“Orchids: A View from the East,” a joint exhibition by Smithsonian Gardens and the U.S. Botanic Garden, opens at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History […]

The post Orchids: A View from the East appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Who’s Who in Payments – Complete Overview of Key Payment Providers encompasses key trends in the payments industry.

Mole
Apr 21, 2020; 133:jcs244988-jcs244988
STICKY WICKET

Good afternoon. On behalf of the Institute of Medicine and the entire committee, I would like to welcome reporters and guests to the release of our report, Vaccines and Autism.

Good morning. I am Dr. Alice Gast and I am here today with Dr. David Relman as the chair and vice chair of the Committee on the Review of the Scientific Approaches Used During the FBI’s Investigation of the 2001 Bacillus anthracis Mailings.

The U.S. electric power delivery system is vulnerable to terrorist attacks that could cause much more damage to the system than natural disasters such as Hurricane Sandy, blacking out large regions of the country for weeks or months and costing many billions of dollars, says a newly released report by the National Research Council.

Young adults ages 18-26 should be viewed as a separate subpopulation in policy and research, because they are in a critical period of development when successes or failures could strongly affect the trajectories of their lives, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council.

The latest and final in a series of congressionally mandated biennial reviews of the evidence of health problems that may be linked to exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides used during the Vietnam War changed the categorization of health outcomes for bladder cancer, hypothyroidism, and spina bifida and clarified the breadth of the previous finding for Parkinson’s disease.

To ensure the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) is responsive to changing environmental conditions like climate change and sea-level rise, as well as to changes in water management, a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine calls for a re-examination of the program’s original restoration goals and recommends a forward-looking, systemwide analysis of Everglades restoration outcomes across a range of scenarios.

An op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal questions the conclusions of a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine analysis, issued earlier this year, of a draft of the federal government’s U.S. Global Change Research Program’s Climate Science Special Report (CSSR).

The highest standards of scientific integrity, transparency, and accountability are critical to maintaining public confidence in our nation’s research enterprise and in the wise use of the public investment in research.

The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to review the draft Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) – a congressionally mandated report that evaluates the state of climate science and the broad range of impacts of climate change in the United States every four years – and the draft Second State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR2) – a report that feeds into the overall assessment process developed by the USGCRP.

While legal abortions in the U.S. are safe, the likelihood that women will receive the type of abortion services that best meet their needs varies considerably depending on where they live, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

If the dilute and dispose approach for disposing of the surplus plutonium in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is fully implemented, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) should use two independent review teams to develop public trust in and improve its decisions, says a new interim report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

When John L. Anderson, president emeritus and distinguished professor of chemical engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology, was first elected to the National Academy of Engineering almost 30 years ago, he remembers being deeply honored and excited about how the recognition would help his career.

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine – which reviews a separate report by a federally funded laboratory that examines options for treating low-activity radioactive waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation -- is available for public comment until Oct. 31.

Today the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released its review of the National Toxicology Program’s (NTP) draft monograph Systematic Review of Fluoride Exposure and Neurodevelopmental and Cognitive Health Effects.

Less water in Hoover Dam means less power coming from the Dam's generating units. ; Credit: Dawn Danby/via Flickr

Monday's fat stack of news also includes some views about what to do about drought and Western water supplies.

The New York Times has published six answers to the questions "What are the best ways to share the water? And how can we ensure it lasts for the foreseeable future?" Pat Mulroy, former general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, weighs in, as do several other think tankers:

[N]ew energy and fuel production options have become more water intensive. Unconventional oil and gas production methods such as hydraulic fracturing have significant implications for local and regional water quality and quantity. Bioenergy consumes water at various stages of production (including irrigation for crops) and also has impacts on water quality and quantity...We should be pursuing cleaner energy and streamlined approaches to conserving water in order to truly safeguard our water supply. (Newsha Ajami/Stanford University)

An incredible 40 percent of the water consumed by Americans goes into meat and dairy production. Livestock must drink water and there is some water use at the farm, but most of this water is for the producing animal feed...Is this a wise allocation of the limited supply of freshwater in America? (Arjen Hoekstra/University of Twente, Netherlands)

• Closer to home, the Sacramento Bee has an ongoing series about drought solutions. Mariposa County resident Tom DeVries, who lives in forestland at 4,000 feet, offers his take:

