A highly toxic water pollutant, known as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), last year caused a number of U.S. communities to close their drinking water supplies. Because of its historical use in Teflon production and other industrial processes as well as its environmental persistence, PFOA contamination is a pervasive problem worldwide.
articles
Sydney Harbour emissions equivalent to 200 cars on the road
The Sydney Harbour is renowned as a beautiful landmark straddling our thriving city but a new study has shown it is also a source of significant carbon emissions, which requires careful management as the city is poised to double its population by the end of the century.
That is the message of new research that has quantified CO2 emissions from the Harbour for the first time – found to be 1000 tonnes annually – equivalent to the pollution from about 200 cars.
Record 'green' energy capacity added in 2016 as cost for renewables plunges – UN-backed report
The world is now adding more green energy capacity each year than it adds in new capacity from all fossil fuels combined, a United Nations-backed report revealed today, showing that the “renewables train has already left the station” and those who ignore this will be left behind.
Griffith scientists engineer new cancer detection tool
Studying the food poisoning bacteria E. coli may have led scientists to discover a new and improved tool to detect cancer.
In a collaborative research project, scientists from Griffith University’s Institute for Glycomics, the University of Adelaide and University of Queensland have detailed their findings in a new paper published in Scientific Reports.
Small climb in mean temperatures linked to far higher chance of deadly heat waves
An increase in mean temperature of 0.5 degrees Celsius over half a century may not seem all that serious, but it’s enough to have more than doubled the probability of a heat wave killing in excess of 100 people in India, according to researchers at the University of California, Irvine and other institutions.
Monkey See, Monkey Do, Depending on Age, Experience and Efficiency
Wild capuchin monkeys readily learn skills from each other — but that social learning is driven home by the payoff of learning a useful new skill. It’s the first demonstration of “payoff bias” learning in a wild animal, and could inform whether and how animals can adapt to rapidly changing conditions, for example due to climate change or reintroduction of species from captive breeding.