The city if Fort Saskatchewan has been using sheep for years to cut down having to mow vast areas in the city. They not only do a good job but are tourist attractions as well.Mississauga brings in goats to fight invasive species
Author of the articleostmedia News
Published Jul 19, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read
City officials in Mississauga are taking invasive species management by the horns this summer — with goats.
City officials in Mississauga are taking invasive species management by the horns this summer — with goats.
City officials in Mississauga are taking invasive species management by the horns this summer — with goats.
A news release issued by the city on Friday detailed its plan to help restore habitats surrounding one of the city’s wetlands.
The plan? Prescribed goat grazing, a method that uses livestock to manage “various concerns in habitats that are suited to grazing.”
On May 25, Mississauga became the first municipality in the Greater Toronto Area to trial the concept, officials said.
Fifty goats have been brought in to graze on invasive plant species, including non-native thistles and Common Reed.
“Less than one per cent of Mississauga is made up of wetland habitat, so it’s a priority for the city to protect remaining wetlands,” the news release said. “Managing invasive plant species will help restore the wetland at O’Connor Park, creating a better habitat for local wildlife, increasing biodiversity, and improving overall wetland function.”
“Using goats to manage unwanted vegetation and invasive species has many benefits including reducing fuel emissions from trimming equipment, reducing herbicide use and managing areas that are not easily accessible, like slopes,” the city added.
The city intends to continue to trial goat grazing in different habitat types and with various invasive species to gain a better understanding of the process and how it can be integrated into the city’s management tools.
Invasive species are plants, animals or micro-organisms that are not native to Mississauga and, in large numbers, can cause an imbalance to the city’s natural ecosystems and biodiversity, the city said, adding they can negatively alter Mississauga’s parks, woodlands, natural areas and wildlife habitats.
“Invasive plants can take over the space, change the soil composition and compete for nutrients, making it harder for native plants to grow,” the news release said. “Invasive insects can cause direct harm to trees and other native plants by transmitting diseases or eating the leaves or stems.”
AMAZING GRAZE: Mississauga brings in goats to fight invasive species
City officials in Mississauga are taking invasive species management by the horns this summer — with goats.torontosun.com
Science & Environment
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Meet some of world’s cleanest pigs, raised to grow kidneys and hearts for humans
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Lauran Neergaard
Published Jul 21, 2024 • 6 minute read
genetically modified pig stands inside the protective barrier
In this photo provided by United Therapeutics Corporation, a genetically modified pig stands inside the protective barrier at the company's designated pathogen-free facility in Christiansburg, Va., in May 2024. Photo by United Therapeutics Corporation /Associated Press
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Wide-eyed piglets rushing to check out the visitors to their unusual barn just might represent the future of organ transplantation — and there’s no rolling around in the mud here.
The first gene-edited pig organs ever transplanted into people came from animals born on this special research farm in the Blue Ridge mountains — behind locked gates, where entry requires washing down your vehicle, swapping your clothes for medical scrubs and stepping into tubs of disinfectant to clean your boots between each air-conditioned barn.
“These are precious animals,” said David Ayares of Revivicor Inc., who spent decades learning to clone pigs with just the right genetic changes to allow those first audacious experiments.
The biosecurity gets even tighter just a few miles away in Christiansburg, Virginia, where a new herd is being raised — pigs expected to supply organs for formal studies of animal-to-human transplantation as soon as next year.
This massive first-of-its-kind building bears no resemblance to a farm. It’s more like a pharmaceutical plant. And part of it is closed to all but certain carefully chosen employees who take a timed shower, don company-provided clothes and shoes, and then enter an enclave where piglets are growing up.
Behind that protective barrier are some of the world’s cleanest pigs. They breathe air and drink water that’s better filtered against contaminants than what’s required for people. Even their feed gets disinfected — all to prevent them from picking up any possible infections that might ultimately harm a transplant recipient.
“We designed this facility to protect the pigs against contamination from the environment and from people,” said Matthew VonEsch of United Therapeutics, Revivicor’s parent company. “Every person that enters this building is a possible pathogen risk.”
The Associated Press got a peek at what it takes to clone and raise designer pigs for their organs — including a $75 million “designated pathogen-free facility” built to meet Food and Drug Administration safety standards for xenotransplantation.
Creating pigs to ease the shortage of human organs
Thousands of Americans each year die waiting for a transplant, and many experts acknowledge there never will be enough human donors to meet the need.
Animals offer the tantalizing promise of a ready-made supply. After decades of failed attempts, companies including Revivicor, eGenesis and Makana Therapeutics are engineering pigs to be more humanlike.
So far in the U.S. there have been four “compassionate use” transplants, last-ditch experiments into dying patients — two hearts and two kidneys. Revivicor provided both hearts and one of the kidneys. While the four patients died within a few months, they offered valuable lessons for researchers ready to try again in people who aren’t quite as sick.
Now the FDA is evaluating promising results from experiments in donated human bodies and awaiting results of additional studies of pig organs in baboons before deciding next steps.
They’re semi-custom organs — “we’re growing these pigs to the size of the recipient,” Ayares noted — that won’t show the wear-and-tear of aging or chronic disease like most organs donated by people.
Transplant surgeons who’ve retrieved organs on Revivicor’s farm “go, ‘Oh my god that’s the most beautiful kidney I’ve ever seen,”‘ Ayares added. “Same thing when they get the heart, a pink healthy happy heart from a young animal.”
The main challenges: how to avoid rejection and whether the animals might carry some unknown infection risk.
The process starts with modifying genes in pig skin cells in a lab. Revivicor initially deleted a gene that produces a sugar named alpha-gal, which triggers immediate destruction from the human immune system. Next came three-gene “knockouts,” to remove other immune-triggering red flags. Now the company is focusing on 10 gene edits — deleted pig genes and added human ones that together lessen risk of rejection and blood clots plus limit organ size.
They clone pigs with those alterations, similar to how Dolly the sheep was created.
Twice a week, slaughterhouses ship Revivicor hundreds of eggs retrieved from sow ovaries. Working in the dark with the light-sensitive eggs, scientists peer through a microscope while suctioning out the maternal DNA. Then they slip in the genetic modifications.
“Tuck it in nice and smooth,” murmurs senior researcher Lori Sorrells, pushing to just the right spot without rupturing the egg. Mild electric shocks fuse in the new DNA and activate embryo growth.
Ayares, a molecular geneticist who heads Revivicor and helped create the world’s first cloned pigs in 2000, says the technique is “like playing two video games at the same time,” holding the egg in place with one hand and manipulating it with the other. The company’s first modified pig, the GalSafe single gene knockout, now is bred instead of cloned. If xenotransplantation eventually works, other pigs with the desired gene combinations would be, too.
Hours later, embryos are carried to the research farm in a handheld incubator and implanted into waiting sows.
Luxury accomodations for important pigs
On the research farm, Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin”‘ was serenading a piglet barn, where music acclimates the youngsters to human voices. In air-conditioned pens, the animals grunted excited greetings until it’s obvious their visitors brought no treats. The 3-week-olds darted back to the security of mom. Next door, older siblings laid down for a nap or checked out balls and other toys.
“It is luxury for a pig,” Ayares said. “But these are very valuable animals. They’re very smart animals. I’ve watched piglets play with balls together like soccer.”
About 300 pigs of different ages live on this farm, nestled in rolling hills, its exact location undisclosed for security reasons. Tags on their ears identify their genetics.
“There are certain ones I say hi to,” said Suyapa Ball, Revivicor’s head of porcine technology and farm operations, as she rubbed one pig’s back. “You have to give them a good life. They’re giving their lives for us.”
A subset of pigs used for the most critical experiments — those early attempts with people and the FDA-required baboon studies — are housed in more restricted, even cleaner barns.
But in neighboring Christiansburg is the clearest signal that xenotransplantation is entering a new phase — the sheer size of United Therapeutics’ new pathogen-free facility. Inside the 77,000-square-foot building, the company expects to produce about 125 pig organs a year, likely enough to supply clinical trials.
Company video shows piglets running around behind the protective barrier, chewing on toys and nosing balls back and forth.
They were born in sort of a porcine birthing center connected to the facility, weaned a day or two later and moved into their super-clean pens to be hand-raised. In addition to the on-site shower, their caretakers must put on a new protective suit and mask before entering each suite of pig pens — another precaution against germs.
The pig zone is surrounded on all sides by security and mechanical systems that shield the animals. Outside air enters through multiple filtration systems. Giant vats hold backup supplies of drinking water. Standing over the pig rooms, VonEsch showed how pipes and vents were placed to allow maintenance and repair without any animal contact.
It will take years of clinical trials to prove whether xenotransplantation really could work. But if it succeeds, United Therapeutics’ plan is for even larger facilities, capable of producing up to 2,000 organs a year, in several places around the country.
The field is at a point where multiple kinds of studies “are telling us that there’s no train wrecks, that there’s no immediate rejection,” Ayares said. “The next two or three years are going to be super exciting.”
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Lauran Neergaard
Published Jul 21, 2024 • 6 minute read
genetically modified pig stands inside the protective barrier
In this photo provided by United Therapeutics Corporation, a genetically modified pig stands inside the protective barrier at the company's designated pathogen-free facility in Christiansburg, Va., in May 2024. Photo by United Therapeutics Corporation /Associated Press
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Wide-eyed piglets rushing to check out the visitors to their unusual barn just might represent the future of organ transplantation — and there’s no rolling around in the mud here.
The first gene-edited pig organs ever transplanted into people came from animals born on this special research farm in the Blue Ridge mountains — behind locked gates, where entry requires washing down your vehicle, swapping your clothes for medical scrubs and stepping into tubs of disinfectant to clean your boots between each air-conditioned barn.
“These are precious animals,” said David Ayares of Revivicor Inc., who spent decades learning to clone pigs with just the right genetic changes to allow those first audacious experiments.
The biosecurity gets even tighter just a few miles away in Christiansburg, Virginia, where a new herd is being raised — pigs expected to supply organs for formal studies of animal-to-human transplantation as soon as next year.
This massive first-of-its-kind building bears no resemblance to a farm. It’s more like a pharmaceutical plant. And part of it is closed to all but certain carefully chosen employees who take a timed shower, don company-provided clothes and shoes, and then enter an enclave where piglets are growing up.
Behind that protective barrier are some of the world’s cleanest pigs. They breathe air and drink water that’s better filtered against contaminants than what’s required for people. Even their feed gets disinfected — all to prevent them from picking up any possible infections that might ultimately harm a transplant recipient.
“We designed this facility to protect the pigs against contamination from the environment and from people,” said Matthew VonEsch of United Therapeutics, Revivicor’s parent company. “Every person that enters this building is a possible pathogen risk.”
The Associated Press got a peek at what it takes to clone and raise designer pigs for their organs — including a $75 million “designated pathogen-free facility” built to meet Food and Drug Administration safety standards for xenotransplantation.
Creating pigs to ease the shortage of human organs
Thousands of Americans each year die waiting for a transplant, and many experts acknowledge there never will be enough human donors to meet the need.
Animals offer the tantalizing promise of a ready-made supply. After decades of failed attempts, companies including Revivicor, eGenesis and Makana Therapeutics are engineering pigs to be more humanlike.
So far in the U.S. there have been four “compassionate use” transplants, last-ditch experiments into dying patients — two hearts and two kidneys. Revivicor provided both hearts and one of the kidneys. While the four patients died within a few months, they offered valuable lessons for researchers ready to try again in people who aren’t quite as sick.
Now the FDA is evaluating promising results from experiments in donated human bodies and awaiting results of additional studies of pig organs in baboons before deciding next steps.
They’re semi-custom organs — “we’re growing these pigs to the size of the recipient,” Ayares noted — that won’t show the wear-and-tear of aging or chronic disease like most organs donated by people.
Transplant surgeons who’ve retrieved organs on Revivicor’s farm “go, ‘Oh my god that’s the most beautiful kidney I’ve ever seen,”‘ Ayares added. “Same thing when they get the heart, a pink healthy happy heart from a young animal.”
The main challenges: how to avoid rejection and whether the animals might carry some unknown infection risk.
The process starts with modifying genes in pig skin cells in a lab. Revivicor initially deleted a gene that produces a sugar named alpha-gal, which triggers immediate destruction from the human immune system. Next came three-gene “knockouts,” to remove other immune-triggering red flags. Now the company is focusing on 10 gene edits — deleted pig genes and added human ones that together lessen risk of rejection and blood clots plus limit organ size.
They clone pigs with those alterations, similar to how Dolly the sheep was created.
