals, will begin to do things they never thought they would do. Again, these types of people would still be in the minority, but even a minority can do a significant amount of damage and destruction when they choose to embrace the darkness that is inside of them.

Sources include:

SHFTplan.com

History.com

House conservatives planning reboot of Obamacare repeal and replace — and it just might work

One of the main reasons why voters gave Republicans control of the House, Senate and White House was their promise to repeal and replace the disastrous Affordable Care Act, also known derisively as “Obamacare.”

But six months into President Donald J. Trump’s first term, the GOP has failed miserably to deliver on its promise.

Some believe that too many Republican establishment types just don’t want to see Trump — who made repeal-and-replace a cornerstone of his campaign — succeed, so they’re withholding support for repealing a law they all voted in unison to replace just a few years ago.

Other political commentators have observed that deep down, a number of Republicans share the same view held by their Democratic colleagues who gave us Obamacare in the first place: That the federal government ought to control all our healthcare, and hence our personal behavior, because they’re really closet authoritarians deep down.

Still, others think that a number of Republicans are just political cowards who, when given the opportunity to do the bold thing and actually follow through on a campaign promise don’t have the guts to do so.

Either way, there is a growing group of House conservatives who not only believe repeal and replace is still possible, but that it should be done and can be done.

One of them is Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who told The Daily Signal it was time to “put the screws” to GOP lawmakers who have been promising to get rid of the most destruct public health policy in the history of our country.

“We certainly can’t give up,” he said.

The website noted further:

Gaetz was explaining why he decided to back a small caucus of House conservatives in its strategy to force a floor vote on a bill mirroring the Obamacare repeal passed in December 2015.

The House Freedom Caucus announced Friday its plan to collect the 218 signatures required on a “discharge petition” to pull that legislation out of committee.

Gaetz told The Daily Signal how he stands on that strategy.

“I signed the discharge petition because the things we have done so far to appease moderates in our party haven’t worked,” Gaetz, who is not a Freedom Caucus member, said. “So, maybe we should take a conservative approach going forward. We certainly can’t give up.”

In 2015 bill passed the GOP-controlled House and Senate in 2015 but, naturally, was vetoed by President Obama. The bill contained language repealing several key aspects of the ACA, including the expansion of Medicaid to Americans who really make enough money they don’t need a subsidy, and nearly all of the law’s tax increases.

In addition, the legislation called for abolishing Obamacare’s insurance mandates for both employers and individuals — requiring them to offer and carry health insurance, respectively — and for the defunding of Planned Parenthood, an abortion-providing organization that rakes in $500 million in taxpayer funding annually, forcing tens of millions of taxpayers to support an organization they don’t agree with.

But because all House and Senate Republicans voted in 2015 to repeal Obamacare, Gaetz says there’s no reason for them not to do so today, when they know that Trump would sign the bill into law.

“There is this theory both in the House and in the Senate that the legislation that everyone has previously voted for to repeal Obamacare would not get the votes on the floor of either body,” he told The Daily Signal. “It’s my view that the ‘I was for it before I was against it’ political narrative has proven to be unsuccessful. And so I want to put the screws to the members of my party who seem to only want to support repealing Obamacare when they don’t think it will actually happen.”

Still, he acknowledged the difficulty in getting a bill to the president, but not because of his chamber. (Related: Memo from WE THE PEOPLE to Congress: Get rid of Obamacare and pass tax reform or lose your seats in 2018.)

“These days it’s reasonable to be skeptical that a Mother’s Day resolution could pass the Senate,” he said.

The good news is that there are members of Congress still dedicated to getting rid of a health care law Democrats and President Obama lied repeatedly to pass in the first place.

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources include:

DailySignal.com

TheNationalSentinel.com

Exposure to outdoor light at night can increase breast cancer risk, claim researchers

Women who reside in areas with plenty of outdoor lighting at night may want to reconsider their living situation. The researchers behind a recent Harvard study uncovered a link between higher levels of nighttime outdoor lighting and increased risk of breast cancer, reported the DailyMail.co.uk.