Trees take water; a big one can draw 100 gallons a day out of the ground. All that junk forest in California is sucking up water that should be filling my spring and well and flowing downhill toward the rest of you. (Sac Bee)

• You know who else has good ideas about how to conserve water in drought? Australians. (KQED)
• Jay Lund from UC Davis modeled a "mega-drought" with his team and found that the economic consequences of a big drought event could be mostly managed through smarter water conservation policies. (California Water Blog)
• Falling water levels at Lake Mead are lowering Hoover Dam's energy production. Generating units have recently been "derated," meaning that they're expected to have a lower capacity for producing electricity now that there's less water to turn turbines. (EE News)
• Jason Dearen and Garance Burke report on "senior rights holders," and how poorly California accounts for water use by people who have rights dating back before 1914 at anytime, and how much that matters now during the drought. (AP)
• You're gonna see a lot of these stories all week: it's a terrible year for setting off fireworks. I bet rural fire chiefs have their teeth on edge already. (Merced Sun-Star)
• And we'll finish up in Southern California. In the first of a duo of Dana Bartholomew stories, the Daily News reports on Turf Terminators, a company that offers to leverage the recently-raised turf removal incentive and swap out homeowners' lawns for less thirsty landscapes...essentially for free, since the company's premise is that it can do the work for the price of the rebate. (Daily News)
• In the second, Bartholomew profiles a Studio City water-conservation demonstration at homes along Rhodes Avenue. (Daily News)
• And a UCLA project examining water use and conservation potential in territory served by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power suggests that we're not pricing water well enough to encourage conservation. Authors of a policy brief with the California Center for Sustainable Communities say dual metering, for inside and outside, would also improve conservation. (Imperial Valley News)

How has your community been affected by the drought? Share your story with a photo on Twitter or Instagram. Tag it #mydrought. For more details on our photo project, click here.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

My new book LOSERTHINK, available now on Amazon https://tinyurl.com/rqmjc2a Content: The Vitamin D potential for reducing risk of coronavirus Ted Cruz continues to impress and entertain General Flynn coverage contrast, FOX versus CNN Nate Silver’s coronavirus analysis insights Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany’s zingers If you would like to enjoy this same content plus bonus content […]

The post Episode 963 Scott Adams: Reviewing the Two Movies of Reality and the New Press Secretary’s First Days appeared first on Scott Adams' Blog.

Simply supplying more scientific information on the environment may not be enough to persuade urban planners to give greater consideration to the environment, suggests new research. The Dutch study suggests that environmental values also need to be made more important to municipal decision makers.

Researchers from the University of Oxford's Bodleian Libraries and from universities in the Netherlands have used high-tech imaging to uncover the details of a rare Mexican codex dating from before the colonization of the Americas. The newly revealed codex, or book, has been hidden from view for almost 500 years, concealed beneath a layer of plaster and chalk on the back of a later manuscript known as the Codex Selden, which is housed at the Bodleian Libraries. Scientists have used hyperspectral imaging to reveal pictographic scenes from this remarkable document and have published their findings in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.

read more

The damaging health impacts of some key air pollutants can occur at lower atmospheric concentrations than indicated by the most recent World Health Organization (WHO) Air Quality guidelines, set in 2005 and currently used in Europe. This is according to a new WHO report, which assesses scientific evidence to help inform European air pollution policies.

While occupational exposure to noise has declined, ‘social’ exposure in the form of personal music players or rock concerts is estimated to have tripled for young people since the 1980s. A new review examines studies that have investigated noise sources, including environmental (e.g. traffic) and social (e.g. via headphones) sources. The review also explores research into the range of health effects beyond hearing impairments, such as annoyance and cardiovascular problems.

US researchers have found that promoting the environmental benefits of energy-efficient products may actually deter some people from buying them. Since environmental issues have become politically polarised, those who hold more conservative views are less likely to purchase products that are marketed using environmental benefits, they argue.

Turkey is a major ship recycling centre and is the largest OECD member country with a significant ship recycling industry. In this study, researchers reviewed the environmental, health and safety issues surrounding the Turkish shipbreaking industry, its compliance with environmental regulations and its ability to claim ‘green recycling’.

In economic terms, overfishing can be regarded as borrowing natural capital at a high rate of interest, according to a new study. Combining economic and biological principles, the study develops a concept that expresses overfishing in terms of the ‘interest’ that the fishing industry have to repay in future years as a result of lost income from depleted fish stocks.