Twice a week, slaughterhouses ship Revivicor hundreds of eggs retrieved from sow ovaries. Working in the dark with the light-sensitive eggs, scientists peer through a microscope while suctioning out the maternal DNA. Then they slip in the genetic modifications.
“Tuck it in nice and smooth,” murmurs senior researcher Lori Sorrells, pushing to just the right spot without rupturing the egg. Mild electric shocks fuse in the new DNA and activate embryo growth.
Ayares, a molecular geneticist who heads Revivicor and helped create the world’s first cloned pigs in 2000, says the technique is “like playing two video games at the same time,” holding the egg in place with one hand and manipulating it with the other. The company’s first modified pig, the GalSafe single gene knockout, now is bred instead of cloned. If xenotransplantation eventually works, other pigs with the desired gene combinations would be, too.
Hours later, embryos are carried to the research farm in a handheld incubator and implanted into waiting sows.
Luxury accomodations for important pigs
On the research farm, Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin”‘ was serenading a piglet barn, where music acclimates the youngsters to human voices. In air-conditioned pens, the animals grunted excited greetings until it’s obvious their visitors brought no treats. The 3-week-olds darted back to the security of mom. Next door, older siblings laid down for a nap or checked out balls and other toys.
“It is luxury for a pig,” Ayares said. “But these are very valuable animals. They’re very smart animals. I’ve watched piglets play with balls together like soccer.”
About 300 pigs of different ages live on this farm, nestled in rolling hills, its exact location undisclosed for security reasons. Tags on their ears identify their genetics.
“There are certain ones I say hi to,” said Suyapa Ball, Revivicor’s head of porcine technology and farm operations, as she rubbed one pig’s back. “You have to give them a good life. They’re giving their lives for us.”
A subset of pigs used for the most critical experiments — those early attempts with people and the FDA-required baboon studies — are housed in more restricted, even cleaner barns.
But in neighboring Christiansburg is the clearest signal that xenotransplantation is entering a new phase — the sheer size of United Therapeutics’ new pathogen-free facility. Inside the 77,000-square-foot building, the company expects to produce about 125 pig organs a year, likely enough to supply clinical trials.
Company video shows piglets running around behind the protective barrier, chewing on toys and nosing balls back and forth.
They were born in sort of a porcine birthing center connected to the facility, weaned a day or two later and moved into their super-clean pens to be hand-raised. In addition to the on-site shower, their caretakers must put on a new protective suit and mask before entering each suite of pig pens — another precaution against germs.
The pig zone is surrounded on all sides by security and mechanical systems that shield the animals. Outside air enters through multiple filtration systems. Giant vats hold backup supplies of drinking water. Standing over the pig rooms, VonEsch showed how pipes and vents were placed to allow maintenance and repair without any animal contact.
It will take years of clinical trials to prove whether xenotransplantation really could work. But if it succeeds, United Therapeutics’ plan is for even larger facilities, capable of producing up to 2,000 organs a year, in several places around the country.
The field is at a point where multiple kinds of studies “are telling us that there’s no train wrecks, that there’s no immediate rejection,” Ayares said. “The next two or three years are going to be super exciting.”
Meet some of world’s cleanest pigs, raised to grow kidneys and hearts for humans
The first gene-edited pig organs ever transplanted into people came from animals born on this special research farm in Blue Ridge mountains
Looks like a spike protein that bacon in waiting is chowing down on.Meet some of world’s cleanest pigs, raised to grow kidneys and hearts for humans
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Lauran Neergaard
Published Jul 21, 2024 • 6 minute read
genetically modified pig stands inside the protective barrier
In this photo provided by United Therapeutics Corporation, a genetically modified pig stands inside the protective barrier at the company's designated pathogen-free facility in Christiansburg, Va., in May 2024. Photo by United Therapeutics Corporation /Associated Press
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Wide-eyed piglets rushing to check out the visitors to their unusual barn just might represent the future of organ transplantation — and there’s no rolling around in the mud here.
The first gene-edited pig organs ever transplanted into people came from animals born on this special research farm in the Blue Ridge mountains — behind locked gates, where entry requires washing down your vehicle, swapping your clothes for medical scrubs and stepping into tubs of disinfectant to clean your boots between each air-conditioned barn.
“These are precious animals,” said David Ayares of Revivicor Inc., who spent decades learning to clone pigs with just the right genetic changes to allow those first audacious experiments.
The biosecurity gets even tighter just a few miles away in Christiansburg, Virginia, where a new herd is being raised — pigs expected to supply organs for formal studies of animal-to-human transplantation as soon as next year.
This massive first-of-its-kind building bears no resemblance to a farm. It’s more like a pharmaceutical plant. And part of it is closed to all but certain carefully chosen employees who take a timed shower, don company-provided clothes and shoes, and then enter an enclave where piglets are growing up.
Behind that protective barrier are some of the world’s cleanest pigs. They breathe air and drink water that’s better filtered against contaminants than what’s required for people. Even their feed gets disinfected — all to prevent them from picking up any possible infections that might ultimately harm a transplant recipient.
“We designed this facility to protect the pigs against contamination from the environment and from people,” said Matthew VonEsch of United Therapeutics, Revivicor’s parent company. “Every person that enters this building is a possible pathogen risk.”
The Associated Press got a peek at what it takes to clone and raise designer pigs for their organs — including a $75 million “designated pathogen-free facility” built to meet Food and Drug Administration safety standards for xenotransplantation.
Creating pigs to ease the shortage of human organs
Thousands of Americans each year die waiting for a transplant, and many experts acknowledge there never will be enough human donors to meet the need.
Animals offer the tantalizing promise of a ready-made supply. After decades of failed attempts, companies including Revivicor, eGenesis and Makana Therapeutics are engineering pigs to be more humanlike.
So far in the U.S. there have been four “compassionate use” transplants, last-ditch experiments into dying patients — two hearts and two kidneys. Revivicor provided both hearts and one of the kidneys. While the four patients died within a few months, they offered valuable lessons for researchers ready to try again in people who aren’t quite as sick.
Now the FDA is evaluating promising results from experiments in donated human bodies and awaiting results of additional studies of pig organs in baboons before deciding next steps.
They’re semi-custom organs — “we’re growing these pigs to the size of the recipient,” Ayares noted — that won’t show the wear-and-tear of aging or chronic disease like most organs donated by people.
Transplant surgeons who’ve retrieved organs on Revivicor’s farm “go, ‘Oh my god that’s the most beautiful kidney I’ve ever seen,”‘ Ayares added. “Same thing when they get the heart, a pink healthy happy heart from a young animal.”
The main challenges: how to avoid rejection and whether the animals might carry some unknown infection risk.
The process starts with modifying genes in pig skin cells in a lab. Revivicor initially deleted a gene that produces a sugar named alpha-gal, which triggers immediate destruction from the human immune system. Next came three-gene “knockouts,” to remove other immune-triggering red flags. Now the company is focusing on 10 gene edits — deleted pig genes and added human ones that together lessen risk of rejection and blood clots plus limit organ size.
They clone pigs with those alterations, similar to how Dolly the sheep was created.
Twice a week, slaughterhouses ship Revivicor hundreds of eggs retrieved from sow ovaries. Working in the dark with the light-sensitive eggs, scientists peer through a microscope while suctioning out the maternal DNA. Then they slip in the genetic modifications.
“Tuck it in nice and smooth,” murmurs senior researcher Lori Sorrells, pushing to just the right spot without rupturing the egg. Mild electric shocks fuse in the new DNA and activate embryo growth.
Ayares, a molecular geneticist who heads Revivicor and helped create the world’s first cloned pigs in 2000, says the technique is “like playing two video games at the same time,” holding the egg in place with one hand and manipulating it with the other. The company’s first modified pig, the GalSafe single gene knockout, now is bred instead of cloned. If xenotransplantation eventually works, other pigs with the desired gene combinations would be, too.
Hours later, embryos are carried to the research farm in a handheld incubator and implanted into waiting sows.
Luxury accomodations for important pigs
On the research farm, Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin”‘ was serenading a piglet barn, where music acclimates the youngsters to human voices. In air-conditioned pens, the animals grunted excited greetings until it’s obvious their visitors brought no treats. The 3-week-olds darted back to the security of mom. Next door, older siblings laid down for a nap or checked out balls and other toys.
“It is luxury for a pig,” Ayares said. “But these are very valuable animals. They’re very smart animals. I’ve watched piglets play with balls together like soccer.”
About 300 pigs of different ages live on this farm, nestled in rolling hills, its exact location undisclosed for security reasons. Tags on their ears identify their genetics.
“There are certain ones I say hi to,” said Suyapa Ball, Revivicor’s head of porcine technology and farm operations, as she rubbed one pig’s back. “You have to give them a good life. They’re giving their lives for us.”
A subset of pigs used for the most critical experiments — those early attempts with people and the FDA-required baboon studies — are housed in more restricted, even cleaner barns.
But in neighboring Christiansburg is the clearest signal that xenotransplantation is entering a new phase — the sheer size of United Therapeutics’ new pathogen-free facility. Inside the 77,000-square-foot building, the company expects to produce about 125 pig organs a year, likely enough to supply clinical trials.
Company video shows piglets running around behind the protective barrier, chewing on toys and nosing balls back and forth.
They were born in sort of a porcine birthing center connected to the facility, weaned a day or two later and moved into their super-clean pens to be hand-raised. In addition to the on-site shower, their caretakers must put on a new protective suit and mask before entering each suite of pig pens — another precaution against germs.
The pig zone is surrounded on all sides by security and mechanical systems that shield the animals. Outside air enters through multiple filtration systems. Giant vats hold backup supplies of drinking water. Standing over the pig rooms, VonEsch showed how pipes and vents were placed to allow maintenance and repair without any animal contact.
It will take years of clinical trials to prove whether xenotransplantation really could work. But if it succeeds, United Therapeutics’ plan is for even larger facilities, capable of producing up to 2,000 organs a year, in several places around the country.
The field is at a point where multiple kinds of studies “are telling us that there’s no train wrecks, that there’s no immediate rejection,” Ayares said. “The next two or three years are going to be super exciting.”
View attachment 23576
Meet some of world’s cleanest pigs, raised to grow kidneys and hearts for humans
The first gene-edited pig organs ever transplanted into people came from animals born on this special research farm in Blue Ridge mountains
Toronto residents asked to stop throwing feces on workers
Author of the articleenette Wilford
Published Jul 23, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read
The tenants of an apartment building in one Toronto neighbourhood say they were issued a letter from management after items including “human waste” were allegedly thrown from balconies to workers below.
The letter was shared on Reddit’s Toronto board with the title, “No power? Throw poo, that’ll help.”
The poster explained that a friend who lives in the apartment building in the St. James Town neighbourhood received the letter.
“Yes, they’re still without power which is nuts (though one elevator now works), but can you imagine flinging poo at the people trying to fix the situation?” the Redditor asked.
The letter details how property management became aware of a “small group of residents” who have allegedly been “repeatedly interfering with, threatening and/or harassing” members of an electrical contracting team.
“Reports of unacceptable behaviour include throwing human waste from upper-level balconies at workers below, aggressive language, and/or hostile interactions,” the letter alleges, per the Reddit poster.
Management added that the disruptions are only slowing down efforts to “repair the building.”
The workers, who had been working “around the clock” have been “diligent, hardworking and dedicated to restoring electrical power safely and quickly to your units,” the letter continued, as property management questioned “why anyone would want to interfere with this work, cause added delays or contribute to an already challenging situation.”
They added: “It makes no sense.”
Danny Roth, a spokesperson for Wellesley Parliament Square (WPSQ), the property management company of 77 Howard St., confirmed that power has been restored to units at the building near Bloor St. E. and Parliament St.
The outage was a result of the July 16 storm after water got into the system, resulting in “catastrophic damage,” he said, adding that electrical contractors and engineers were on site almost immediately.
Power was restored to units daily, he detailed, with cold water restored quickly, and one elevator working along with lighting in the common areas, hallways, corridors and stairwells by Wednesday.
Hot water was back on by Thursday and by Sunday, all 383 units had power via generators and hydro, Roth said, adding that they are working on weaning the building off the external power sources and back on the existing hydro-electric system.
Not having power for a week would be frustrating for anyone but most people in Reddit’s comments section were shocked about the alleged poop-tossing.
“Who throws their own s***?!? Wtf is wrong with people?” one person asked.
Another remarked, “I would literally walk off the job if that happened. Like, I cannot process this at all.”
One person who claimed to live in the unidentified building in question said that for the most part, the building is comprised of many “incredibly nice and hardworking people” or “students, the elderly, or newly immigrated Canadians trying to start a new life here,” but noted that “a few bad apples make us all look bad.”
