Super-polluted city tries to clean itself with smog-eating paint

Putting Poop In Its Place: The Problems With Bad Global Sanitation Everybody poops (or so we’ve heard). But if you’re reading this on the Internet, you probably poop in a toilet that flushes. This seems normal to you but, in fact, you are living in the lap of luxury. That toilet is basically all that’s between you and a life full of disease and hardship. The first thing to think about is water. One in three people around the world don’t have access to even the most basic of sanitation services, which means they are forced to go outside. Because of the lack of water, just airlifting flush toilets around the world isn’t a viable solution. Of course, it isn’t just a question of installing toilets, even modern ones that solve all the problems.

Low-Cost Biosensor Detects Contaminated Water September 7, 2012 April Flowers for redOrbit.com — Your Universe Online For children under five years old, diarrheal disease is the second largest cause of death. This disease kills as many as 1.5 million children globally every year according to the World Health Organization (WHO). These horrifying statistics led a group of undergraduate students from Arizona State University to develop a low cost biosensor — a simple device that would detect contaminated water. The device design comes as part of the 2012 International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition. The nine-member ASU team started prepping for the synthetic biology competition this summer. “We are developing a biosensor that will detect pathogenic bacteria, such as Shigella, Salmonella, and E. coli, that cause diarrhea,” said Ryan Muller, an undergraduate student in ASU´s School of Life Sciences and an iGEM team leader. The team is working on two biosensor designs.

Lack of outdoor life blamed for high rate of myopia among East Asian kids SNUBBING the outdoors for books, video games and TV is the reason up to nine in 10 school-leavers in big East Asian cities are near-sighted, according to a new study. Neither genes nor the mere increase in activities like reading and writing is to blame, the researchers suggest, but a simple lack of sunlight. Exposure to the sun's rays is believed to stimulate production of the chemical dopamine, which in turn stops the eyeball from growing elongated and distorting the focus of light entering the eye. “It's pretty clear that it is bright light stimulating dopamine release which prevents myopia,” researcher Ian Morgan of the Australian National University said of the findings published in The Lancet medical journal. The figure in Britain was about 30 to 40 per cent and in Africa “virtually none” - in the range of two to three per cent, according to Professor Morgan. Of these, 10 to 20 per cent had a condition called high myopia, which can lead to blindness.

Health | Nitrogen Dioxide Current scientific evidence links short-term NO2 exposures, ranging from 30 minutes to 24 hours, with adverse respiratory effects including airway inflammation in healthy people and increased respiratory symptoms in people with asthma. Also, studies show a connection between breathing elevated short-term NO2 concentrations, and increased visits to emergency departments and hospital admissions for respiratory issues, especially asthma. NO2 concentrations in vehicles and near roadways are appreciably higher than those measured at monitors in the current network. In fact, in-vehicle concentrations can be 2-3 times higher than measured at nearby area-wide monitors. Individuals who spend time on or near major roadways can experience short-term NO2 exposures considerably higher than measured by the current network. NO2 exposure concentrations near roadways are of particular concern for susceptible individuals, including people with asthma asthmatics, children, and the elderly

US hyper hygiene linked to inflammation NORTHWESTERN (US) — New research on chronic inflammation suggests American parents may want to rethink how much they protect their kids from everyday germs. A new Northwestern University study done in lowland Ecuador remarkably finds no evidence of chronic low-grade inflammation—associated with diseases of aging like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and dementia. In contrast, about one-third of adults in the United States have chronically elevated C-reactive protein (CRP). “In other words, CRP goes up when you need it, but it is almost undetectable when you don’t, after the infection resolves,” says Thomas W. “This is a pretty remarkable finding, and very different from prior research in the U.S., where lots of people tend to have chronically elevated CRP, probably putting them at higher risk for chronic disease.” A growing body of research has shown that higher levels of chronic inflammation are associated with diseases of aging like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and dementia.

Sunscreen pill could be available within five years, scientists say | Environment A secret from the sea could lead to a pill that prevents sunburn within five years, say scientists. British researchers have uncovered the unique way coral shields itself against harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays. They believe the discovery could pave the way for a sunscreen revolution with a tablet that protects both skin and eyes. Scientists are close to producing a synthetic anti-sun compound based on those found in coral. If the research progresses as hoped, the first sunscreen pill could become a reality in five years. Such a product may have to be on prescription only to prevent people overdosing and harming their health. Some skin reaction to UV is vital for the production of vitamin D. Coral is an animal that only survives because of the algae living within it. The mutually dependent relationship between the two organisms is the key to coral sun protection. Long led a team that analysed coral samples from Australia's Great Barrier Reef. "It's absolutely conceivable," said Long.

Have we had our fill of water? | Society Over the last few weeks, those who visited the British Medical Journal's website might have noticed an advert for a new public health initiative, Hydration for Health. It is sponsored by Danone – which owns the Evian, Volvic and Badoit bottled water brands – and urges healthcare professionals to encourage people to drink more water, claiming that "evidence is increasing that even mild dehydration plays a role in the development of various diseases". Margaret McCartney, a GP and columnist, saw these adverts and complained about it, writing an article for the BMJ (who admitted "we hadn't followed our own guidelines. The advertisement bypassed our editorial checks") about the lack of evidence – and citing the shortcomings of many studies – that people should be drinking more water. "I prefer to get my health information from unbiased sources rather than people with vested interests," she says. But you can see the drive to get people to drink more water in other places, too.

Robotic surgeons use bioprinters to make organs