Science

[Bob Long]

12 minutes ago, Gator said:

Honestly I just started walking 4km a day (40ish minutes), switched from white bread/rice/pasta to whole grain, and try my best to not go for 2nds and 3rds

 

Was 240lbs (only 5'7) in May 2023 and down to 154 today

 

Went from 195 to this since June.. Thats when I started walking and switching to whole grain.. Went from 240 - 195 just from cutting way back on pop and take out lol

 

Fibre is your friend.

 

I dropped my cholesterol by nearly 10% (and in to normal range) just by switching breads. 

 

Edited September 21 by Bob Long

[The Arrogant Worms]

Cocaine found in mummified brains reveal that New World drug came to Italy 200 years earlier than thought

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/cocaine-found-in-mummified-brains-reveal-that-new-world-drug-came-to-italy-200-years-earlier-than-thought

[RupertKBD]

Wasn't sure if this belonged here, or in the Climate Change thread. I decided to post it here, because it isn't specifically about CC, but it could definitely have a positive impact.

 

Either way, is a positive step in both energy production (Hydrogen) and Carbon reduction:

 

https://heatmap.news/economy/equatic-carbon-removal-hydrogen?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us

 

A fairly long article, so I'm only posting the link.

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

15 minutes ago, RupertKBD said:

Wasn't sure if this belonged here, or in the Climate Change thread. I decided to post it here, because it isn't specifically about CC, but it could definitely have a positive impact.

 

Either way, is a positive step in both energy production (Hydrogen) and Carbon reduction:

 

https://heatmap.news/economy/equatic-carbon-removal-hydrogen?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us

 

A fairly long article, so I'm only posting the link.

 

The article was a good read but left me wanting more, especially from a chemical engineering/materials engineering sense.

[RupertKBD]

13 minutes ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

 

The article was a good read but left me wanting more, especially from a chemical engineering/materials engineering sense.

 

I didn't have time to check, but you might find out mere here:

 

https://www.equatic.tech/

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

6 minutes ago, RupertKBD said:

 

I didn't have time to check, but you might find out mere here:

 

https://www.equatic.tech/

 

Looks like there's enough rabbit hole there to keep a long-since-graduated engineering grad like me occupied with geeking out on the concepts.  

Edited Tuesday at 11:22 PM by 6of1_halfdozenofother

[The Arrogant Worms]

In the gateway to the Arctic, fat, ice and polar bears are crucial. All three are in trouble

https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/in-the-gateway-to-the-arctic-fat-ice-and-polar-bears-are-crucial-all-three-are-in-trouble-1.7051293

[Gurn]

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/video/news/tugboat-powered-by-ammonia-sails-for-the-first-time-showing-how-to-cut-emissions-from-shipping/vi-AA1r3Fe3?ocid=socialshare

 

1:17 long vid

[The Arrogant Worms]

Sea robins are fish with ‘the wings of a bird and multiple legs like a crab’

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/26/science/sea-robins-walk-taste-seafloor/index.html

[The Arrogant Worms]

Scientists discover hidden ancient forest on treeless island

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/27/science/ancient-forest-falkland-islands/index.html

[The Arrogant Worms]

Breathtaking encounter with humpback whales captured by B.C. filmmakers

 

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

A piece on The Conversation about the brain.

 

https://theconversation.com/resiliency-and-concussion-why-do-some-athletes-develop-neurodegeneration-and-others-dont-239807

 

Resiliency and concussion: Why do some athletes develop neurodegeneration and others don’t?

 

Quote

Our own research shows that the longer axon bundles that connect distant areas of the brain are damaged and that this damage can accumulate with each subsequent injury. Axons are the threadlike extensions of neurons that transmit electrical impulses between brain areas, often grouped together in bundles.

The brain is normally protected by a structure called the blood-brain barrier, which tightly regulates the entry and exit of metabolites and waste products in the brain. After one or more impacts, the blood-brain barrier can become damaged, allowing toxic proteins, chemicals and cells to infiltrate the brain. This can trigger a destructive cycle of inflammation and cell death, setting the stage for long-term neurodegeneration.