Roth acknowledged that it was a “challenging, difficult period for everyone,” but noted that the “isolated incidents of questionable behaviour” have been resolved between management and tenants.
“The response had been what we hoped for,” Roth said. “We’re grateful for the cooperation and patience of the vast majority of our residents through this ordeal.”
torontosun.com
Author of the article
enette WilfordPublished Jul 23, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read
The tenants of an apartment building in one Toronto neighbourhood say they were issued a letter from management after items including “human waste” were allegedly thrown from balconies to workers below.
The letter was shared on Reddit’s Toronto board with the title, “No power? Throw poo, that’ll help.”
The poster explained that a friend who lives in the apartment building in the St. James Town neighbourhood received the letter.
“Yes, they’re still without power which is nuts (though one elevator now works), but can you imagine flinging poo at the people trying to fix the situation?” the Redditor asked.
The letter details how property management became aware of a “small group of residents” who have allegedly been “repeatedly interfering with, threatening and/or harassing” members of an electrical contracting team.
“Reports of unacceptable behaviour include throwing human waste from upper-level balconies at workers below, aggressive language, and/or hostile interactions,” the letter alleges, per the Reddit poster.
Management added that the disruptions are only slowing down efforts to “repair the building.”
The workers, who had been working “around the clock” have been “diligent, hardworking and dedicated to restoring electrical power safely and quickly to your units,” the letter continued, as property management questioned “why anyone would want to interfere with this work, cause added delays or contribute to an already challenging situation.”
They added: “It makes no sense.”
Danny Roth, a spokesperson for Wellesley Parliament Square (WPSQ), the property management company of 77 Howard St., confirmed that power has been restored to units at the building near Bloor St. E. and Parliament St.
The outage was a result of the July 16 storm after water got into the system, resulting in “catastrophic damage,” he said, adding that electrical contractors and engineers were on site almost immediately.
Power was restored to units daily, he detailed, with cold water restored quickly, and one elevator working along with lighting in the common areas, hallways, corridors and stairwells by Wednesday.
Hot water was back on by Thursday and by Sunday, all 383 units had power via generators and hydro, Roth said, adding that they are working on weaning the building off the external power sources and back on the existing hydro-electric system.
Not having power for a week would be frustrating for anyone but most people in Reddit’s comments section were shocked about the alleged poop-tossing.
“Who throws their own s***?!? Wtf is wrong with people?” one person asked.
Another remarked, “I would literally walk off the job if that happened. Like, I cannot process this at all.”
One person who claimed to live in the unidentified building in question said that for the most part, the building is comprised of many “incredibly nice and hardworking people” or “students, the elderly, or newly immigrated Canadians trying to start a new life here,” but noted that “a few bad apples make us all look bad.”
Roth acknowledged that it was a “challenging, difficult period for everyone,” but noted that the “isolated incidents of questionable behaviour” have been resolved between management and tenants.
“The response had been what we hoped for,” Roth said. “We’re grateful for the cooperation and patience of the vast majority of our residents through this ordeal.”
'IT MAKES NO SENSE': Toronto residents asked to stop throwing feces on workers
Tenants of a Toronto building were issued a letter from management after items including “human waste” were allegedly thrown at workers.
After years of waiting, beautiful but stinky plant blooms again
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Martin Weil, The Washington Post
Published Jul 23, 2024 • 2 minute read
A huge plant known as the corpse flower in recognition of its foul smell bloomed at the U.S. Botanic Garden on Sunday night, and another similar specimen may bloom imminently, the garden said.
Years pass between the relatively brief blooms of these exotic plants, according to the Botanic Garden. Their attraction appears to be the product of the beauty and brevity of their bloom as well as the disagreeable nature of the odor.
They are among the lesser known of Washington’s natural attractions, and the two can be seen in the garden’s glass-roofed conservatory near Independence Avenue at the foot of Capitol Hill.
At a height of 82.5 inches, the first of the two plants “began opening and smelling late” Sunday night, the botanical garden said on social media. It last bloomed in 2016.
The second and slightly taller of the two specimens of Amorphophallus titanum “is also about ready to bloom,” the garden said. It was about six years old and had never bloomed before.
With luck, the garden said, the second plant might open Monday evening, in what seemed a fortuitous coincidence. However, it could not be immediately learned if the bloom had begun.
The period of blooming for the species seemed almost as brief as the interval between blooms is long.
A bloom usually remains from one to three days, the garden said.
The smell, a pungent foulness that paradoxically appears to be part of the plant’s allure, lasts for an even briefer period than the bloom.
“The ‘stink’ is mostly just during the first 12 hours after it opens,” the garden said. The idea is to attract flies and beetles for pollination.
According to the garden, a small amount of odor remained into Monday morning and was expected to continue to fade as the day went on.
However, the beauty of the bloom, which the garden called a “massive inflorescence,” was expected to remain visible throughout Monday.
Presumably the same would remain true of the second bloom, which was expected imminently.
The garden’s main building is normally open during the summer from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The garden keeps a “sizable number” of the plants in its facilities as part of its conservation efforts. Only about 1,000 exist in the wild, it said. The possibility of two blooms occurring so close together apparently generated even more anticipation than usual.
Information about the garden’s corpse flowers is available at USBG.gov/CorpseFlower.
USBG.gov
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Martin Weil, The Washington Post
Published Jul 23, 2024 • 2 minute read
A huge plant known as the corpse flower in recognition of its foul smell bloomed at the U.S. Botanic Garden on Sunday night, and another similar specimen may bloom imminently, the garden said.
Years pass between the relatively brief blooms of these exotic plants, according to the Botanic Garden. Their attraction appears to be the product of the beauty and brevity of their bloom as well as the disagreeable nature of the odor.
They are among the lesser known of Washington’s natural attractions, and the two can be seen in the garden’s glass-roofed conservatory near Independence Avenue at the foot of Capitol Hill.
At a height of 82.5 inches, the first of the two plants “began opening and smelling late” Sunday night, the botanical garden said on social media. It last bloomed in 2016.
The second and slightly taller of the two specimens of Amorphophallus titanum “is also about ready to bloom,” the garden said. It was about six years old and had never bloomed before.
With luck, the garden said, the second plant might open Monday evening, in what seemed a fortuitous coincidence. However, it could not be immediately learned if the bloom had begun.
The period of blooming for the species seemed almost as brief as the interval between blooms is long.
A bloom usually remains from one to three days, the garden said.
The smell, a pungent foulness that paradoxically appears to be part of the plant’s allure, lasts for an even briefer period than the bloom.
“The ‘stink’ is mostly just during the first 12 hours after it opens,” the garden said. The idea is to attract flies and beetles for pollination.
According to the garden, a small amount of odor remained into Monday morning and was expected to continue to fade as the day went on.
However, the beauty of the bloom, which the garden called a “massive inflorescence,” was expected to remain visible throughout Monday.
Presumably the same would remain true of the second bloom, which was expected imminently.
The garden’s main building is normally open during the summer from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The garden keeps a “sizable number” of the plants in its facilities as part of its conservation efforts. Only about 1,000 exist in the wild, it said. The possibility of two blooms occurring so close together apparently generated even more anticipation than usual.
Information about the garden’s corpse flowers is available at USBG.gov/CorpseFlower.
Corpse Flowers
Learn about the corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) collection at the U.S. Botanic Garden.
After years of waiting, beautiful but stinky plant blooms again
Years pass between the relatively brief blooms of these exotic plants, according to the Botanic Garden.
Fall to 'quickly usher in chillier temperatures' in Ontario: Farmers' Almanac
Author of the article:Jane Stevenson
Published Jul 24, 2024 • 1 minute read
Do we have to talk about fall already given we’re only midway through summer?
Apparently yes, with the Farmers’ Almanac releasing its extended fall forecast for 2024 in Canada.
Fall begins Sept. 22 and the forecast says “the new season will quickly usher in chillier temperatures and unsettled weather from coast to coast,” including Ontario.
However, by Halloween, the forecast is saying in Ontario it’s looking like “more of a treat as opposed to a trick.” The almanac predicts that generally dry weather should arrive in time for Oct. 31.
“Halloween looks like it could bring some spooky, soggy weather for most areas with the best chances for fair weather for Ontario,” says the forecast.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Jane Stevenson
Published Jul 24, 2024 • 1 minute read
Do we have to talk about fall already given we’re only midway through summer?
Apparently yes, with the Farmers’ Almanac releasing its extended fall forecast for 2024 in Canada.
Fall begins Sept. 22 and the forecast says “the new season will quickly usher in chillier temperatures and unsettled weather from coast to coast,” including Ontario.
However, by Halloween, the forecast is saying in Ontario it’s looking like “more of a treat as opposed to a trick.” The almanac predicts that generally dry weather should arrive in time for Oct. 31.
“Halloween looks like it could bring some spooky, soggy weather for most areas with the best chances for fair weather for Ontario,” says the forecast.
Fall to 'quickly usher in chillier temperatures' in Ontario: Farmers' Almanac
The Farmers' Almanac's fall forecast says “the new season will quickly usher in chillier temperatures and unsettled weather" in Ontario.
Used solar panels in landfills could lead to chemical leaching in groundwater: Report
Author of the articleostmedia News
Published Jul 24, 2024 • 1 minute read
Join the conversation
Who can resist those ads peppering social media promising free money for solar panels and an escape from hydro bills? But buyer beware.
In a notice about solar panel recycling to contractors, the Department of Public Works said used panels pose a “significant pollution risk” if put in landfills, reports Blacklock’s Reporter.
The department warned landfilling used panels could see toxic chemicals leach into groundwater.
“The volume of end-of-life solar panels will grow which will result in significant pollution risks,” said the notice.
“The overall environmental impact of solar panels is much higher if they are dumped in landfills where hazardous chemicals and heavy metals can leach into groundwater.”
A budget of $1.2 million was set for research on how to recycle panels at low cost.
The notice said due to high cost, panels containing aluminum, tellurium, antimony, gallium and indium “in some thin film modules are currently not being recycled.”
“Solar panels are constructed in such a manner that the many parts comprising the panel are difficult to separate and recycle individually,” said the notice.
“Separating those materials and uniquely recycling them is a complex and expensive process as opposed to the cheap method of discarding the entire panel into a landfill. This challenge will be seeking recycling solutions for solar panels at any time during their entire lifecycle.”
The notice said “the Government of Canada already utilizes solar panels in seven different locations across the country and in more than five missions around the world.”
And given climate targets “the use of solar panels by the Government of Canada is projected to keep increasing, both domestically and abroad,” added the notice.
torontosun.com
Author of the article
ostmedia NewsPublished Jul 24, 2024 • 1 minute read
Join the conversation
Who can resist those ads peppering social media promising free money for solar panels and an escape from hydro bills? But buyer beware.
In a notice about solar panel recycling to contractors, the Department of Public Works said used panels pose a “significant pollution risk” if put in landfills, reports Blacklock’s Reporter.
The department warned landfilling used panels could see toxic chemicals leach into groundwater.
“The volume of end-of-life solar panels will grow which will result in significant pollution risks,” said the notice.
“The overall environmental impact of solar panels is much higher if they are dumped in landfills where hazardous chemicals and heavy metals can leach into groundwater.”
A budget of $1.2 million was set for research on how to recycle panels at low cost.
The notice said due to high cost, panels containing aluminum, tellurium, antimony, gallium and indium “in some thin film modules are currently not being recycled.”
“Solar panels are constructed in such a manner that the many parts comprising the panel are difficult to separate and recycle individually,” said the notice.
“Separating those materials and uniquely recycling them is a complex and expensive process as opposed to the cheap method of discarding the entire panel into a landfill. This challenge will be seeking recycling solutions for solar panels at any time during their entire lifecycle.”
The notice said “the Government of Canada already utilizes solar panels in seven different locations across the country and in more than five missions around the world.”
And given climate targets “the use of solar panels by the Government of Canada is projected to keep increasing, both domestically and abroad,” added the notice.
Used solar panels in landfills could lead to chemical leaching in groundwater: Report
Used panels pose a “significant pollution risk” if put in landfills, reports Blacklock’s Reporter.
Scientists find ‘dark oxygen’ being produced from metals on the seafloor
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Annabelle Timsit
Published Jul 24, 2024 • 4 minute read
Polymetallic nodules on white background
Polymetallic nodules from 5000m depth of Pacific ocean. Photo by Getty Images
Scientists have found evidence that metals naturally occurring on the ocean floor may be able to produce oxygen – a potential “game changer” they say could change our understanding of the origins of life on Earth.