Citizens in countries surrounding the Baltic Sea would be willing to contribute financially towards long-term management of eutrophication, according to a recent study. Furthermore, most would like to see the Baltic Sea managed as a single whole, rather than only improving their local coastal area.

Climate change is likely to increase the frequency and severity of flooding. This study reviewed damage mitigating measures at local, regional and national scales, and suggests that approaches including both spatial planning and private precautionary measures (such as building adaptations) are important for integrated risk management.

To believe that China will have a significant advantage due to its population size requires us to believe that each additional user adds as much to an informational ecosystem as the first one.

The short point is that data protection is not just about Aadhaar.

Conservation policy needs to take account of diverse cultural views about the value of different species, according to the results of a new study. Widely differing views of the relative importance of marine species ??? from algae to mammals ??? emerged when the researchers surveyed people across Europe.

Reforms to reduce discards of over-quota fish catches are generally predicted to have positive effects on marine ecosystems and biodiversity. Although concerns have been raised over the impacts of the changes on scavenging seabirds who feed upon discarded fish, new research on gannets indicates that, while they often forage near fishing vessels, more than half their time is spent foraging 'naturally' in the open sea.

The common ash tree (Fraxinus excelsior) is threatened by an invasive fungal disease, which is spreading throughout Europe. Scientists have recently reviewed and presented previous research into the disease which could help us understand how to prevent the spread of the fungus and develop forest conservation strategies.

Research findings on the wildlife and habitat impacts of unconventional shale gas and oil developments in the US have been collated in a new review. Its authors stress the importance of collecting data on local ecosystems before such developments begin, to allow changes in nature be tracked and aid on-going improvements to management.

Climate change is having mixed — but mostly negative — impacts on ecosystem services, suggest data analysed by a new study. The research, which brings together the findings of over 100 other studies, found that 59% of reported impacts of climate change on ecosystem services are negative, while just 13% are positive. However, the method of research was shown to strongly influence whether impacts are reported as positive or negative, with expert opinion studies far more negative than other types of study.

An overview of groundwater contaminants in Europe is provided by a recent study, which calls for more integrated monitoring using a range of indicators. Groundwater contamination presents serious health and environmental concerns.

Computer models can be powerful tools when developing policies to address nitrogen pollution from agriculture. In a new study, researchers have made recommendations regarding the best design and use of these models to aid the effective implementation of European legislation on nitrogen.

Micropollutants — small, persistent and biologically active substances — are found in aquatic environments all over the world and can have negative effects on plants, animals and humans. The EU recently adopted a ‘watch list’ of potential priority substances, including pesticides, pharmaceuticals and personal care products that need to be monitored to determine their environmental risk. A new study reviews data on their worldwide occurrence and options for their removal from wastewater, and from surface and groundwater used to produce drinking water.

Today I am happy to welcome guest blogger Quique Hernandez Hurtado Esquilas.... read more >>

Researchers have presented an extensive analysis of the role of nanomaterials in environmental remediation and monitoring. Nanomaterials can be used to clean up toxins and bacteria from natural waters, wastewaters and the air.

The damaging health impacts of some key air pollutants can occur at lower atmospheric concentrations than indicated by the most recent World Health Organization (WHO) Air Quality guidelines, set in 2005 and currently used in Europe. This is according to a new WHO report, which assesses scientific evidence to help inform European air pollution policies.

The health risks associated with climate-induced changes to indoor environments are explored in a new study. UK-based researchers synthesised findings of how climate change — and mitigation and adaptation measures — might affect the inside of buildings, through overheating, air quality, allergies and infections, flood risk and other exposure risks.

Growing demand for biorenewable chemicals could lead to conflicts with food production and unwanted environmental impacts. Against this context, this study investigated different types of feedstock and conversion technologies. The authors recommend use of only non-edible feedstock alongside green and carbon neutral conversion technologies, such as algal fermentation.

Disease-fighting microbes, insect-eating predators and mating-disrupting pheromones are among the tools listed in a new review of methods that can be used to reduce synthetic pesticide use on grapevines in Europe. Using these alternative methods can reduce the environmental and health risks associated with chemical pesticides, but further development is required to make them attractive to growers.

As part of the county’s response to the rapidly evolving COVID-19 situation, view Parks, Recreation and Community Services closures and operating status information.