My Life on this planet.

Humanity ‘at a crossroads’ as damage to planet poses growing risk to health, UN environment agency warns https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/03/1034611 People call the youngsters who demand action against climate change but also against destruction of the environment stupid. Still, here another UN report that promises that, when humans don't change their behaviour, our health will be at risk. Therefore, as I continue to say: we need a cleaner industry. There is nothing against some CO2 production as this is needed to balance the O2 levels (and thus bio energy production such as burning wood should be possible) but more fossil fuel levels of CO2 harm us (now) while also the levels of plastics and other products in the environment harm, including our fertility (although fewer children may not be a bad thing) and that of animals and maybe even plants. Therefore, new and cleaner production of products is needed

An interesting article has been published in New Scientist (April 25 - May 1, 2015) under the title ' Bitter sweet nectar: Why some flowers poison bees '. The article describes how in 401 BC a total of 10,000 Greek warriors were behaving as madman on the way back to home after a war against the king of Persia after having eaten some honey made by local bees. They were lucky as they recovered and could continue going home. However, during later wars, there were armies that were slaughtered by the enemy because the soldiers were unable to fight after having eaten the honey; some local armies even used the honey to intoxicate the soldiers of foreign armies and thus this became one of the first known chemical weapons used during war. Chemicals released in nectar of plants The article describes how some plants leak certain chemicals such as nicotine and caffeine into their flowers and so in their nectar . In general, insects don't like these substances as they taste bitte...

In the UK, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists published a list informing pregnant women, their husbands and everyone who is interested what (not) to eat and which products to avoid to prevent harm to the unborn child. Of course, it is a noble thing to advice pregnant women against smoking or drinking (too much) or using pesticides or suggesting to see a doctor before taking medicines to be sure they can't harm the foetus, without exaggerating and refusing even life-saving medicines. The article starts with the notion that for a large part women determine the future of their unborn child and should be careful with certain molecules. They also mention it is a complex matter because often the effects of many individual molecules are not completely known or at what concentration they become dangerous, let alone the effect of the cocktail of chemicals we take in on a daily basis. The article recognises the effects are generally small while some cited studies s...