The researchers, whose study was published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience, found that through a newly discovered process, masses made of minerals such as manganese and iron, often used to make batteries, can produce oxygen even in complete darkness. Organisms normally need light to produce oxygen through a process known as photosynthesis, but researchers believe electrochemical activity produced by these masses – called polymetallic nodules – can extract oxygen from water. The masses formed over millions of years and can be about the size of a potato.
Bo Barker Jørgensen, a marine biogeochemistry expert who was not involved in the research but peer-reviewed the study, said in an interview that it was a “very unusual finding.”
The findings could have implications for the deep-sea mining industry, whose players have sought to be allowed to explore the depths of the ocean and retrieve minerals like those that make up polymetallic nodules. Such minerals are seen as crucial for the green energy transition. Environmental activists and many scientists believe deep-sea mining is dangerous because it can destabilize ecosystems in unpredictable ways and could affect the ocean’s ability to help contain climate change. The study received funding from companies active in seabed mining exploration.
When Andrew Sweetman, the lead author of the study, first recorded unusual oxygen readings coming from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in 2013, he thought his research equipment had malfunctioned.
“I basically told my students, just put the sensors back in the box. We’ll ship them back to the manufacturer and get them tested because they’re just giving us gibberish,” Sweetman, head of the seafloor ecology and biogeochemistry research group at the Scottish Association for Marine Science, told CNN. “And every single time the manufacturer came back: ‘They’re working. They’re calibrated.'”
In 2021 and 2022, Sweetman and his team returned to the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, an area under the central Pacific known for having large quantities of polymetallic nodules. Confident that their sensors worked, they lowered a device more than 13,000 feet below the surface that placed small boxes into the sediment. The boxes stayed in place for 47 hours, conducting experiments and measuring levels of oxygen consumed by the microorganisms that live there.
Instead of oxygen levels going down, they went up – suggesting that more oxygen was being produced than consumed.
The researchers hypothesized that the electrochemical activity of the different metals that make up polymetallic nodules were responsible for the oxygen production measured by the sensors – like a battery in which electrons flow from one electrode to another, creating an electric current, said Tobias Hahn, one of the co-authors of the study, in an interview.
This hypothesis would add a layer to our understanding of how organisms came to exist under the sea, said Hahn, who focused specifically on the sensors used in the study experiments. “We thought that life began on Earth when photosynthesis kicked in, as oxygen was brought to Earth through photosynthesis. It could be that actually, this process of electrochemically dividing water into oxygen and hydrogen supplied oxygen to the ocean,” he said.
“This could be a kind of game changer in the story about how life started,” he added.
A news release about the study said its findings challenge “long-held assumptions that only photosynthetic organisms, such as plants and algae, generate Earth’s oxygen.”
But if that finding is borne out, “we need to rethink how to mine” materials like cobalt, nickel, copper, lithium and manganese underwater, “so that we do not deplete the oxygen source for deep-sea life,” said Franz Geiger, a professor of chemistry at Northwestern University and one of the co-authors of the study, in the release.
Mining conducted under the sea in the 1980s serves as a cautionary tale, Geiger said. When marine biologists visited such sites decades later, they “found not even bacteria had recovered.” But in areas that were not mined, “marine life flourished.”
“Why such ‘dead zones’ persist for decades is still unknown,” he said. But the fact that they do suggests that mining the seafloor in areas with plenty of polymetallic nodules could be especially harmful, because those areas tend to have more faunal diversity than “the most diverse tropical rainforests,” he said.
Though the study has pointed to an interesting new pathway for sustaining life deep under the ocean, many questions remain, Hahn said. “We just don’t know” how much “dark oxygen” can be created through this process, how it affects the polymetallic nodules or what quantities of nodules are needed to enable oxygen production, he said.
While the study methodology is solid, “what is lacking is an understanding of what is going on, what kind of process this is,” said Barker Jørgensen.
07-23-2024 09:19PM
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Annabelle Timsit
Published Jul 24, 2024 • 4 minute read
Polymetallic nodules on white background
Polymetallic nodules from 5000m depth of Pacific ocean. Photo by Getty Images
Scientists have found evidence that metals naturally occurring on the ocean floor may be able to produce oxygen – a potential “game changer” they say could change our understanding of the origins of life on Earth.
The researchers, whose study was published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience, found that through a newly discovered process, masses made of minerals such as manganese and iron, often used to make batteries, can produce oxygen even in complete darkness. Organisms normally need light to produce oxygen through a process known as photosynthesis, but researchers believe electrochemical activity produced by these masses – called polymetallic nodules – can extract oxygen from water. The masses formed over millions of years and can be about the size of a potato.
Bo Barker Jørgensen, a marine biogeochemistry expert who was not involved in the research but peer-reviewed the study, said in an interview that it was a “very unusual finding.”
The findings could have implications for the deep-sea mining industry, whose players have sought to be allowed to explore the depths of the ocean and retrieve minerals like those that make up polymetallic nodules. Such minerals are seen as crucial for the green energy transition. Environmental activists and many scientists believe deep-sea mining is dangerous because it can destabilize ecosystems in unpredictable ways and could affect the ocean’s ability to help contain climate change. The study received funding from companies active in seabed mining exploration.
When Andrew Sweetman, the lead author of the study, first recorded unusual oxygen readings coming from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in 2013, he thought his research equipment had malfunctioned.
“I basically told my students, just put the sensors back in the box. We’ll ship them back to the manufacturer and get them tested because they’re just giving us gibberish,” Sweetman, head of the seafloor ecology and biogeochemistry research group at the Scottish Association for Marine Science, told CNN. “And every single time the manufacturer came back: ‘They’re working. They’re calibrated.'”
In 2021 and 2022, Sweetman and his team returned to the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, an area under the central Pacific known for having large quantities of polymetallic nodules. Confident that their sensors worked, they lowered a device more than 13,000 feet below the surface that placed small boxes into the sediment. The boxes stayed in place for 47 hours, conducting experiments and measuring levels of oxygen consumed by the microorganisms that live there.
Instead of oxygen levels going down, they went up – suggesting that more oxygen was being produced than consumed.
The researchers hypothesized that the electrochemical activity of the different metals that make up polymetallic nodules were responsible for the oxygen production measured by the sensors – like a battery in which electrons flow from one electrode to another, creating an electric current, said Tobias Hahn, one of the co-authors of the study, in an interview.
This hypothesis would add a layer to our understanding of how organisms came to exist under the sea, said Hahn, who focused specifically on the sensors used in the study experiments. “We thought that life began on Earth when photosynthesis kicked in, as oxygen was brought to Earth through photosynthesis. It could be that actually, this process of electrochemically dividing water into oxygen and hydrogen supplied oxygen to the ocean,” he said.
“This could be a kind of game changer in the story about how life started,” he added.
A news release about the study said its findings challenge “long-held assumptions that only photosynthetic organisms, such as plants and algae, generate Earth’s oxygen.”
But if that finding is borne out, “we need to rethink how to mine” materials like cobalt, nickel, copper, lithium and manganese underwater, “so that we do not deplete the oxygen source for deep-sea life,” said Franz Geiger, a professor of chemistry at Northwestern University and one of the co-authors of the study, in the release.
Mining conducted under the sea in the 1980s serves as a cautionary tale, Geiger said. When marine biologists visited such sites decades later, they “found not even bacteria had recovered.” But in areas that were not mined, “marine life flourished.”
“Why such ‘dead zones’ persist for decades is still unknown,” he said. But the fact that they do suggests that mining the seafloor in areas with plenty of polymetallic nodules could be especially harmful, because those areas tend to have more faunal diversity than “the most diverse tropical rainforests,” he said.
Though the study has pointed to an interesting new pathway for sustaining life deep under the ocean, many questions remain, Hahn said. “We just don’t know” how much “dark oxygen” can be created through this process, how it affects the polymetallic nodules or what quantities of nodules are needed to enable oxygen production, he said.
While the study methodology is solid, “what is lacking is an understanding of what is going on, what kind of process this is,” said Barker Jørgensen.
07-23-2024 09:19PM
Scientists find ‘dark oxygen’ being produced from metals on the seafloor
Scientists have found evidence that metals naturally occurring on the ocean floor may be able to produce oxygen.
Refrigerating produce in jars looks great, but it can breed bacteria
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Rachael Jackson
Published Jul 24, 2024 • 7 minute read
You’ve probably seen them: Images of clear glass canning jars filled with multicolored berries that look like little jewels. Asparagus stalks, plunked into a glass-turned-vase that doubles as a charming centerpiece.
Social media is awash with food-in-jars storage hacks that are a joy to ogle – but do they translate to real-life solutions? I asked produce and food safety researchers and experimented in my own kitchen to learn which of these storage tricks are worth it and which are recipes for things you really don’t want to eat.
Spoiler alert: While water soaks and vase treatments can perk up produce, experts said to beware of water submersion hacks promising weeks of shelf life – that invites microbial growth. Be careful with tightly sealed jars, they warned, which can suffocate living, breathing fresh fruits and vegetables. And remember that every type of produce has different needs and quirks, and every piece of produce has a unique history that could be the difference between quickly going fuzzy or staying pristine for a month. A hack that works this week could easily turn to mush next week.
The best thing you can do to extend the life of most fresh fruits and vegetables is to get them into the fridge as fast as possible, said Elizabeth Mitcham, emeritus director of the Postharvest Technology Center at the University of California, Davis.
“If you go to the farmers market and you buy produce, and then you wander around for a few hours, and then you finally get home and then put them in the fridge, you’ve already lost way more of the life of that product” than you’d gain from any special storage tricks, she said, especially on a warm day.
After keeping produce cool, there’s a delicate dance between storing it in ways that enable it to breathe, but retain moisture, among other factors (including that some whole fruits and vegetables don’t do well in the fridge). The crisper drawer is designed to help with this, but it’s a tough puzzle, which explains why we’re so hungry for hacks.
So here’s what to know about some popular produce storage tricks:
Celery and carrot sticks
The hack: Store celery and carrot sticks in a water-filled jar.
The takeaway: Use this trick to keep veggie sticks attractive and crunchy, but not to stretch shelf life.
In the short term, water submersion keeps celery and carrots crisp by preventing dry air from sucking moisture from their cells. It also prevents dried-out, white patches on cut or peeled carrots. Ben Chapman, director of a food safety research program at North Carolina State University, said a couple days or a week could be fine, but once weeks go by the water could help a small amount of bacterial contamination go from, say, a tiny corner of one celery stick to growing all over the sticks.
Chapman, who analyzed this scenario on “Risky or Not,” a podcast he co-hosts, said his top concern was listeria monocytogenes, a type of human pathogen with the unusual ability to grow in the fridge. In small amounts, it rarely sickens healthy adults, but it becomes more problematic, especially for immunocompromised or pregnant people, once it’s had time to proliferate. If your fridge rises above the recommended 41-degree Fahrenheit maximum, he said, listeria grows faster. Other types of harmful bacteria, as well as bacteria that simply spoil your food, also grow more easily in warmer fridges. After weeks in a too-warm fridge, you could have quite the petri dish, or, jar, of veggie sticks.
One plot twist, noted Don Schaffner, a Rutgers University food microbiologist and Chapman’s podcast co-host: While carrots aren’t immune to microbial growth, there’s evidence they have an unusual ability to inhibit listeria growth. He worries more about celery stored underwater.
Avocados
The hack: Submerge ripe, skin-on avocados in a jug of water and stash in the fridge to extend their life.
The takeaway: Do not submerge avocados in water. Instead, put them in the fridge once they’re ripe to keep them at their peak for a few more days.
Avocados need to ripen at room temperature, but once ripened, the fridge’s chill keeps them at their peak longer. If you halve the avocados first, water will slow oxidation, so they’ll appear good for longer.
But don’t do this. Over time the water can facilitate dangerous bacterial growth, even if the avocado looks great.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration sampling has found listeria on avocado peels, and while you should always wash your produce, a good cleaning can’t remove all bacteria. Additionally, an agency spokesperson told me, when FDA scientists stored whole avocados in refrigerated tanks for 15 days, they found listeria moved from the peel into the green flesh.
Asparagus
The hack: Store asparagus like flowers, in a “vase” in the fridge.
The takeaway: Trim the bottoms of asparagus stalks and stand them upright in a glass with water to keep them firm for a few days. Don’t leave them in water for an extended period of time.
This mirrors an industry practice of packing asparagus upright, with a wet pad at the bottom, said Mark Ritenour, a postharvest biologist at the University of Florida. The moisture fuels their thirsty, growing tissue and prevents shriveling.
If you create an “asparagus vase” at home, Ritenour suggests using a minimal amount of water for only a few days, citing, you guessed it, concerns about microbes flourishing in the water. He also advises cutting off the wet ends before prepping them.
