News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. The site of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in northern Ukraine has been surrounded for more than three decades by a 1,000-square-mile (2,600-square-kilometer) exclusion zone that keeps people out. On April 26, 1986, Chernobyl’s reactor number four melted … Read more
A new class of immunotherapy drugs – used to treat arthritis, psoriasis, and inflammatory bowel disease – might also work for those with severe asthma. The pharmaceuticals are known as ‘jakinibs‘ because they inhibit the protein JAK1. This protein plays an essential role in the body’s immune response by activating cytokines, which can then lead … Read more
Insects have been touted as a food of the future, not least because of the sustainability benefits. An excellent protein source, they take up significantly fewer resources to produce when compared to traditional farming. Give your farm of mealworms around 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of food and you’ll get a kilogram of edible protein; with beef, … Read more
Cortisol levels in bonobo infants jumped fivefold when they got a younger sibling and stayed high for 7 months, suggesting they found it extremely stressful Life 4 March 2022 By Alice Klein A young bonobo and her mother Sean M. Lee/George Washington University Bonobo infants become highly stressed when they get a younger sibling and … Read more
A legally binding agreement between 175 countries encompasses all stages of plastic’s life cycle, from production to consumption and disposal Environment 1 March 2022 , updated 2 March 2022 By Adam Vaughan Plastic garbage collected on Eastern Island in Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge All Canada Photos / Alamy One hundred and seventy-five countries have … Read more
Remove a billion tonnes of methane from the air and we could cool Earth by 0.2°C, extending the window of opportunity to remove carbon dioxide before it is too late Technology 2 March 2022 By Katharine Sanderson Graham Carter The warming of our planet is usually blamed on carbon dioxide, but there is another major … Read more
The batteries we need to power the transition to 100-per-cent renewable electricity require rare metals, and that means destructive mining – but researchers are working on alternatives Technology 2 March 2022 By Katharine Sanderson Graham Carter If we are going to stop burning fossil fuels, it is critical that we have access to electricity from … Read more
Converting sunlight into liquid fuel through artificial photosynthesis would be a huge environmental victory – and the latest prototypes look surprisingly effective Technology 2 March 2022 By Katharine Sanderson Graham Carter Our insatiable appetite for energy has got us into a mess, with the burning of fossil fuels releasing greenhouse gases that are heating the … Read more
A top UN official says a draft treaty to address plastic pollution will be the “biggest multilateral environmental deal” since the 2015 Paris climate agreement Environment 1 March 2022 By Adam Vaughan Plastic garbage collected on Eastern Island in Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge All Canada Photos / Alamy Nearly 200 governments have provisionally agreed … Read more
Smart engineering solutions such as “sand motors” and artificial reefs will defend our coasts for a while. But in many places, conversations are already turning to a managed retreat inland Environment 23 February 2022 By Simon Usborne Shutterstock/Chxli A MINATH SHAUNA grew up on the Addu Atoll, a small group of islands in the Maldives … Read more