'Immediate And Long-term Health Benefits' From Reduction In Sulphur Emissions (p 1646)
Reducing the sulphur content of pollutants can have a substantial impact in reducing death from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, conclude authors of a study in this week's issue of THE LANCET which describes the effect of a public-health initiative in Hong Kong. A change in law to restrict sulphur emissions was introduced in Hong Kong in... view more... (2002-11-20)
Paint used by Dutch masters turns into rat poison
The painters Willem Kalf, Jan Davidsz. de Heem and Balthasar van der Ast are particularly famed for their bright yellow orpiment ("royal yellow"). The researchers have shown that light causes a chemical reaction in this yellow which separates the sulphur and the arsenic. The sulphur is released from the canvas as sulphur dioxide and hydrogen... view more... (1999-05-17)
Venus Express reboots the search for active volcanoes on Venus
ESA's Venus Express has measured a highly variable quantity of the volcanic gas sulphur dioxide in the atmosphere of Venus. Scientists must now decide whether this is evidence for active volcanoes on Venus, or linked to a hitherto unknown mechanism affecting the upper atmosphere. view more (2008-04-07)
Preserving a 460 year old wreck
An international team of researchers has analysed the sulphur and iron composition in the wooden timbers of the Mary Rose, an English warship wrecked in 1545, which was salvaged two decades ago. view more (2005-09-28)
Air pollution may increase lung cancer risk
Chronic air pollution may increase the risk of lung cancer, suggests a Norwegian study of over 16,000 men in Thorax. Researchers monitored the health of 16, 209 men from 1972 until 1998. The men, all of whom lived in Oslo, were taking part in long term research on risk factors for heart disease and stroke. They were aged between 40 and 49 at the... view more... (2003-12-03)
Comparatively low levels of air pollution boost early death risk
Even comparatively low levels of air pollution boost the chances of an early death, suggests research published ahead of print in Thorax. view more (2007-07-31)
Canadian research team reports major breakthrough in lithium battery technology
An NSERC-funded lab at the University Of Waterloo has laid the groundwork for a lithium battery that can store and deliver more than three times the power of conventional lithium ion batteries. view more (2009-05-19)
Knockout broccoli fights cancer
EATING your greens could be even better for you than anyone thought. Macerated raw broccoli turns out to contain small amounts of a potent chemical that inhibits the oxidising enzymes that damage DNA and potentially cause cancer. When you chew broccoli, its cells rupture, releasing an enzyme that produces a class of chemicals called... view more... (2003-04-05)
Sulphur in just one hair could blow a terrorist's alibi
A group of researchers from the LGC Chemical Metrology Laboratory in the United Kingdom and the University of Oviedo, Spain, have come up with a method to detect how the proportions of isotopes in a chemical element (atoms with an equal number of protons and electrons but different numbers of neutrons) vary throughout the length of a single hair. view more (2009-05-28)
Low levels of contamination also influence mortality rate
Navarre doctor Rosa Mar'a Al'¡s Brun has shown, in her PhD thesis defended at the Public University of Navarre, that, despite contamination rates in Pamplona being very low, these still have an influence on death rates. view more (2004-08-20)
The greenhouse gas that saved the world
When Planet Earth was just cooling down from its fiery creation, the sun was faint and young. So faint that it should not have been able to keep the oceans of earth from freezing. But fortunately for the creation of life, water was kept liquid on our young planet. view more (2009-08-18)
CONVERTING WASTE VEGETABLE OIL INTO A USEFUL ENERGY SOURCE
A RESEARCHER in environmental engineering at Staffordshire University has developed a technique to convert unwanted cooking oil into a ‘biodiesel’ which is a much cleaner alternative to fossil diesel. Dr Tarik Al-Shemmeri, a Reader in Environmental Engineering at Staffordshire University, uses discarded vegetable oil as the basis of... view more... (2002-09-09)
Three ESA satellites reveal Etna's complexity
As detected by ESA satellite sensors, the recent eruptions of the Mount Etna volcano in Sicily are throwing huge amounts of ash and trace gases into the atmosphere. Working with data from the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) sensor onboard ESA's ERS-2 spacecraft, scientists at the German aerospace centre (DLR) report that levels of... view more... (2002-10-30)
Heat dangers forgotten in the battle against air pollution
UCL scientists warn that amidst all the concerns over air pollution, the more basic health message of 'staying cool when the weather is hot' may be being forgotten. view more (2005-10-12)
Grape expectations for healthier wine
A new technique that uses ozone to preserve grapes could help prevent allergies and boost healthy compounds at the same time, reports Jennifer Rohn in Chemistry & Industry, the magazine of the SCI. view more (2007-02-12)
Air pollution damages plants
If you live in a large town or city, have you ever wondered why some plants do not grow well in your garden, despite your best efforts? It is, in part, because of air pollution. At a symposium on the biology of air pollution hosted by the Institute of Biology this week in London, delegates heard from experts about the effects of pollutants on... view more... (1999-10-27)
Getting to the core of the problem - CMD19CMMP with
Using the equations of quantum mechanics, which normally govern the bizarre physics that occurs at tiny atomic scales, has enabled geophysicists to answer a much larger-scale question - what the Earth`s core is made from. At the Condensed Matter physics conference on Tuesday 9 April, part of the Institute of Physics Congress in Brighton, Prof Mike... view more... (2002-03-26)
Ancient volcanic eruptions caused global mass extinction
A previously unknown giant volcanic eruption that led to global mass extinction 260million years ago has been uncovered by scientists at the University of Leeds. view more (2009-05-29)
Is our heritage no longer crumbling? Weathering rates of St. Paul’s Cathedral London have halved in the last ten years in line with cleaner air.
SUMMARY: Measurements of the rates of weathering on St. Paul’s Cathedral, London have halved in the last ten years (1990 - 2000) as compared with the previous ten years (1980 - 1990). Yearly averages of sulphur dioxide concentrations in the air decreased from around 25 parts per billion (ppb) in the early 1980’s to... view more... (2000-08-30)
Stainless steel corrosion mystery solved by UK researchers
From cutlery and cooking pans to the inside of a Formula 1 car engine or a huge chemical process plant, stainless steel is all around us. It's not meant to corrode, but it can, and when it does the results can be disastrous, whether it's a hole in your dishwasher or a failed industrial plant. Unlike rusting, stainless steel corrosion is highly... view more... (2002-02-11)
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