So, I tried this. I split a bunch of asparagus in half, putting one handful in a glass with some water (which looked delightful in my fridge) and the other in a cotton bag in my crisper drawer. After several days, both bunches looked the same, maybe the vase stalks were a little firmer. Both sets roasted up nicely, so for me, for that bunch, it was not worth the time. Ritenour said it’s possible my set up kept just enough moisture in, and noted that my experience speaks to the endless variability with produce.
Berries
The hack: Put berries in a sealed glass jar and stash it in the fridge.
The takeaway: Do not store fresh berries in a sealed jar to extend their life. Instead, leave them in the clamshell container and put them in the crisper drawer of your fridge; or place them in a storage container lined with paper towels and leave the lid ajar. This will preserve some moisture while also allowing gas exchange. (For extended storage: Wash, dry and freeze them.)
A sealed jar traps humidity, keeping berries plump. But many factors, including how often you open the jar, will impact how they fare.
Even harvested produce takes in oxygen and releases carbon dioxide, just like we do. (This is separate from the plant kingdom’s more famous trick, photosynthesis, which, among other things, takes in carbon dioxide and gives off oxygen.) Different types of produce respire at different rates – respiration rate is a huge factor in determining shelf life – and delicate berries respire fast. Left in a sealed jar for too long, they’ll deplete oxygen and switch to anaerobic respiration, which churns out off flavors and eventually makes the berries fall apart, scientists explained to me.
I tried this method myself, leaving jars of berries tightly sealed while I was away for more than a week. When I came home, the jars’ inner walls dripped with condensation. The strawberries smelled of chemicals, and I had no interest in eating them. They were, however, more plump than the berries I left in the clamshell and showed no visible mold, so there’s that.
Another concern: As fresh produce’s respiration depletes oxygen in a sealed jar, it could create an environment that’s ideal for certain bacteria. In this case, berries’ acidity could mitigate pathogen growth, said Schaffner, the Rutgers food microbiologist, but not enough to dispel food safety concerns.
“Generally I think it’s a bad idea to store foods for extended periods of time, especially under anaerobic conditions,” he wrote in an email.
If you’re wondering how to square all this with the sealed bags and tubs of produce sold at grocery stores, Eva Almenar, a professor at the Michigan State University School of Packaging who specializes in produce packaging, noted that those are made with plastics that allow gas exchange.
But forget respiration for a moment. The risks of pouring delicate berries into a jar was enough to give Ritenour pause. “Whenever you’re touching the berries or moving the berries, you’re giving an opportunity for damage and the introduction or movement of potential decay organisms,” he said.
Ultimately, Ritenour said, don’t expect your produce to last forever. As long as you’re following best practices, if putting your fruits and veggies in a clear, pretty container makes them more enticing and gets them on your plate faster, maybe that’s the “hack” you need.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Rachael Jackson
Published Jul 24, 2024 • 7 minute read
You’ve probably seen them: Images of clear glass canning jars filled with multicolored berries that look like little jewels. Asparagus stalks, plunked into a glass-turned-vase that doubles as a charming centerpiece.
Social media is awash with food-in-jars storage hacks that are a joy to ogle – but do they translate to real-life solutions? I asked produce and food safety researchers and experimented in my own kitchen to learn which of these storage tricks are worth it and which are recipes for things you really don’t want to eat.
Spoiler alert: While water soaks and vase treatments can perk up produce, experts said to beware of water submersion hacks promising weeks of shelf life – that invites microbial growth. Be careful with tightly sealed jars, they warned, which can suffocate living, breathing fresh fruits and vegetables. And remember that every type of produce has different needs and quirks, and every piece of produce has a unique history that could be the difference between quickly going fuzzy or staying pristine for a month. A hack that works this week could easily turn to mush next week.
The best thing you can do to extend the life of most fresh fruits and vegetables is to get them into the fridge as fast as possible, said Elizabeth Mitcham, emeritus director of the Postharvest Technology Center at the University of California, Davis.
“If you go to the farmers market and you buy produce, and then you wander around for a few hours, and then you finally get home and then put them in the fridge, you’ve already lost way more of the life of that product” than you’d gain from any special storage tricks, she said, especially on a warm day.
After keeping produce cool, there’s a delicate dance between storing it in ways that enable it to breathe, but retain moisture, among other factors (including that some whole fruits and vegetables don’t do well in the fridge). The crisper drawer is designed to help with this, but it’s a tough puzzle, which explains why we’re so hungry for hacks.
So here’s what to know about some popular produce storage tricks:
Celery and carrot sticks
The hack: Store celery and carrot sticks in a water-filled jar.
The takeaway: Use this trick to keep veggie sticks attractive and crunchy, but not to stretch shelf life.
In the short term, water submersion keeps celery and carrots crisp by preventing dry air from sucking moisture from their cells. It also prevents dried-out, white patches on cut or peeled carrots. Ben Chapman, director of a food safety research program at North Carolina State University, said a couple days or a week could be fine, but once weeks go by the water could help a small amount of bacterial contamination go from, say, a tiny corner of one celery stick to growing all over the sticks.
Chapman, who analyzed this scenario on “Risky or Not,” a podcast he co-hosts, said his top concern was listeria monocytogenes, a type of human pathogen with the unusual ability to grow in the fridge. In small amounts, it rarely sickens healthy adults, but it becomes more problematic, especially for immunocompromised or pregnant people, once it’s had time to proliferate. If your fridge rises above the recommended 41-degree Fahrenheit maximum, he said, listeria grows faster. Other types of harmful bacteria, as well as bacteria that simply spoil your food, also grow more easily in warmer fridges. After weeks in a too-warm fridge, you could have quite the petri dish, or, jar, of veggie sticks.
One plot twist, noted Don Schaffner, a Rutgers University food microbiologist and Chapman’s podcast co-host: While carrots aren’t immune to microbial growth, there’s evidence they have an unusual ability to inhibit listeria growth. He worries more about celery stored underwater.
Avocados
The hack: Submerge ripe, skin-on avocados in a jug of water and stash in the fridge to extend their life.
The takeaway: Do not submerge avocados in water. Instead, put them in the fridge once they’re ripe to keep them at their peak for a few more days.
Avocados need to ripen at room temperature, but once ripened, the fridge’s chill keeps them at their peak longer. If you halve the avocados first, water will slow oxidation, so they’ll appear good for longer.
But don’t do this. Over time the water can facilitate dangerous bacterial growth, even if the avocado looks great.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration sampling has found listeria on avocado peels, and while you should always wash your produce, a good cleaning can’t remove all bacteria. Additionally, an agency spokesperson told me, when FDA scientists stored whole avocados in refrigerated tanks for 15 days, they found listeria moved from the peel into the green flesh.
Asparagus
The hack: Store asparagus like flowers, in a “vase” in the fridge.
The takeaway: Trim the bottoms of asparagus stalks and stand them upright in a glass with water to keep them firm for a few days. Don’t leave them in water for an extended period of time.
This mirrors an industry practice of packing asparagus upright, with a wet pad at the bottom, said Mark Ritenour, a postharvest biologist at the University of Florida. The moisture fuels their thirsty, growing tissue and prevents shriveling.
If you create an “asparagus vase” at home, Ritenour suggests using a minimal amount of water for only a few days, citing, you guessed it, concerns about microbes flourishing in the water. He also advises cutting off the wet ends before prepping them.
So, I tried this. I split a bunch of asparagus in half, putting one handful in a glass with some water (which looked delightful in my fridge) and the other in a cotton bag in my crisper drawer. After several days, both bunches looked the same, maybe the vase stalks were a little firmer. Both sets roasted up nicely, so for me, for that bunch, it was not worth the time. Ritenour said it’s possible my set up kept just enough moisture in, and noted that my experience speaks to the endless variability with produce.
Berries
The hack: Put berries in a sealed glass jar and stash it in the fridge.
The takeaway: Do not store fresh berries in a sealed jar to extend their life. Instead, leave them in the clamshell container and put them in the crisper drawer of your fridge; or place them in a storage container lined with paper towels and leave the lid ajar. This will preserve some moisture while also allowing gas exchange. (For extended storage: Wash, dry and freeze them.)
A sealed jar traps humidity, keeping berries plump. But many factors, including how often you open the jar, will impact how they fare.
Even harvested produce takes in oxygen and releases carbon dioxide, just like we do. (This is separate from the plant kingdom’s more famous trick, photosynthesis, which, among other things, takes in carbon dioxide and gives off oxygen.) Different types of produce respire at different rates – respiration rate is a huge factor in determining shelf life – and delicate berries respire fast. Left in a sealed jar for too long, they’ll deplete oxygen and switch to anaerobic respiration, which churns out off flavors and eventually makes the berries fall apart, scientists explained to me.
I tried this method myself, leaving jars of berries tightly sealed while I was away for more than a week. When I came home, the jars’ inner walls dripped with condensation. The strawberries smelled of chemicals, and I had no interest in eating them. They were, however, more plump than the berries I left in the clamshell and showed no visible mold, so there’s that.
Another concern: As fresh produce’s respiration depletes oxygen in a sealed jar, it could create an environment that’s ideal for certain bacteria. In this case, berries’ acidity could mitigate pathogen growth, said Schaffner, the Rutgers food microbiologist, but not enough to dispel food safety concerns.
“Generally I think it’s a bad idea to store foods for extended periods of time, especially under anaerobic conditions,” he wrote in an email.
If you’re wondering how to square all this with the sealed bags and tubs of produce sold at grocery stores, Eva Almenar, a professor at the Michigan State University School of Packaging who specializes in produce packaging, noted that those are made with plastics that allow gas exchange.
But forget respiration for a moment. The risks of pouring delicate berries into a jar was enough to give Ritenour pause. “Whenever you’re touching the berries or moving the berries, you’re giving an opportunity for damage and the introduction or movement of potential decay organisms,” he said.
Ultimately, Ritenour said, don’t expect your produce to last forever. As long as you’re following best practices, if putting your fruits and veggies in a clear, pretty container makes them more enticing and gets them on your plate faster, maybe that’s the “hack” you need.
Refrigerating produce in jars looks great, but it can breed bacteria
Social media is awash with food-in-jars storage hacks that are a joy to ogle.
Sharks test positive for cocaine in Brazil’s drug-polluted waters
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Rachel Pannett, The Washington Post
Published Jul 24, 2024 • 2 minute read
Scientists have found traces of cocaine in wild sharks off the coast of Brazil, in a discovery that highlights the risks to marine life of the illegal cocaine trade.
The Brazilian sharpnose sharks were captured by fishing fleets off the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro in southeastern Brazil between September 2021 and August 2023. The 13 sharks – three male and 10 female – all tested positive for cocaine, researchers said in a study published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.
The drug, along with benzoylecgonine, the major metabolite of cocaine, was found in their muscle tissue and livers.
Researchers don’t know exactly how the sharks were exposed to the drug. But they suspect that traces of cocaine were probably discharged into the coastal region through raw sewage in rivers and urban canals.
Another potential source of exposure, according to scientists, is cocaine packs drifting in water and not discovered by drug smugglers or authorities, which pose a risk if sharks bite into them.
That was the case with another apex predator, Cocaine Bear, a 500-pound black bear in Georgia that overdosed on cocaine thought to have been tossed from a drug smuggler’s plane. The bear’s skeletal remains were discovered in 1985 by narcotics investigators. The story was loosely translated into a 2023 horror movie in which the bear went berserk. (In reality, authorities believed the bear probably overdosed swiftly.)
Researchers said this is the first time cocaine has been detected in wild sharks worldwide, and their findings “point to the potential impacts of the presence of illicit drugs in environments.”
Researchers also worry about cocaine reentering the food chain; the sharks are fished for their meat.
Previous studies have found illegal drugs, and legal medications, are accumulating in waters around the world, including in São Paulo state, where scientists say cocaine contamination is posing an ecological threat to marine life including mussels and oysters.
Researchers previously found that the level of cocaine in waters around São Paulo, home to Brazil’s most populous city, was similar to the amount of caffeine in coffee and tea, which they described as a “huge concentration.” It has also been detected in the state’s drinking water.
In 2019, British researchers found freshwater shrimp were being exposed to cocaine and other pharmaceuticals in the country’s rivers.
Global cocaine consumption has soared in recent decades, according to the United Nations. Brazilians are among the biggest consumers of the drug in South America, according to the study’s authors.
The Brazilian researchers chose to study the sharpnose shark because of its small size and the fact that it inhabits an area that is subject to significant contamination from sewage, making it an “environmental sentinel.”
