Kamagasaki, Japan. A slum in Nishinari-Ku one of 24 wards in Osaka, with a density of 30,000 people in every 2000 meter radius. Source: Androniki Christodoulou
Booming urban populations have seen poverty on the rise in some of the world’s biggest cities. Of the 3.49 billion people that now live in cities, 827.6 million are slum dwellers, according to a UN Habitat Report. Global slums can be vastly different in nature…
Continue reading… “A satellite tour of the world’s biggest slums”
Alcohol problems not uncommon in surgeons.
According to a new survey, about 15 percent of surgeons have alcohol abuse or dependency problems, a rate that is somewhat higher than the rest of the population.
Continue reading… “15 percent of surgeons report drinking problems”
Young teenagers who drink alcohol have typically been exposed to drinking on-screen.
Ten to 14 year old children who watch a lot of movies featuring alcohol are twice as likely to drink, according to new research.
Continue reading… “Underage drinking linked to movies featuring alcohol”
Some 2.5 million people worldwide die each year from the harmful use of alcohol.
Up to 210,000 Britons will be killed prematurely by alcohol over the next 20 years, with a third of those preventable deaths due to liver disease alone, health experts warned Monday.
Continue reading… “Alcohol could kill more than 200,000 Britons in next 20 years”
An intestinal cell monolayer after exposure to nanoparticles, shown in green.
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.
A research collaboration led by Michael Shuler, the Samuel B. Eckert Professor of Chemical Engineering and the James and Marsha McCormick Chair of Biomedical Engineering, studied how large doses of polystyrene nanoparticles — a common, FDA-approved material found in substances from food additives to vitamins — affected how well chickens absorbed iron, an essential nutrient, into their cells…
Continue reading… “Nanoparticles in food, vitamins could harm human health”
Student loans are very risky and can be contagious.
Before you engage in risky grad school enrollment, remember that you run a high risk of contracting a student loan. And once you’ve come down with one of those, it’s almost impossible to clean up.
If this applies to you, your partner, or you just like laughing about horrible indebtedness, full video after jump…
Continue reading… “Student Loan STDs”
American authorities are afraid more counterfeits will find their way into this country, putting patients’ lives at risk.
New fears are raised that the multibillion-dollar drug-counterfeiting trade is increasingly making inroads in the U.S. after the discovery that a fake version of the widely used cancer medicine Avastin is circulating in the United State.s
Continue reading… “Counterfeit drugs becoming big business around the world”
Sending e-waste to better destination.
Mobile telephones and personal computing devices have taken a lot of business out of the post office. Personal letters and corporate mailings now largely have been replaced by digital-age communications.
But the post office may get the last laugh. In Germany, the post office plans to make a good business by collecting old mobile phones, household electronic devices, used printer cartridges, and any other e-waste that is small enough to fit in an A4-size envelop (the size of a flat sheet of standard paper)…
Continue reading… “German post offices to cash in on e-waste”
Shortage of lifesaving drugs.
There is such short supply of a crucial medicine to treat childhood leukemia that hospitals across the country may exhaust their stores within the next two weeks, leaving hundreds and perhaps thousands of children at risk of dying from a largely curable disease, federal officials and cancer doctors say.
Continue reading… “Lifesaving drug supplies used to treat children could run out in two weeks”
22.6-foot reticulated python, shot by Kekek Aduanan (in hat) on June 9, 1970. Photo by Thomas N. Headland
Earlier this week a team of scientists from several universities and the US Geological Survey released a study documenting the dramatically declining numbers of small and medium-size mammals in Florida – including raccoons, opossums, white-tailed deer, bobcats, rabbits and foxes. These population drops all occur in the same areas where pythons and other large, non-native snakes have taken up residence after escaping from one stop or another in the wildlife trade supply chain.
Anyone who’s even heard only the most basic facts about constrictor snakes knows that they’re formidable predators and take down prey by grasping it in their powerful jaws, coiling their bodies around it, and squeezing until it suffocates. Devouring bunnies and possums isn’t even the half of it, though. These big snakes aren’t shy about going after much larger, more dangerous game, too. Like men. And bears…
Continue reading… “Scientist Catches Bear-Eating Snake in the Act”
Stricter security measures n U.S. airports is making air travel less safe.
Ever stricter security measures in place in U.S. airports is making air travel less safe and airports more vulnerable, according to University of Illinois mathematics professor Sheldon H. Jacobson. The reason is too many resources are spent screening passengers who pose little risk, which steals time and money away from identifying real threats.
Continue reading… “Too much passenger screening is making airports less secure”
The Peoria Carp Hunters began as ordinary aerial bowfishermen — people who shoot arrows at fish jumping out of the water. But when they saw that their efforts were not reducing the numbers of Asian flying carp, an invasive species in the United States, the heroes took more extreme measures. Watch and wonder at the weapons and armor that they have devised to battle our piscine foes….
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.