toxics

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No One Can Stop Leaking Oil

By Admin / On July 30th, 2013
Katie Valentine and Ryan Koronowski of ThinkProgress uncover what oil companies (and snow) have been keeping secret. A Canadian oil company still hasn’t been able to stop a series leaks from underground wells at a tar sands operation in Cold Lake, Alberta.
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Unnatural Selection

By Emily Monosson / On November 16th, 2012
Salamanders, fish and perhaps even humans are evolving fast in response to toxic chemicals. Is that bad? In the hemlock and oak forests of northeastern Connecticut, Steve Brady stood thigh deep in black muck and scooped up a handful of spotted salamander eggs. A Yale PhD student, he had once fancied himself zipping across tropical waters in a Zodiac boat or scanning rainforest canopies in search of exotic birds.
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Evolution: It’s Humanly Possible

By [node:field_contributor] / On September 17th, 2012
When discussion turns to the rapid evolution of resistance in response to toxic chemicals, inevitably someone has to ask, “So, what about us? Can we evolve our way out of this mess?”  Years ago, one might have responded with a smart remark about microbes and mosquitoes inheriting the earth.
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Taking the Long View on Toxic Chemicals

By Admin / On September 11th, 2012
Emily Monosson chats with Karen Weintraub of the Boston Globe Karen Weintraub, Q. What do you mean when you say we need to take an “evolutionary perspective” on toxic chemicals? Emily Monosson, A. I think adding an evolutionary perspective to the science of toxicology might help us better understand how chemicals interact with living things.
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Nature’s Chemical Warfare: An Evolving Struggle

By [node:field_contributor] / On June 28th, 2012
The story of the black swallowtail and Queen Anne’s lace is really the story of one of the premier chemical defense systems known. These are the cytochrome P450s, or CYPs, and we now know there are thousands of different CYPs across all kingdoms of life. Every one of us relies on several dozen CYPs to metabolize chemicals that we either produce ourselves or ingest.
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5 Surprising Lessons from Evolution in a Toxic World

By Emily Monosson / On May 17th, 2012
1. Chemicals that were once lethal can become essential for life The human body can repair DNA, defuse toxic substances, and metabolize plant-based pharmaceuticals because our earliest ancestors—in some cases, single-celled organisms—developed defense systems to protect themselves against dangerous chemicals. Some chemicals that were once lethal to living things are no longer harmful, and some (like oxygen) have actually become essential. But this relationship developed over hundreds of millions of years.
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The Toxification of Words

By Emily Monosson / On April 26th, 2012
Disclaimer: Some words may have been harmed in the process of writing this blog As a scientist who fled from college course offerings beginning with ENG I fully regret this decision, particularly when sheepishly resorting to the synonym key, followed by a quick dash to Wikipedia for further advice on how to use words.  Words matter, particularly if one decides to go public with them. And so, it was with some chagrin that I read a recent email, taking me to task for my use of the word “toxics,” which I’ve pasted verbatim - for lack of better words: Let's start by noting
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A New Year, But Old Problems Persist: Reports of Child Labor and Export of Toxics Continue

By Elizabeth Grossman / On January 11th, 2012
Next month will mark the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens' birth. Given the last two centuries' stratospheric advances in technology and the past century's progress in human rights policy, one would think that child labor, dangerous and unhealthy working conditions, and the export of hazardous industrial refuse to poor countries and communities would be a thing of the past. But as several reports released last month show, Dickensian working and living conditions are still very much with us. Children continue to be engaged in hazardous manual labor instead of attending school.

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