They found that cocaine levels were three times higher in the muscle than in the liver, and that the female sharks had higher cocaine concentrations in muscle tissue compared to males. The amount of cocaine and benzoylecgonine found in the sharks “exceeded levels reported in the literature for fish and other aquatic organisms by up to two orders of magnitude.”
torontosun.com
cocainebear.movie
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Rachel Pannett, The Washington Post
Published Jul 24, 2024 • 2 minute read
Scientists have found traces of cocaine in wild sharks off the coast of Brazil, in a discovery that highlights the risks to marine life of the illegal cocaine trade.
The Brazilian sharpnose sharks were captured by fishing fleets off the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro in southeastern Brazil between September 2021 and August 2023. The 13 sharks – three male and 10 female – all tested positive for cocaine, researchers said in a study published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.
The drug, along with benzoylecgonine, the major metabolite of cocaine, was found in their muscle tissue and livers.
Researchers don’t know exactly how the sharks were exposed to the drug. But they suspect that traces of cocaine were probably discharged into the coastal region through raw sewage in rivers and urban canals.
Another potential source of exposure, according to scientists, is cocaine packs drifting in water and not discovered by drug smugglers or authorities, which pose a risk if sharks bite into them.
That was the case with another apex predator, Cocaine Bear, a 500-pound black bear in Georgia that overdosed on cocaine thought to have been tossed from a drug smuggler’s plane. The bear’s skeletal remains were discovered in 1985 by narcotics investigators. The story was loosely translated into a 2023 horror movie in which the bear went berserk. (In reality, authorities believed the bear probably overdosed swiftly.)
Researchers said this is the first time cocaine has been detected in wild sharks worldwide, and their findings “point to the potential impacts of the presence of illicit drugs in environments.”
Researchers also worry about cocaine reentering the food chain; the sharks are fished for their meat.
Previous studies have found illegal drugs, and legal medications, are accumulating in waters around the world, including in São Paulo state, where scientists say cocaine contamination is posing an ecological threat to marine life including mussels and oysters.
Researchers previously found that the level of cocaine in waters around São Paulo, home to Brazil’s most populous city, was similar to the amount of caffeine in coffee and tea, which they described as a “huge concentration.” It has also been detected in the state’s drinking water.
In 2019, British researchers found freshwater shrimp were being exposed to cocaine and other pharmaceuticals in the country’s rivers.
Global cocaine consumption has soared in recent decades, according to the United Nations. Brazilians are among the biggest consumers of the drug in South America, according to the study’s authors.
The Brazilian researchers chose to study the sharpnose shark because of its small size and the fact that it inhabits an area that is subject to significant contamination from sewage, making it an “environmental sentinel.”
They found that cocaine levels were three times higher in the muscle than in the liver, and that the female sharks had higher cocaine concentrations in muscle tissue compared to males. The amount of cocaine and benzoylecgonine found in the sharks “exceeded levels reported in the literature for fish and other aquatic organisms by up to two orders of magnitude.”
Sharks test positive for cocaine in Brazil’s drug-polluted waters
In a discovery that highlights the risks to marine life of the illegal cocaine trade.
Cocaine Bear
Inspired by the 1985 true story of a drug runner's plane crash, missing cocaine, and the black bear that ate it, this wild dark comedy finds an oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists, and teens converging in a Georgia forest where a 500-pound apex predator has ingested a staggering amount of...
Komodo dragons have iron-coated teeth to rip apart prey, scientists find
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Andrew Jeong, The Washington Post
Published Jul 25, 2024 • 2 minute read
A close-up of the tip of a Komodo dragon tooth, showing serration and orange pigmentation along the tip. MUST CREDIT: Aaron LeBlanc
A close-up of the tip of a Komodo dragon tooth, showing serration and orange pigmentation along the tip. MUST CREDIT: Aaron LeBlanc Photo by Aaron LeBlanc /Aaron LeBlanc
Komodo dragons are compared to carnivorous dinosaurs for good reason. They are the largest living lizard on the planet. Their large, serrated teeth can tear apart almost any kind of meat, including water buffaloes weighing more than 1,000 pounds.
On Wednesday, scientists announced a discovery that could add to the comparisons: Komodo dragons’ teeth are coated with iron to rip apart their prey. Aaron LeBlanc, a lecturer in dental biosciences at King’s College London and the lead author of the study, said in a news release that the findings give “new insight into how Komodo dragons keep their teeth razor-sharp and may provide clues to how dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex killed and ate their prey.”
The study, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, “demonstrates a striking and previously overlooked predatory adaptation in the Komodo dragon,” according to the authors.
The Komodo dragons’ “iron-enriched coatings on their tooth serrations and tips” are evident from their orange pigmentation, according to the authors. This pigmentation has never been reported before in a carnivorous reptile, they added.
Although other reptiles have iron on their teeth, the study suggests that “only some species have evolved prominent iron coatings along specific parts of their tooth crowns, presumably as feeding adaptations.”
Indigenous to Indonesia, Komodo dragons are thought to be able to live up to 30 years in the wild. They are found on just a handful of islands in the archipelagic nation, including the one that lends the species its name.
They are listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List, which assesses populations that are at risk of extinction. The organization estimates that there are fewer than 3,500 Komodo dragons alive worldwide.
Komodo dragons share a common ancestor with dinosaurs – and, the authors said, the iron coating on the dragons’ teeth could shed light on how top dinosaur predators consumed their prey. Carnivorous dinosaurs’ teeth resemble those of their Komodo dragon cousins: They are serrated, curved and blade-shaped.
Although the researchers could not confirm a similar iron coating on dinosaur fossils because of the effects of fossilization, they “want to use this similarity to learn more about how carnivorous dinosaurs might have ate and if they used iron in their teeth the same way as the Komodo dragon,” LeBlanc said in the news release.
“With further analysis of the Komodo teeth we may be able to find other markers in the iron coating that aren’t changed during fossilization. With markers like that we would know with certainty whether dinosaurs also had iron-coated teeth and have a greater understanding of these ferocious predators,” he said.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Andrew Jeong, The Washington Post
Published Jul 25, 2024 • 2 minute read
A close-up of the tip of a Komodo dragon tooth, showing serration and orange pigmentation along the tip. MUST CREDIT: Aaron LeBlanc
A close-up of the tip of a Komodo dragon tooth, showing serration and orange pigmentation along the tip. MUST CREDIT: Aaron LeBlanc Photo by Aaron LeBlanc /Aaron LeBlanc
Komodo dragons are compared to carnivorous dinosaurs for good reason. They are the largest living lizard on the planet. Their large, serrated teeth can tear apart almost any kind of meat, including water buffaloes weighing more than 1,000 pounds.
On Wednesday, scientists announced a discovery that could add to the comparisons: Komodo dragons’ teeth are coated with iron to rip apart their prey. Aaron LeBlanc, a lecturer in dental biosciences at King’s College London and the lead author of the study, said in a news release that the findings give “new insight into how Komodo dragons keep their teeth razor-sharp and may provide clues to how dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex killed and ate their prey.”
The study, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, “demonstrates a striking and previously overlooked predatory adaptation in the Komodo dragon,” according to the authors.
The Komodo dragons’ “iron-enriched coatings on their tooth serrations and tips” are evident from their orange pigmentation, according to the authors. This pigmentation has never been reported before in a carnivorous reptile, they added.
Although other reptiles have iron on their teeth, the study suggests that “only some species have evolved prominent iron coatings along specific parts of their tooth crowns, presumably as feeding adaptations.”
Indigenous to Indonesia, Komodo dragons are thought to be able to live up to 30 years in the wild. They are found on just a handful of islands in the archipelagic nation, including the one that lends the species its name.
They are listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List, which assesses populations that are at risk of extinction. The organization estimates that there are fewer than 3,500 Komodo dragons alive worldwide.
Komodo dragons share a common ancestor with dinosaurs – and, the authors said, the iron coating on the dragons’ teeth could shed light on how top dinosaur predators consumed their prey. Carnivorous dinosaurs’ teeth resemble those of their Komodo dragon cousins: They are serrated, curved and blade-shaped.
Although the researchers could not confirm a similar iron coating on dinosaur fossils because of the effects of fossilization, they “want to use this similarity to learn more about how carnivorous dinosaurs might have ate and if they used iron in their teeth the same way as the Komodo dragon,” LeBlanc said in the news release.
“With further analysis of the Komodo teeth we may be able to find other markers in the iron coating that aren’t changed during fossilization. With markers like that we would know with certainty whether dinosaurs also had iron-coated teeth and have a greater understanding of these ferocious predators,” he said.
Komodo dragons have iron-coated teeth to rip apart prey, scientists find
Komodo dragons are compared to carnivorous dinosaurs for good reason.
4 in 10 U.S. cancer cases linked to smoking, other modifiable risks
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Hannah Docter-Loeb, The Washington Post
Published Jul 29, 2024 • 1 minute read
Modifiable risk factors such as smoking were linked to about 40% of U.S. adult cancer cases in 2019, according to a recent study led by the American Cancer Society.
The study, published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, assessed cancer cases and deaths among U.S. adults 30 or older in 2019. The researchers estimated the numbers of cases and deaths related to modifiable risk factors for 30 types of cancers.
Risk factors identified included smoking cigarettes, secondhand smoke, excess body weight, alcohol consumption, consumption of red and processed meat, low fruit and vegetable consumption, ultraviolet radiation and infection with cancer-related viruses.
An estimated 40% of incident cancer cases and 44% of deaths were attributed to modifiable risk factors. Cigarette smoking was the leading risk factor, contributing to 19.3% of cancer cases and 28.5% of deaths. Excess body weight was also a major risk factor, contributing to 7.6% of cancer cases. Other leading risk factors for cancer cases included alcohol consumption (5.4%), UV radiation exposure (4.6%) and physical inactivity (3.1%).
The researchers also looked at the relationship between some types of cancer and risk factors. Lung cancer had the most cases and deaths that could be attributed to risk factors in both men and women. Skin melanoma, colorectal cancer and urinary bladder cancer also had a high proportion of cases attributable to risk factors.
“Large numbers of cancer cases and deaths in the United States are attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors, underscoring the potential to substantially reduce the cancer burden through broad and equitable implementation of preventive initiatives,” the researchers write.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Hannah Docter-Loeb, The Washington Post
Published Jul 29, 2024 • 1 minute read
Modifiable risk factors such as smoking were linked to about 40% of U.S. adult cancer cases in 2019, according to a recent study led by the American Cancer Society.
The study, published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, assessed cancer cases and deaths among U.S. adults 30 or older in 2019. The researchers estimated the numbers of cases and deaths related to modifiable risk factors for 30 types of cancers.
Risk factors identified included smoking cigarettes, secondhand smoke, excess body weight, alcohol consumption, consumption of red and processed meat, low fruit and vegetable consumption, ultraviolet radiation and infection with cancer-related viruses.
An estimated 40% of incident cancer cases and 44% of deaths were attributed to modifiable risk factors. Cigarette smoking was the leading risk factor, contributing to 19.3% of cancer cases and 28.5% of deaths. Excess body weight was also a major risk factor, contributing to 7.6% of cancer cases. Other leading risk factors for cancer cases included alcohol consumption (5.4%), UV radiation exposure (4.6%) and physical inactivity (3.1%).
The researchers also looked at the relationship between some types of cancer and risk factors. Lung cancer had the most cases and deaths that could be attributed to risk factors in both men and women. Skin melanoma, colorectal cancer and urinary bladder cancer also had a high proportion of cases attributable to risk factors.
“Large numbers of cancer cases and deaths in the United States are attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors, underscoring the potential to substantially reduce the cancer burden through broad and equitable implementation of preventive initiatives,” the researchers write.
4 in 10 U.S. cancer cases linked to smoking, other modifiable risks
Modifiable risk factors such as smoking were linked to about 40% of U.S. adult cancer cases in 2019, according to a recent study.
Alzheimer’s blood test shows 90% accuracy, outperforming other exams
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Andrew Jeong, The Washington Post
Published Jul 29, 2024 • 2 minute read
A new study shows that a simple blood test can outperform traditional exams when it comes to determining whether Alzheimer’s is responsible for memory problems, accurately diagnosing the disease about 90% of the time.
Compare that with dementia specialists who successfully identified Alzheimer’s 73% of the time, while primary care doctors did so with a 61% rate, according to the study of 1,213 patients in Sweden that was published Sunday on JAMA, the journal published by the American Medical Association, and presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference on the same day in Philadelphia.
The encouraging findings come amid larger efforts to develop a cheap, simple blood test that can quickly diagnose patients with Alzheimer’s without forcing people to undergo more expensive and invasive exams, such as spinal taps. Although blood tests are already used in clinics, they are often not covered by insurance, costing hundreds of dollars or more.
