Author: healthadmin
Wilderness burning, widely used to support recreational shooting in the UK, releases tiny pollution particles known as ‘particle pollution’, which pose serious health risks when inhaled.New research shows that on average, prescribed incineration exposes more than half a million more people to unsafe levels of particulate pollution, with peak exposures affecting up to 2.3 million people.Particulate matter exposure was highest in northern England, northern Scotland, and eastern parts of the country.Particle pollution (PM2.5) emissions from wildland burning were equivalent to one-third of emissions from road transport.When wildlands burn, toxic air pollutants are released and can travel far from the source…
A major new study sheds light on daily life in central Europe during the Late Bronze Age (c. 1300-800 BC). This period was known as the Wurnfield Culture, which saw major social and cultural changes such as the widespread use of cremation. Published in nature communicationsThe study combines archaeology, ancient DNA analysis, isotopic studies and skeletal evidence to reconstruct how people lived, moved, ate and buried their dead nearly 3,000 years ago. It has long been difficult to study this period in detail because cremation destroys much of the biological material that scientists typically study. To overcome this challenge, an…
The idea of drinking while pregnant sounds like a generational punchline. One grandmother drank beer to fatten her fetus, and another drank martinis every night to get a healthy night’s sleep. An action that would probably be unthinkable in America today. However, after declining sharply over the past 50 years, rates of alcohol use during pregnancy in the United States began to rise a decade ago. A STAT analysis of 2024 government data found that more than one in eight pregnant adults reported drinking alcohol in the past month, making alcohol consumption a more common national phenomenon than gestational diabetes.…
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope may be heading into space sooner than expected, with NASA currently targeting a launch as early as September 2026. The updated timeline puts the mission ahead of the agency’s previous promise to launch by May 2027 at the latest. “Roman’s accelerated development is a true success story that shows what can be accomplished when public investment, institutional expertise, and private industry come together to take on nearly impossible, world-changing missions,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said at a press conference at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Exploring deep space with a Roman…
Dark matter is thought to make up most of the matter in the universe, but scientists have yet to observe it directly. Unlike normal matter, dark matter does not interact with light or electromagnetic forces, making gravity the only known way to detect its presence. Now, researchers believe that black hole collisions could provide a new way to search for clues about this invisible matter. Physicists at MIT and several European institutions have developed a method to identify possible signatures of dark matter hidden within gravitational waves. These space-time ripples occur when massive objects, such as black holes, spiral and…
Scientists have found high levels of toxic Pfas, or the “forever chemical”, in the soil, water and throughout the marine food chain, including conservation sites in the UK’s Solent Strait, according to a new study.In some samples, the pollution was 13 times higher than the safe standard for coastal waters. Other chemicals were below legal limits for individual chemicals but failed tests for combined toxicity.The samples were taken from the Solent Strait, which flows between the Isle of Wight and the mainland and forms part of the Strait. The chemicals are believed to have entered the environment from sewage treatment…
If you keep splitting the apple into smaller and smaller pieces, you’ll eventually arrive at molecules, then atoms, and smaller particles within atoms such as protons, quarks, and gluons. But according to string theory, the journey doesn’t end there. On the scale of about one billionth of a proton, physicists propose that everything is made of incredibly tiny vibrating strings. String theory first emerged in the 1960s as a potential solution to one of physics’ biggest problems. It is a combination of quantum mechanics, which governs the smallest particles, and general relativity, Einstein’s theory that explains gravity and the large-scale…
When someone experiences a cardiac arrest, heart attack, or stroke, reliable communication between dispatch, paramedics, and the receiving hospital can be the difference between life and death. But as mobile technology, from telemedicine platforms to mobile stroke units, rapidly transforms emergency response, it can create critical gaps in the care system and tip lives out of balance. In commemoration of National Emergency Week, the American Heart Association, a relentless force changing the future of health for everyone around the world, is launching an initiative to directly address these gaps and promote the optimal use of technology in emergency response care…
A University of Bath-led project has secured £500,000 to develop the first-ever ‘organ-on-a-chip’ device that recreates the connection between the brain, gut and pancreas. The GlucoBrain project will allow researchers to track how signals travel between organs and understand why diabetes leads to changes in memory and cognition. The research is being led by the world’s leading experts in lab-on-a-chip technology at the University of Bath, in collaboration with the University of Oxford and Johns Hopkins University. Their findings could pave the way to new treatments that improve the lives of millions of people suffering from diabetes, dementia, or both.…
In areas of the world where daily nutrition is insecure, pregnancy and newborn health are even more precarious. A new study led by epidemiologist Dongqing Wang of the George Mason University School of Public Health further strengthens the evidence that improving maternal nutrition during pregnancy may be an important intervention to improve birth outcomes. The study looked at eight clinical trials in Africa and South Asia and found that balanced energy and protein (BEP) supplements – food-based products such as beverages and nutritious pastes designed to increase calorie and protein intake – are associated with healthier birth weights and fewer…