(Excerpt only because the article is a pain in the ass to copy and paste while still retaining some semblance of formatting)

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

Quote

The 'godfather' of microplastics research says we need to move faster to solve our plastic problem

New study says we have more than enough data on harms to know we need to act

Amanda Buckiewicz · CBC Radio · Posted: Sep 28, 2024 1:00 AM PDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

Richard Thompson analyses microplastics in his lab at the University of Plymouth. Thompson first discovered the tiny pieces of plastic in 2004. (Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images)

 

Twenty years ago, a fortuitous trip to the beach led to a life-changing moment for Richard Thompson.

 

The marine biologist was doing experiments on the seashore in England and found plastic clogging all of his scientific instruments.

 

"We looked at the sand samples down the microscope, and in and amongst the sand grains we could see pieces that certainly didn't look like sand, and it was those pieces we confirmed to be plastics," said Thompson, now the head of the International Marine Litter Research Unit at the University of Plymouth.

 

At the time he coined the term "microplastics" to describe the tiny bits of plastic, many smaller than the diameter of a strand of hair, that he found on beaches all around the U.K. 

 

A worker holds plastic pieces collected on a beach in Spain. (Miguel Riopa/AFP/Getty Images)

 

Now, to mark the 20th anniversary of his discovery, Thompson has written a new paper looking back at the over 7,000 research studies that have been published about microplastics since his discovery. The aim is to understand how pervasive and problematic plastics can be — and what it'll take to find a fix.

 

"I'm very much of the view now that we've got more than enough evidence actually to stop defining the problem, and to move on to the solutions," said Thompson, who has been dubbed "the godfather of microplastics" by U.K. Member of Parliament Mary Creagh, and holds a PhD in marine ecology.

 

The paper was published in the journal Science.

What 20 years of microplastics research has shown 

Much of the early research was done by Thompson's group to figure out where the microplastics were coming from, and where they were going. 

 

"We now know that they are found worldwide. They're found literally from the poles to the equator. They're found from near the top of Mount Everest right down to the deepest ocean trenches," said Thompson.

 

A municipal worker clears plastic and garbage waste choking the Buckingham Canal water flow in Chennai, India. (R. Satish Babu/AFP/Getty Images)

 

Several studies released recently have looked at how microplastics are being found in unexpected places, such as a recent study from Japan that found tiny bits of plastics embedded in corals on the sea floor. Another study from the University of Toronto found an average of 138 pieces of plastic per fish caught along the Toronto waterfront.

 

Humans are not immune to plastic's pervasiveness. A particularly unnerving study from Italy found microplastics in human breast milk and placentas, while another in Germany found them in human blood.

 

And while Thompson says we still don't have a firm grasp on what this is doing to human health, he thinks it's highly likely they are causing harm.

 

"It's clear we are exposed to the particles in just the same way that the rest of nature is. We've shown with a range of animals that they can be harmfully affected in lab studies. Why would we imagine we're any different?"

 

A spear-fisherman dives as plastic bags float in the water off the coastal city of Batroun, Lebanon. (Ibrahim Chalhoub/AFP/Getty Images)

 

We also know much more about the source of all this plastic. Some come from pieces that are intentionally manufactured to be small, such as plastic microbeads and glitter. Substantial quantities are released from the breaking down of goods as they're used, such as car tires and clothing made from synthetic fibres.

 

"While you're walking around or washing clothing or textiles, they're releasing hundreds of thousands of fibres literally every time you wash a domestic load of washing," said Thompson.

 

But the most significant source is bigger pieces of plastic pollution, like soda bottles and plastic bags — so called "macroplastics" — as they break down.

 

Costas Velis, from the University of Leeds in the U.K., describes the problem as "a time bomb of microplastics" stemming from "uncontrolled" use of macroplastics. "And if we don't turn off that tap, we cannot ever hope that we're going to solve the microplastics part of the problem."

 

Velis and his team recently looked at waste data from 50,000 cities around the world and found that 52.1 million tonnes of plastic pollution is generated each year, dumped on land and in waterways. Much of that is coming from the 1.5 billion people in cities where garbage collection is either unreliable or non-existent.