“Overall, this is a nice addition to a rapidly growing literature, although not necessarily a game changer per se,” said Cliff Abraham, a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of Otago in New Zealand who was not involved in the study.
The study’s authors compiled data from patients with cognitive symptoms whose mean age was 74. About 23% of them had subjective cognitive decline, 44% mild cognitive impairment and 33% dementia.
The authors measured the level of p-tau217, a type of protein that builds up and impairs the brain in Alzheimer’s patients, and amyloid beta, another protein that is considered a biomarker of Alzheimer’s.
“It is clear, but not surprising, that the blood test offers better diagnostic accuracy than clinical evaluation, which has access to only indirect information about brain health, for example cognitive tests,” Abraham said.
Alternatives for diagnosing Alzheimer’s include PET scans, which can cost $5,000 or more, and are not covered by Medicare except in trials, while spinal taps are invasive.
The study adds to evidence that diagnosing Alzheimer’s could soon be done more quickly and easily. Faster and more accurate diagnoses allow patients and their families to better prepare for medical bills, enroll in clinical trials or anticipate care needs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, afflicting more than 6 million Americans. Although younger people can get Alzheimer’s, most patients are elderly, with the number of patients doubling every five years beyond age 65, according to the CDC. Up to 14 million Americans may have Alzheimer’s by 2060.
The disease begins with mild memory loss but can progress to patients losing the ability to carry on a conversation. It is one of the top 10 causes of death in the United States, with death rates climbing. There is no cure, although there are drugs that can slow the disease.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Andrew Jeong, The Washington Post
Published Jul 29, 2024 • 2 minute read
A new study shows that a simple blood test can outperform traditional exams when it comes to determining whether Alzheimer’s is responsible for memory problems, accurately diagnosing the disease about 90% of the time.
Compare that with dementia specialists who successfully identified Alzheimer’s 73% of the time, while primary care doctors did so with a 61% rate, according to the study of 1,213 patients in Sweden that was published Sunday on JAMA, the journal published by the American Medical Association, and presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference on the same day in Philadelphia.
The encouraging findings come amid larger efforts to develop a cheap, simple blood test that can quickly diagnose patients with Alzheimer’s without forcing people to undergo more expensive and invasive exams, such as spinal taps. Although blood tests are already used in clinics, they are often not covered by insurance, costing hundreds of dollars or more.
“Overall, this is a nice addition to a rapidly growing literature, although not necessarily a game changer per se,” said Cliff Abraham, a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of Otago in New Zealand who was not involved in the study.
The study’s authors compiled data from patients with cognitive symptoms whose mean age was 74. About 23% of them had subjective cognitive decline, 44% mild cognitive impairment and 33% dementia.
The authors measured the level of p-tau217, a type of protein that builds up and impairs the brain in Alzheimer’s patients, and amyloid beta, another protein that is considered a biomarker of Alzheimer’s.
“It is clear, but not surprising, that the blood test offers better diagnostic accuracy than clinical evaluation, which has access to only indirect information about brain health, for example cognitive tests,” Abraham said.
Alternatives for diagnosing Alzheimer’s include PET scans, which can cost $5,000 or more, and are not covered by Medicare except in trials, while spinal taps are invasive.
The study adds to evidence that diagnosing Alzheimer’s could soon be done more quickly and easily. Faster and more accurate diagnoses allow patients and their families to better prepare for medical bills, enroll in clinical trials or anticipate care needs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, afflicting more than 6 million Americans. Although younger people can get Alzheimer’s, most patients are elderly, with the number of patients doubling every five years beyond age 65, according to the CDC. Up to 14 million Americans may have Alzheimer’s by 2060.
The disease begins with mild memory loss but can progress to patients losing the ability to carry on a conversation. It is one of the top 10 causes of death in the United States, with death rates climbing. There is no cure, although there are drugs that can slow the disease.
Alzheimer’s blood test shows 90% accuracy, outperforming other exams
A new study shows that a simple blood test can diagnose patients with Alzheimer's.
Female frog observed trying to eat mate after breeding
Author of the articleenette Wilford
Published Jul 29, 2024 • 2 minute read
There are some female frogs that pretend to be dead to escape unwanted attention from aroused males.
Then there are females that are perfectly fine to mate — but then consume their male counterparts once the breeding act is completed.
John Gould shared his findings in a new study published in the Journal of Ecology and Evolution, titled Meal or mate: Exploring the evidence of sexual cannibalism among amphibians.
He was observing green and golden bell frogs on Kooragang Island in Australia, where he witnessed the surprising act, SWNS reported.
Gould, an ecologist from the University of Newcastle in Australia and the lead author of the study, was observing the species where their population remains strong, though its numbers have significantly declined overall due to the amphibian chytrid fungus.
He managed to capture photographic and video evidence of a female green and golden bell frog attempting to eat her male suitor.
Gould detailed to SWNS that the female grabbed the male’s leg and held on tight while drawing the amphibian deeper into her mouth and the pond nearby.
The restrained male frog lets out a high-pitched squeal in video footage shared by the outlet before it escapes from the female’s clutches and hops to freedom.
Gould noted that he also observed female green and golden bell frogs consuming other frog species, including marsh frogs, according to the outlet. The university said that Gould’s observations have motivated other ecologists to closer examine this cannibalistic behaviour.
“The circumstances of the attempted cannibalism — with an adult female frog targeting an adult male suitor — has prompted Dr. Gould to explore a new theory that female frogs may have a choice in exploiting potential male suitors for breeding or food and that the male’s call may determine his fate,” the school said.
Other “active forms of cannibalism” that widely occur among amphibians are mainly “tadpoles that feed on each other and adults that feed on juveniles,” according to the study.
Cannibalism among amphibian adults is less often reported, but when adult-adult cannibalism does take place, the researches hypothesized, females “exploit” males to “differentiate suitable partners from potential prey.”
That makes male frogs “vulnerable to sexual cannibalism, as they must risk attracting and physically exposing themselves to females in order to reproduce.”
torontosun.com
Author of the article
enette WilfordPublished Jul 29, 2024 • 2 minute read
There are some female frogs that pretend to be dead to escape unwanted attention from aroused males.
Then there are females that are perfectly fine to mate — but then consume their male counterparts once the breeding act is completed.
John Gould shared his findings in a new study published in the Journal of Ecology and Evolution, titled Meal or mate: Exploring the evidence of sexual cannibalism among amphibians.
He was observing green and golden bell frogs on Kooragang Island in Australia, where he witnessed the surprising act, SWNS reported.
Gould, an ecologist from the University of Newcastle in Australia and the lead author of the study, was observing the species where their population remains strong, though its numbers have significantly declined overall due to the amphibian chytrid fungus.
He managed to capture photographic and video evidence of a female green and golden bell frog attempting to eat her male suitor.
Gould detailed to SWNS that the female grabbed the male’s leg and held on tight while drawing the amphibian deeper into her mouth and the pond nearby.
The restrained male frog lets out a high-pitched squeal in video footage shared by the outlet before it escapes from the female’s clutches and hops to freedom.
Gould noted that he also observed female green and golden bell frogs consuming other frog species, including marsh frogs, according to the outlet. The university said that Gould’s observations have motivated other ecologists to closer examine this cannibalistic behaviour.
“The circumstances of the attempted cannibalism — with an adult female frog targeting an adult male suitor — has prompted Dr. Gould to explore a new theory that female frogs may have a choice in exploiting potential male suitors for breeding or food and that the male’s call may determine his fate,” the school said.
Other “active forms of cannibalism” that widely occur among amphibians are mainly “tadpoles that feed on each other and adults that feed on juveniles,” according to the study.
Cannibalism among amphibian adults is less often reported, but when adult-adult cannibalism does take place, the researches hypothesized, females “exploit” males to “differentiate suitable partners from potential prey.”
That makes male frogs “vulnerable to sexual cannibalism, as they must risk attracting and physically exposing themselves to females in order to reproduce.”
'SEXUAL CANNIBALISM:' Female frog observed trying to eat mate after breeding
There are females that are perfectly fine to mate — but then consume their male counterparts once the breeding act is completed.
Too much in diet accelerates biological age, study says
Author of the article:Jane Stevenson
Published Jul 30, 2024 • Last updated 12 hours ago • 1 minute read
Cut down on sugar and you’ll age better.
That’s the suggestion of a new study published Monday in JAMA Network Open.
The work by researchers at the University of California – San Francisco found that cutting out 10 grams of sugar daily — the equivalent of a Krispy Kreme donut or three Chips Ahoy! cookies — could turn back your biological clock by 2.4 months.
The study looked at the self-reported food record of 342 mostly obese women aged 36 to 43 to see how two diets — one vitamin and mineral rich, the other heavy on the sugar — affected the participants’ “epigenetic clock.”
Saliva samples were used to estimate a person’s biological age — how old your cells are as opposed to your chronological age — based on DNA changes.
The research found women who stuck to a Mediterranean diet versus a high sugar one had a “significantly lower” biological age on average.
“We knew that high levels of added sugars are linked to worsened metabolic health and early disease, possibly more than any other dietary factor,” said Dr. Elissa Epel, co-senior study author and professor in the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavorial Sciences, as quoted by the Daily Mail.
“Now we know that accelerated epigenetic aging is underlying this relationship, and this is likely one of many ways that excessive sugar intake limits healthy longevity.”
As cells age, the more wear and tear they develop, and that increases the risk of chronic diseases like cancer.
“The diets we examined align with existing recommendations for preventing disease and promoting health, and they highlight the potency of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrients in particular,” said Dr. Dorothy Chiu, lead study author and postdoctoral researcher at the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Health.
“From a lifestyle medicine standpoint, it is empowering to see how heeding these recommendations may promote a younger cellular age relative to chronological age.”
dailymail.co.uk
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Jane Stevenson
Published Jul 30, 2024 • Last updated 12 hours ago • 1 minute read
Cut down on sugar and you’ll age better.
That’s the suggestion of a new study published Monday in JAMA Network Open.
The work by researchers at the University of California – San Francisco found that cutting out 10 grams of sugar daily — the equivalent of a Krispy Kreme donut or three Chips Ahoy! cookies — could turn back your biological clock by 2.4 months.
The study looked at the self-reported food record of 342 mostly obese women aged 36 to 43 to see how two diets — one vitamin and mineral rich, the other heavy on the sugar — affected the participants’ “epigenetic clock.”
Saliva samples were used to estimate a person’s biological age — how old your cells are as opposed to your chronological age — based on DNA changes.
The research found women who stuck to a Mediterranean diet versus a high sugar one had a “significantly lower” biological age on average.
“We knew that high levels of added sugars are linked to worsened metabolic health and early disease, possibly more than any other dietary factor,” said Dr. Elissa Epel, co-senior study author and professor in the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavorial Sciences, as quoted by the Daily Mail.
“Now we know that accelerated epigenetic aging is underlying this relationship, and this is likely one of many ways that excessive sugar intake limits healthy longevity.”
As cells age, the more wear and tear they develop, and that increases the risk of chronic diseases like cancer.
“The diets we examined align with existing recommendations for preventing disease and promoting health, and they highlight the potency of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrients in particular,” said Dr. Dorothy Chiu, lead study author and postdoctoral researcher at the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Health.
“From a lifestyle medicine standpoint, it is empowering to see how heeding these recommendations may promote a younger cellular age relative to chronological age.”
How cutting out one donut per day can make you biologically younger
Cutting out just 10 grams of sugar every day - one Krispy Kreme donut - could 'significantly' lower your biological age, a study from researchers at the University of California - San Francisco suggests.
Oh, sugar sugar! Too much in diet accelerates biological age, study says
Cut down on sugar and you'll age better, is the suggestion of a new study by researchers at the University of California - San Francisco.
Eating vegan could decrease biological age, weight, study suggests
Author of the article:Jane Stevenson
Published Jul 30, 2024 • 1 minute read
A new study puts some weight — pun intended — behind the common parental phrase, “Eat your vegetables.”
Researchers at California’s Stanford University said eating a vegan diet for just eight weeks may decrease a person’s biological age and help them shed pounds, reported the Daily Mail.
Participants who ate just plant-based foods also saw age decreases hormonally and in the heart, liver and inflammatory and metabolic systems, while those eating meat, eggs and dairy did not.
The findings, published in the journal BMC Medicine, were based on a study of 21 pairs of identical twins aged 39, half of whom ate a vegan diet, while the other sibling ate an omnivorous diet.
Researchers found those who ate a vegan diet lost two kilograms more on average than those who did not, but that was likely due to them eating 200 fewer calories daily over the first four weeks.
