Health & Science

• Wednesday, December 5th 2012 - 18:32 UTC

  WHO sponsored research helps identify heavy lead contaminated areas in Peru

  

  Countries – especially those with a long mining history -- can substantially reduce lead poisoning in children by mapping contamination levels in the soil to identify high-risk areas and by taking measures to keep children away from those areas, according to a study published this month in the public health journal, the Bulletin of the World Health Organization.

• Thursday, November 29th 2012 - 18:28 UTC

  Ocean acidification taking toll of Antarctica marine snails, shows BAS research

  

  The shells of marine snails – known as pteropods – living in the seas around Antarctica are being dissolved by ocean acidification according to a new study published this week in the journal Nature Geoscience. These tiny animals are a valuable food source for fish and birds and play an important role in the oceanic carbon cycle.

• Wednesday, November 28th 2012 - 19:02 UTC

  Dengue keeps advancing in Latam despite efforts to contain the disease

  

  Dengue continues to claim lives in Latin America with over 400 deaths and nearly 161.000 infection cases according to this year’s reports from the different countries.

• Friday, November 23rd 2012 - 09:54 UTC

  Australian scientists ‘discover’ the island that never was in the mid-Pacific

  

  A South Pacific island identified on Google Earth and world maps does not exist, according to Australian scientists who went searching for the mystery landmass during a geological expedition.

• Thursday, November 15th 2012 - 06:22 UTC

  BBC celebrates 90 years of broadcasting with a “snapshot of the airwaves”

  

  A composition by Blur front-man Damon Albarn has been played to radio listeners around the world to mark 90 years of BBC broadcasting. 2LO Calling, a “snapshot of the airwaves”, featured iconic sounds from radio over the past 90 years.

• Wednesday, November 14th 2012 - 07:05 UTC

  Argentines can expect a ‘salt-less’ summer when they turn out to the Atlantic coast

  

  An estimated 20.000 restaurants, hotels and fast food places in the province of Buenos Aires Atlantic beaches have agreed to eliminate salt from tables as part of a campaign to help combat the excess consumption of sodium and related diseases such as high blood pressure and cerebrovascular accidents, CVA

• Monday, November 12th 2012 - 07:30 UTC

  Meningitis scare in Chile: all children five and below to be vaccinated

  

  The Chilean government announced Sunday a plan to combat a very aggressive strain of meningitis, with 45 confirmed cases and ten deaths, and which includes a massive vaccination of all children less than five years in metropolitan Santiago and the arrival to the country of experts from the US and the Pan-American Health Organization, OPS.

• Thursday, November 8th 2012 - 07:17 UTC

  Making marihuana legal voted in Colorado and Washington, defying federal law

  

  Colorado and Washington became the first US states to legalize the possession and sale of marijuana for recreational use in defiance of federal law, setting the stage for a possible showdown with the Obama administration.

• Thursday, November 1st 2012 - 06:54 UTC

  Fears the African Swine Fever outbreak in parts of Russia is out of control

  

  According to official data from Moscow veterinary services, for the first nine months of 2012, in total 500,000 pigs were slaughtered in order to stop the spread of African Swine Fever (ASF) in Russia.

• Wednesday, October 31st 2012 - 01:43 UTC

  IATTO introduces ‘climate change’ presentation for ‘Antarctic Ambassadors’

  

  The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, IAATO, announced on Tuesday the availability of a new PowerPoint presentation designed to help the traveller understand how climate change is affecting the Antarctic environment.