 

Researchers sort through trash collected on the shore and in the water of the Saguenay Fjord in Petit-Saguenay, Quebec. (Sebastien St-Jean/AFP/Getty Images)

 

"It is very alarming to see the extent, but also the distribution of the plastic pollution across the world," said Velis, who holds a PhD in environmental engineering.

 

This research was also published in the journal Science.

How to solve the problem, once and for all

With the UN expected to deliver a Global Treaty to end plastic pollution at the end of this year, Velis says he's hopeful the world is moving in the right direction.

 

"This is the single most important chance we're having as a planet and as humanity in addressing the global plastics pollution challenge in the immediate future and in a decisive way," he said. 

 

"We cannot think that individuals will solve every problem. We cannot think that the countries with massive problems can be left alone with their current level of resources to solve the problem. So we need to see a massive change on all fronts."

 

A 'trash trap,' meant to catch floating waste, packed with plastic, along a river in Manila, the Philippines. (Jam Sta Rosa/AFP/Getty Images)

 

Thompson echoes that statement.

 

"There's great momentum in the right direction," he said. "Where we need the science now, and it's almost as critically important as it was in defining the problem, is in identifying the solutions and making sure that the current attention is leading us towards safer and more sustainable use of plastics."

 

And as Thompson urges more scientists to focus their limited research dollars on honing in on solutions, he says we know enough about what we can do in the meantime.

 

"It isn't about eliminating plastics from all of our supermarkets or our lives. Plastics do bring many societal benefits, but we've got to start using them more responsibly," he said, pointing out that while we're currently producing 400 million tonnes of plastic items globally each year, with 40 per cent of that is single-use items like water bottles or shopping bags that are easily replaced.

 

"So it's about action on the large items that become microplastics. It's about action on the large things we use everyday that wear away into microplastics, the tires and textiles. And it's about action to prohibit the use of small bits of plastic in products where there's a clear pathway to the environment."

 

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/microplastics-20-years-later-1.7336516

 

Have you ingested your dose of microplastics yet today?  

[Spur1]

5 hours ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

 

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/microplastics-20-years-later-1.7336516

 

Have you ingested your dose of microplastics yet today?  

Another reason for leaving oil in the ground. 

[Gurn]

Was a time glass was the way to go, wonder if it was more enviro friendly?

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

18 hours ago, Gurn said:

Was a time glass was the way to go, wonder if it was more enviro friendly?

 

Just from a purely "mass and energy balance" approach, if you can get over the initial hurdle of creating the glassware and can carefully handle it so that it doesn't break, then it could potentially be more environmentally friendly (overall).  The biggest issue with glass is that once it breaks and is no longer functional in the manner it was initially designed, then the only options are to repurpose it, junk it (yay, future archaeologists' finds!), or put it back into the incinerator to be re-formed.  Most of the environmental issues with glass is that it takes a lot of energy to make, and the manner of their breakage usually doesn't lend towards re-use (especially for safety reasons, given all the sharps that can result), so if it isn't recycled for remaking, then it just sits there forever (because it doesn't decompose like organic matter), and if it is recycled for remaking, then you'll have to pump in more energy (yay, fossil fuels?) to get it to re-melt and be re-formed.

 

Specific for soda pop bottles, I remember reading somewhere that their biggest issue was because the contents were under pressure, if the glass failed, it would be a catastrophic failure (not catastrophic as in billions of people maimed and killed, but in the manner of how it disintegrates - ie. sudden, complete, non-repairable).  That reading suggested that plastics had at least some tensile strength and elasticity, and therefore even if it did fail, it wouldn't cause an unholy mess of the rest of the product being transported or stored (with sharps everywhere).  Mind you, that reading crossed my desk probably like 3 decades ago when I was in engineering school, so it's possible that I may have mis-remembered stuff.

[Satchmo]

19 minutes ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

The biggest issue with glass is that once it breaks and is no longer functional in the manner it was initially designed, then the only options are to repurpose it, junk it.

 

... so if it isn't recycled for remaking, then it just sits there forever (because it doesn't decompose like organic matter), and if it is recycled for remaking, then you'll have to pump in more energy (yay, fossil fuels?) to get it to re-melt and be re-formed.

 

Much like plastic but without the problems of micro plastic.   Not saying glass is the answer but I can't buy those arguments (unlike many in your other posts).