Experts also said the weight loss could have contributed to the biological differences between the two groups rather than the food itself.
It has been suggested that in the long term, a vegan diet may lead to nutritional deficiencies and may not suit all ages.
Varun Dwaraka, of epigenetic testing company TruDiagnostic Inc., Stanford’s Christopher Gardner and colleagues said further research is needed to investigate the relationship between diet, weight and aging, in addition to the long-term effects of vegan diets.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Jane Stevenson
Published Jul 30, 2024 • 1 minute read
A new study puts some weight — pun intended — behind the common parental phrase, “Eat your vegetables.”
Researchers at California’s Stanford University said eating a vegan diet for just eight weeks may decrease a person’s biological age and help them shed pounds, reported the Daily Mail.
Participants who ate just plant-based foods also saw age decreases hormonally and in the heart, liver and inflammatory and metabolic systems, while those eating meat, eggs and dairy did not.
The findings, published in the journal BMC Medicine, were based on a study of 21 pairs of identical twins aged 39, half of whom ate a vegan diet, while the other sibling ate an omnivorous diet.
Researchers found those who ate a vegan diet lost two kilograms more on average than those who did not, but that was likely due to them eating 200 fewer calories daily over the first four weeks.
Experts also said the weight loss could have contributed to the biological differences between the two groups rather than the food itself.
It has been suggested that in the long term, a vegan diet may lead to nutritional deficiencies and may not suit all ages.
Varun Dwaraka, of epigenetic testing company TruDiagnostic Inc., Stanford’s Christopher Gardner and colleagues said further research is needed to investigate the relationship between diet, weight and aging, in addition to the long-term effects of vegan diets.
Eating vegan could decrease biological age, weight, study suggests
Researchers at Stanford University said eating a vegan diet for eight weeks may decrease a person’s biological age and help shed pounds.
Anya Taylor-Joy named most beautiful woman in scientific study
Beyonce was found to have a near-perfect face shape
Author of the article:Bang Showbiz
Bang Showbiz
Published Jul 30, 2024 • 2 minute read
Anya Taylor-Joy Golden Ratio ONE USE ONLY
Anya Taylor-Joy Golden Ratio ONE USE ONLY Photo by Golden Ratio /Bang Showbiz
Anya Taylor-Joy is the most beautiful woman in the world, according to science.
The ‘Queen’s Gambit’ actress’ facial features were measured and came out 94.66% accurate to the Greek Golden Ratio of Beauty Phi, which measures physical perfection, narrowly ahead of Zendaya, who came in second with 94.37% and Bella Hadid, whose 94.35% accuracy secured her third place.
Computerized facial mapping techniques used for the measurements were developed by Harley Street facial cosmetic surgeon Dr Julian De Silva, and he found Taylor-Joy, 28, to be the “clear winner.”
De Silva, who runs the Centre For Advanced Facial Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery in London, explained: “Anya Taylor-Joy was the clear winner when all elements of the face were measured for physical perfection.
“She had the highest overall reading for the positioning of her eyes, with a score of 98.9%, which is only 1.1% away from being the perfect shape.
“Anya also had the highest score for her eyebrows and was close to the top in almost every category apart from her lips.
“Zendaya was a close second and achieved the second highest score for her lips with a mark of 99.5%.
“Bella Hadid was third, achieving the top score for her chin and high scores across most facial features apart from her brow area.
“Margot Robbie was fourth, scoring highly in all categories except the brow area.
“These brand new computer mapping techniques allow us to solve some of the mysteries of what it is that makes someone physically beautiful and the technology is useful when planning patients’ surgery.”
Although she only placed sixth on the list of most beautiful women, Beyonce was found to have a near-perfect face shape, scoring 99.6%.
The Golden Ratio was a mathematical equation devised by the Greeks in an attempt to measure beauty and was famously used by Leonardo Da Vinci for the perfect human male body in his work ‘The Virtruvian Man’.
The 10 most beautiful women in the world according to their Golden Ratio scores:
1. Anya Taylor-Joy – 94.66%
2. Zendaya – 94.37%
3. Bella Hadid – 94.35%
4. Margot Robbie – 93.43%
5. Song Hye-kyo – 92.67%
6. Beyoncé – 92.4%
7. Taylor Swift – 91.64%
8. Zhang Ziyi – 91.51%
9. Alia Bhatt – 91.14%
10. Nazanin Boniadi – 90.89%
![anya-taylor-joy[1].jpg](https://forums.canadiancontent.net/data/attachments/22/22046-5decf5d8f267b8440e10959baa5606a2.jpg "anya-taylor-joy[1].jpg")
torontosun.com
Beyonce was found to have a near-perfect face shape
Author of the article:Bang Showbiz
Bang Showbiz
Published Jul 30, 2024 • 2 minute read
Anya Taylor-Joy Golden Ratio ONE USE ONLY
Anya Taylor-Joy Golden Ratio ONE USE ONLY Photo by Golden Ratio /Bang Showbiz
Anya Taylor-Joy is the most beautiful woman in the world, according to science.
The ‘Queen’s Gambit’ actress’ facial features were measured and came out 94.66% accurate to the Greek Golden Ratio of Beauty Phi, which measures physical perfection, narrowly ahead of Zendaya, who came in second with 94.37% and Bella Hadid, whose 94.35% accuracy secured her third place.
Computerized facial mapping techniques used for the measurements were developed by Harley Street facial cosmetic surgeon Dr Julian De Silva, and he found Taylor-Joy, 28, to be the “clear winner.”
De Silva, who runs the Centre For Advanced Facial Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery in London, explained: “Anya Taylor-Joy was the clear winner when all elements of the face were measured for physical perfection.
“She had the highest overall reading for the positioning of her eyes, with a score of 98.9%, which is only 1.1% away from being the perfect shape.
“Anya also had the highest score for her eyebrows and was close to the top in almost every category apart from her lips.
“Zendaya was a close second and achieved the second highest score for her lips with a mark of 99.5%.
“Bella Hadid was third, achieving the top score for her chin and high scores across most facial features apart from her brow area.
“Margot Robbie was fourth, scoring highly in all categories except the brow area.
“These brand new computer mapping techniques allow us to solve some of the mysteries of what it is that makes someone physically beautiful and the technology is useful when planning patients’ surgery.”
Although she only placed sixth on the list of most beautiful women, Beyonce was found to have a near-perfect face shape, scoring 99.6%.
The Golden Ratio was a mathematical equation devised by the Greeks in an attempt to measure beauty and was famously used by Leonardo Da Vinci for the perfect human male body in his work ‘The Virtruvian Man’.
The 10 most beautiful women in the world according to their Golden Ratio scores:
1. Anya Taylor-Joy – 94.66%
2. Zendaya – 94.37%
3. Bella Hadid – 94.35%
4. Margot Robbie – 93.43%
5. Song Hye-kyo – 92.67%
6. Beyoncé – 92.4%
7. Taylor Swift – 91.64%
8. Zhang Ziyi – 91.51%
9. Alia Bhatt – 91.14%
10. Nazanin Boniadi – 90.89%
Anya Taylor-Joy named most beautiful woman in scientific study
Her facial features were measured and came out 94.66% accurate to the Greek Golden Ratio of Beauty Phi, which measures physical perfection,
Anya Taylor-Joy named most beautiful woman in scientific study
Beyonce was found to have a near-perfect face shape
Author of the article:Bang Showbiz
Bang Showbiz
Published Jul 30, 2024 • 2 minute read
Anya Taylor-Joy Golden Ratio ONE USE ONLY
Anya Taylor-Joy Golden Ratio ONE USE ONLY Photo by Golden Ratio /Bang Showbiz
Anya Taylor-Joy is the most beautiful woman in the world, according to science.
The ‘Queen’s Gambit’ actress’ facial features were measured and came out 94.66% accurate to the Greek Golden Ratio of Beauty Phi, which measures physical perfection, narrowly ahead of Zendaya, who came in second with 94.37% and Bella Hadid, whose 94.35% accuracy secured her third place.
Computerized facial mapping techniques used for the measurements were developed by Harley Street facial cosmetic surgeon Dr Julian De Silva, and he found Taylor-Joy, 28, to be the “clear winner.”
De Silva, who runs the Centre For Advanced Facial Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery in London, explained: “Anya Taylor-Joy was the clear winner when all elements of the face were measured for physical perfection.
“She had the highest overall reading for the positioning of her eyes, with a score of 98.9%, which is only 1.1% away from being the perfect shape.
“Anya also had the highest score for her eyebrows and was close to the top in almost every category apart from her lips.
“Zendaya was a close second and achieved the second highest score for her lips with a mark of 99.5%.
“Bella Hadid was third, achieving the top score for her chin and high scores across most facial features apart from her brow area.
“Margot Robbie was fourth, scoring highly in all categories except the brow area.
“These brand new computer mapping techniques allow us to solve some of the mysteries of what it is that makes someone physically beautiful and the technology is useful when planning patients’ surgery.”
Although she only placed sixth on the list of most beautiful women, Beyonce was found to have a near-perfect face shape, scoring 99.6%.
The Golden Ratio was a mathematical equation devised by the Greeks in an attempt to measure beauty and was famously used by Leonardo Da Vinci for the perfect human male body in his work ‘The Virtruvian Man’.
The 10 most beautiful women in the world according to their Golden Ratio scores:
1. Anya Taylor-Joy – 94.66%
2. Zendaya – 94.37%
3. Bella Hadid – 94.35%
4. Margot Robbie – 93.43%
5. Song Hye-kyo – 92.67%
6. Beyoncé – 92.4%
7. Taylor Swift – 91.64%
8. Zhang Ziyi – 91.51%
9. Alia Bhatt – 91.14%
10. Nazanin Boniadi – 90.89%
View attachment 23784
Anya Taylor-Joy named most beautiful woman in scientific study
Her facial features were measured and came out 94.66% accurate to the Greek Golden Ratio of Beauty Phi, which measures physical perfection,
Anya Taylor-Joy named most beautiful woman in scientific study
Beyonce was found to have a near-perfect face shape
Author of the article:Bang Showbiz
Bang Showbiz
Published Jul 30, 2024 • 2 minute read
Anya Taylor-Joy Golden Ratio ONE USE ONLY
Anya Taylor-Joy Golden Ratio ONE USE ONLY Photo by Golden Ratio /Bang Showbiz
Anya Taylor-Joy is the most beautiful woman in the world, according to science.
The ‘Queen’s Gambit’ actress’ facial features were measured and came out 94.66% accurate to the Greek Golden Ratio of Beauty Phi, which measures physical perfection, narrowly ahead of Zendaya, who came in second with 94.37% and Bella Hadid, whose 94.35% accuracy secured her third place.
Computerized facial mapping techniques used for the measurements were developed by Harley Street facial cosmetic surgeon Dr Julian De Silva, and he found Taylor-Joy, 28, to be the “clear winner.”
De Silva, who runs the Centre For Advanced Facial Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery in London, explained: “Anya Taylor-Joy was the clear winner when all elements of the face were measured for physical perfection.
“She had the highest overall reading for the positioning of her eyes, with a score of 98.9%, which is only 1.1% away from being the perfect shape.
“Anya also had the highest score for her eyebrows and was close to the top in almost every category apart from her lips.
“Zendaya was a close second and achieved the second highest score for her lips with a mark of 99.5%.
“Bella Hadid was third, achieving the top score for her chin and high scores across most facial features apart from her brow area.
“Margot Robbie was fourth, scoring highly in all categories except the brow area.
“These brand new computer mapping techniques allow us to solve some of the mysteries of what it is that makes someone physically beautiful and the technology is useful when planning patients’ surgery.”
Although she only placed sixth on the list of most beautiful women, Beyonce was found to have a near-perfect face shape, scoring 99.6%.
The Golden Ratio was a mathematical equation devised by the Greeks in an attempt to measure beauty and was famously used by Leonardo Da Vinci for the perfect human male body in his work ‘The Virtruvian Man’.
The 10 most beautiful women in the world according to their Golden Ratio scores:
1. Anya Taylor-Joy – 94.66%
2. Zendaya – 94.37%
3. Bella Hadid – 94.35%
4. Margot Robbie – 93.43%
5. Song Hye-kyo – 92.67%
6. Beyoncé – 92.4%
7. Taylor Swift – 91.64%
8. Zhang Ziyi – 91.51%
9. Alia Bhatt – 91.14%
10. Nazanin Boniadi – 90.89%
View attachment 23784
Anya Taylor-Joy named most beautiful woman in scientific study
Her facial features were measured and came out 94.66% accurate to the Greek Golden Ratio of Beauty Phi, which measures physical perfection,