“In our modern industrialized society, artificial lighting is nearly ubiquitous. Our results suggest that this widespread exposure to outdoor lights during nighttime hours could represent a novel risk factor for breast cancer,” said Peter James, lead author and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School’s Department of Population Medicine at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute.

For the purposes of their study, the researchers examined data from almost 110,000 women who were enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study II between the years 1989 and 2013. They then linked satellite images of the Earth at night to the residential addresses of each participant. The researchers made sure to take into consideration factors such as the socioeconomic standing and health of the participants, as well as night-shift work.

The results, which have been published on Environmental Health Perspectives, revealed that women who were exposed to the highest levels of outdoor light at night had a 14 percent greater risk of developing the disease when compared to women who had the lowest levels of outdoor light. Moreover, the likelihood of breast cancer was stronger among women who worked the night shift. This suggests that night-shift work and outdoor light nighttime exposure contributed jointly to the risk.

However, the association was only present among pre-menopausal women and women who were current or past smokers. The exact mechanisms behind this are still unknown, and the researchers acknowledged that further work is required.

The proposed explanation behind this lay in the production of melatonin. This hormone helps control sleep and wake cycles, and is influenced by the body’s internal clock or circadian rhythm. Light can affect melatonin production: Light at night can decrease melatonin levels, while darkness boosts it. Even artificial light can cause melatonin levels to dip. Age is another factor that affects the production of this vital hormone. In the study, the researchers noted that lower melatonin levels have been found to heighten the chances of breast cancer. (Related: Melatonin could help prevent growth of breast cancer tumors.)

Boosting melatonin production the natural way

Fortunately, there are simple and natural means of increasing melatonin levels that anyone can do. These include:

• Turning off all LED lights – LED lights give off a moderate amount of blue light, which have been shown to block melatonin levels. Cellphones, televisions, and laptop screens all produce blue light, so place these away from your bed to decrease your exposure to blue light. If that isn’t possible, then cover these up.
• Eat more melatonin-rich or melatonin-promoting foods – Certain foods can positively impact melatonin production, like pineapples, bananas, oranges, sweet corn, barley, and mangosteen. Tart cherries have a notable amount of melatonin in them, as does tart cherry juice.
• Limit caffeine and alcohol intake – While caffeine is a stimulant, alcohol is a suppressant. Both of these beverages can reduce melatonin levels and should be consumed in limited amounts.

Go to Healing.news for more stories.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk
EHP.NIEGS.NIH.gov
NaturalLivingIdeas.com

Scientists develop self-healing rubber that could mean punctured tires repair themselves as you drive

Flat tires and weak rubber bands may very soon become a thing of the past as researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) recently developed a new tough, self-healing rubber.

While self-healing materials are not new, engineering the same properties on dry materials such as rubber poses a bigger challenge. According to the researchers, this is due to the rubber’s material make-up. Rubber is made up of polymers linked by permanent, covalent bonds that do not reconnect once broken.

The main hurdle was that both reversible and covalent bonds do not interact with one another, in the same way as water repels oil. To address this, the experts developed a molecular rope called randomly-branched polymers to link the two types of bonds on a molecular level. The research team were able to homogeneously mix two previously immiscible bonds.

Following the molecular process, the scientists were able to create a transparent, tough, self-healing rubber.

“Unlike conventional methods relying on co-solvents to promote mixing, we use molecules to physically tie these two types of bonds together, such that they are forced to mix at the molecular level. This enables a dry rubber that contains both reversible hydrogen bonds and permanent covalent crosslinks. The reversible bonds break and reform to enable self-healing ability, whereas the covalent bonds maintain the material integrity under large deformation. Consequently, the rubber is not only very tough as natural rubber, but also can self-heal upon damage,” corresponding author Li-Heng Cai told Digital Trends online.

This self-healing rubber is no typical material

According to the research team, a typical rubber material tends to snap at certain stress points once force is applied. However, the new self-healing rubber was found to develop crazes — a feature the same as cracks but otherwise connected by fibrous strands — throughout the surface when it is stretched.

The crazes were found to redistribute the stress when it comes in contact with a force. As a result, the material cannot detect a single point of stress that may cause it to crack or snap. The research team also stated that the crazes heal and the material reverts to its original form once the stress is released.

