Smokers or those who are exposed to secondhand smoke may require heavier doses of anesthesia and painkillers during surgery. A new study found that cigarettes—which are filled with more than 4,000 chemicals—can not only affect the metabolism of anesthetic drugs in the liver but may also influence nerve cells involved in the sensation of pain. Among 90 women who underwent […]
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According to China’s Ministry of Public Security news portal website, new laws implemented in 2015 citing criminal punishment for people buying trafficked women or children have proven effective. The new laws took effect on 10/1/15 and remains in effect today. The laws outlines the prosecution for buyers of trafficked persons, whereas previous provisions said they were exempt if they did […]
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A 12-year-old Florida boy was arrested after stealing an 89-year-old man’s car after telling the man he needed to check his tires. The boy, who St. Petersburg authorities say has been arrested at least 20 times, is allegedly seen on surveillance footage approaching a car while on his bike. The brazen boy then jumps into the driver’s seat of the elderly man’s car and […]
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1. The first confirmed sighting of the continent was in 1820. 2. Explorers first reached the South Pole in 1911. 3. Because Antarctica lies in the southern hemisphere, seasons there are the opposite of seasons in the north — summer runs from October to February and winter covers the remainder of the year. 4. Antarctica is the coldest continent; temperatures […]
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The warming of the world’s oceans is penetrating radar. They discovered two causing a glacier the size of California in massive undersea valleys beneath the East Antarctica to melt, and scientists fear ice sheet, one of which is 3 miles wide, its collapse could eventually cause global Those canyons allow warm, salty water sea levels to rise by as much […]
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Scientists have long puzzled over the origins of Earth’s vast oceans. Now, new data from the Rosetta spacecraft appear to have crossed one potential source off the list: comets. Rosetta has been in close orbit around comet 67P/Churyumov- Gerasimenko since August, analyzing its chemical makeup. Among the mission’s goals was to determine if the water locked in the comet’s icy […]
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We’ve heard a lot about the negative effects of climate change in the arctic and subarctic. But some Alaskans, like farmer Tim Meyers, are seeing warming temperatures as an opportunity. Now that potato harvest is underway at his Bethel farm, Meyers uses a giant potato washer, like a washing machine for root vegetables, to clean California white potatoes. They’re some […]
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Breathalyzers could be used to curb alcohol abuse among scientists at US bases in Antarctica following “unpredictable behavior” caused by excess drinking, including fights and indecent exposure. Officials from the National Science Foundation told an audit of healthy and safety at the two US-run bases — McMurdo Station and the South Pole — that drinking has led to “unpredictable behavior […]
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On the mountainous outskirts of Shenzhen, a fast-growing mega-city in China, the largest waste-to-energy plant in the world is on the horizon. You can bet that this disk-shaped trash-burning plant isn’t going to do any wonders for China’s notoriously bad air quality. It’s projected to burn 5,500 tons of trash per day — one-third of the waste Shenzhen produces. But the alternative […]
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Tropical groundwater may prove to be a climate-resilient source of freshwater in the tropics as intense rainfall favours the replenishment of these resources, according to a new study published in Environmental Research Letters. As climate observations show that global warming leads to fewer but more intense rainfalls, a clearer understanding of how these sources are replenished is crucial for developing […]
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