More Than 2 Million Babies are Stillborn Every Year: Study

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More babies could be saved if the mothers had better medical care.

Worldwide, more than 2 million babies are stillborn every year.  About half  of the babies born stillborn could be saved if their mothers had better medical care, according to researchers’ estimates.

 

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Make’s Roundup of DIY Radiation Detectors

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It may not be pretty but it gets the job done!

John Baichtal says: “MAKE’s interview with hardware hacker Akiba highlighted a fascinating trend: individuals and small groups taking their safety into their own hands by creating, modifying, and networking radiation detectors, a.k.a. Geiger counters, rather than relying on governments for information…

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Oceans Noise Pollution Causing Massive Trauma to Squids & Octopuses

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Oceanic noise pollution causes problems with invertebrates too.

The effects of noise pollution in the oceans, such as from powerful sonars that can make dolphins go deaf, are still being uncovered by researchers. The latest victims are squids and octopuses (including the ‘cheeky’ ones…), which are affected by low-frequency soundwaves produced by human offshore activities…

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Scientists Created Embryonic Eye in Test Tube

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Eye see you!

Scientists from the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research in Japan cultivated embryonic stem cells in a test tube and added proteins to coax them into developing. They had wanted it to form a recognizable organ, but were stunned to find that over 10 days, the stem cells had formed an embryonic eye:

Professor Yoshiki Sasai, lead author said: “What we’ve been able to do in this study is resolve a nearly century-old problem in embryology, by showing that retinal precursors have the inherent ability to give rise to the complex structure of the optic cup.”

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200 Million Chinese Workers in Danger of Occupational Disease

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Health officer talks to factory workers.

The biggest danger to Chinese workers is not workplace accidents, but occupational disease.  There are potentially 200 million workers in China that are under the threat of contracting an occupational disease according to a senior trade union official.

 

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In the Future, Everything Will Be Made of Algae

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Algea. Its not just for breakfast anymore.

Remember a few years ago when everyone decided that using algae as a biofuel feedstock would be the best thing ever? Well, progress on that front is moving so slowly that companies have realized that that might not be where the money is. But there is still all this algae lying around. So, instead, a handful of ambitious biofuel and algae production startups have decided to put their product into every segment imaginable–we’re talking about putting algae in your makeup, your protein supplements, and even your medication. Now Aurora Algae has unveiled its mysterious-sounding A2 Product Portfolio–a series of algae-based oils and powders that will be used in the biofuel, food, aquaculture, neutraceutical, and pharmaceutical industries. What will happen when all the products you use have everyone’s favorite sea vegetable added to them?

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Sunless Farming of the Future

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Plants only need a specific wavelength to grow, not the full spectrum of the sun.

If we were to prevent a Malthusian catastrophe, we’d better figure out a way to boost crop yield to keep feeding the planet’s growing population. Gertjan Meeuws and other bioengineers of PlantLab have found an answer: a greenhouse where every aspect of the growing condition is controlled, where climate (or even the Sun) is not a factor at all…

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Mother Earth To Be Given Rights Equal to Humans In New Bolivian Law

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Pachamama, the goddess revered by indigenous Andean people as ‘Mother World’

A brief update on a story from a year ago: Bolivia is about to pass laws granting all of nature equal rights to human beings. The laws were first proposed after the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth and show the deep differences in zeitgeist between Bolivia and, well, pretty much every other nation-state on the planet…

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Discover the Hidden Patterns of Tomorrow with Futurist Thomas Frey
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By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.

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