Harvard’s Office of Technology Development has already filed a patent application for the material and is currently seeking commercialization opportunities. The material’s self-healing properties may appeal to manufacturers of various rubber products.

“There is still a lot more to do. For materials science, it is not fully understood why this hybrid rubber exhibits crazes when stretched. For engineering, the applications of the hybrid rubber that take advantage of its exceptional combination of optical transparency, toughness, and self-healing ability remain to be explored. Moreover, the concept of using molecular design to mix covalent and reversible bonds to create a homogenous hybrid elastomer is quite general and should enable development of tough, self-healing polymers of practical usage,” senior author David A. Weitz said in a university press release.

Find more articles about materials science discoveries at Discoveries.news.

Sources include:

SEAS.Harvard.edu

DigitalTrends.com

Swapping out SODA for WATER can help you lose 14 pounds a year

Cutting back on soda intake and replacing them with water may lead to significant weight loss within a year, a recent Consumer Reports study revealed.

According to the report, drinking 20 ounces of water in place of the same amount of soda may help a person ward off as much as 119 cups of refined sugar within a year. This, in turn, prevents the body from absorbing 52 extra pounds of refined sugar over the same period. The report also showed that swapping out soda with water may lead to a total weight loss of 14 pounds within one year.

The report also revealed that consuming less-sugary beverages — such as milk, orange juice, and energy drinks — instead of soda may result in a significant weight loss between three to more than nine pounds. This also reduces refined sugar consumption between 47 to 97 cups per year.

Researchers said adopting these changes could make a difference in today’s worsening obesity epidemic. According to the experts, an average American consumes between 150 calories from soda each day, which was a big part of the 300 extra calories that the general population has apparently added to their daily diets over the years.

“Take away one can of soda, which would be about 150 calories, and you’re halfway there to offsetting that,” Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said in a Daily Mail article.

The experts also noted that young people are more likely to benefit from this method, as doing so would readily stem childhood obesity that usually persists in adulthood.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), frequent consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages may result in a plethora of adverse health conditions including diabetes, heart disease, kidney diseases, and tooth decay as well as gout, cavities, and non-alcoholic liver disease.

Replacing soda with water may facilitate weight loss, studies show

Previous studies have already established that replacing soda with water may significantly improve body weight.

Just last year, a study carried out by Virginia Tech and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill revealed that replacing one eight-ounce sugary drink with the same amount of water may help reduce calorie intake in adults aged 19 years and older. (Related: Water before meals helps with weight loss, say researchers.)

The experts also noted that adopting the one-for-one drink swap method helped improve the participants’ scores on the Healthy Beverage Index. “Regardless of how many servings of sugar-sweetened beverages you consume, replacing even just one serving can be of benefit …We found that among U.S. adults who consume one serving of sugar-sweetened beverages per day, replacing that drink with water lowered the percent of calories coming from drinks from 17 to 11 percent. Even those who consumed more sugary drinks per day could still benefit from water replacement,” researcher  Kiyah J. Duffey told Science Daily online.

In another study, researchers at The University of Nottingham and Tehran University of Medical Sciences found that replacing diet soda with water helped improve body weight and insulin sensitivity in obese women with type-2 diabetes.

“Our results are very interesting. They show that the women drinking water after their main meal at lunch time over 24 weeks lost on average 1.16kg more than the women who drank diet drinks after their meal. We think that by drinking water instead of sweet-tasting diet drinks, the women may be adhering better to the weight loss diet because artificial sweeteners may increase desire for sweetened and more energy dense foods,” researcher Dr. Hamid Farshchi said in a university release.

Sources include: 

DailyMail.co.uk

ScienceDaily.com

Nottingham.ac.uk

NASA may accidentally set off the Yellowstone supervolcano in a risky effort to prevent it from blowing

Scientists at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) may have come up with an unconventional plan to save the United States from the supposed explosion of the allegedly newly active volcano at the Yellowstone National Park.

Lying underneath the Yellowstone National Park is a huge magma chamber called a caldera, which is responsible for making geysers and hot springs hot. It erupts every 600,000 years and is home to scenic spots such as 10,000 hot springs, mud pots, and geysers, including the cone geyser called Old Faithful.

