Pollution & Toxins

NORWICH, England, Sept. 3 (UPI) — A new way to measure atmospheric gases could track down sources of CFCs thought to be slowing the recovery of Earth’s ozone layer, European researchers say.
CFCs, chlorofluorocarbons, were used in refrigerants and aerosol propellants until restricted by a global treaty in 1987, but they have stayed in [...]

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Sept. 3 (UPI) — A new laser technology could protect helicopters in combat from heat-seeking missiles, University of Michigan researchers say.
Using inexpensive, off-the-shelf telecommunications fiber optics, Mohammed Islam, a professor in the UM Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, has developed sturdy and portable “mid-infrared supercontinuum lasers” that could [...]

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 (UPI) — NASA has started development of Solar Probe Plus, a mission to study the sun more closely than ever before, with a target launch date of 2018, the agency says.
The spacecraft will plunge directly into the sun’s atmosphere at approximately 4 million miles from the sun’s surface, into a region [...]

BEIJING, Sept. 3 (UPI) — Authorities in China allegedly covered up the discovery of cancer-causing chemicals in cooking oil for five months, an Internet watchdog site said.
Food safety monitors in Hunan province reportedly found high levels of the carcinogen benzoapyrene in 42 tons of Camellia oil used for cooking in China but suppressed the [...]

EVANSTON, Ill., Sept. 2 (UPI) — U.S. researchers say they’ve discovered a class of nanostructures that could be used for gas storage and food or medical technologies — oh, and they’re edible.
Northwestern University scientists say the porous crystals are the first known all-natural metal-organic frameworks that are simple to make. Most MOFs are [...]