NASA Advisory Council on Planetary Defense former member Brian Wilcox shared a recent report regarding the recently-active caldera, noting, “I was a member of the NASA Advisory Council on Planetary Defense which studied ways for NASA to defend the planet from asteroids and comets. I came to the conclusion during that study that the supervolcano threat is substantially greater than the asteoid or comet threat.”

“When people first considered the idea of defending the Earth from an asteroid impact, they reacted to a similar way to the supervolcano threat. People thought, ‘As puny as we are, how can humans possibly prevent an asteroid from hitting the Earth?’”

“Well, it turns out if you engineer something which pushes very slightly for a very long time, you can make the asteroid miss the Earth – so the problem turns out to be easier than people think,” Wilcox said.

This is not the same with supervolcanoes, Wilcox said.

Because Yellowstone currently spills around 60 to 70 percent of its heat into the atmosphere via stream water which oozes into the magma chamber through cracks, the heat and pressure will reach a certain threshold, thereby leading to an inevitable explosion.

However, according to Wilcox, if enough heat was removed, and the supervolcano’s temperature dropped, there might come a day where it would never erupt. This is because a volcano can only be considered sufficiently eruptible when it’s mostly made of molten; when it’s rock hard, it won’t do so. That’s why cooling the magma is a viable option to stave off the Yellowstone supervolcano’s potential explosion.

How much should the temperature drop? Around 35 percent, said Wilcox, which can be considered incredibly risky, as this can only be achieved by getting an increased supply of water into the supervolcano.

“Building a big aqueduct uphill into a mountainous region would be both costly and difficult, and people don’t want their water spent that way,” Wilcox said.

NASA came up with an alternative solution: drill up to 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) down into the supervolcano and pump down water at high pressure and at a temperature of around 350 degrees Celsius (662 degrees Fahrenheit), thus day by day reducing the supervolcano’s temperature. The project is estimated to cost around $3.46 billion.

The excess heat can also serve other purposes, like providing power to America’s electrical grid.

“Yellowstone currently leaks around six gigawatts in heat. Through drilling in this way, it could be used to create a geothermal plant, which generates electric power at extremely competitive prices of around $0.10 per kilowatt hour,” Wilcox said.

Wilcox said that the drilling of a supervolcano can in itself cause its explosion, if not done properly. “If you drill into the top of the magma chamber and try and cool it from there, this would be very risky. This could make the cap over the magma chamber more brittle and prone to fracture. And you might trigger the harmful release of harmful volatile gases in the magma at the top of the chamber which would not otherwise be released.”

Supervolcanoes are abnormally large volcanoes whose eruptions can cause gigantic effects on the global climate and the ecosystem. Big supervolcanic eruptions happen every 100,000 years, with the last major one happening in New Zealand 26,500 years ago.

According to a new map released by the U.S. Geological Survey, the ground around the Yellowstone cauldron has suffered from breaks over the span of two years, making the ground sink back down. Other features of the map include a bulls-eye shaped section of uplift at the Norris Geyser Basin, where the ground rose by around three inches; and an elliptical subsidence in the Yellowstone caldera, with the ground dropping by around 1.2 inches.

“The uplift and subsidence is usually interpreted as due to addition or withdrawal of deep magma and related gases and water at depths five to 15 km (three to nine miles) beneath the ground. This cycle of uplift and subsidence is common and seems tied to earthquake swarms; that is, swarms appear to release the pressure that caused the initial uplift, thus allowing the region to return to a period of subsidence.”

Earthquakes have been plaguing the area all throughout the summer. By Wednesday, August 2, it had around 1,562 events, with the largest magnitude of 4.4. It was visited by more than 1,200 earthquakes in just a month. (Related: Yellowstone reaches 878 earthquakes in just two weeks as scientists wonder when the volcano will blow.)

According to experts, there is a one in 700,000 chance that the Yellowstone supervolcano would erupt. If it comes to that though, the eruption would be 1,000 times more powerful than the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption in Skamania County, Washington.

Read more stories such as this one at Preparedness.news.

Sources include:

SHTFPlan.com

ZeeNewsIndia.com

IFLScience.com

DailyMail.co.uk