Latest news with #Olympic-size
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Science
- Daily Mirror
Scientist tracking 'biggest ever' shark gives urgent warning to tourists
Dr Harley Newton, chief scientist and veterinarian for OCEARCH, from Jacksonville, Florida, has dedicated her career to studying sharks - including 14ft Contender A scientist tracking the world's largest 14ft great white shark has warned tourists to avoid wearing one particular item when it comes to escaping predators. "Contender", a 30-year-old male predator, was tagged in the North Atlantic by OCEARCH, a non-profit research organisation, 45 miles off the Florida-Georgia coast, off Jacksonville in January. The beast later pinged in Pamlico Sound in North Carolina earlier this month. Dr Harley Newton, chief scientist and veterinarian for OCEARCH, from Jacksonville, Florida, has dedicated her career to studying sharks - including Contender - and educating the public. The expert has revealed the surprising thing you should avoid wearing when swimming in the ocean - and what do to if you do come face to face with a predator. Her advice includes avoiding dawn and dusk swims, staying close to shore, swimming with a buddy, and avoid wearing "shiny" objects like jewellery. She also warned tourists to maintain visual contact if you spot a shark, backing away slowly while facing it. While shark attacks are rare, she stresses awareness and respect for the ocean. "The ocean is a wild place," Dr Newton said. "If you see schools of fish, particularly if they're jumping out of the water, that might be something that you want to move away from because that's going to be very attractive for sharks, and it might help you avoid an accident or an incident." There have been a number of other reports of shark incidents in recent days - including a nine-year-old girl nearly had her hand bitten off near Boca Grande, Florida. While shark attacks are extremely rare, Dr. Newton advises that maintaining visual contact with an aggressive shark is crucial for safety. As a last resort, striking the shark's nose may deter it; however, this should only be attempted if necessary. According to Dr. Newton, bull sharks and tiger sharks are considered among the most dangerous species due to their size, strength, and habitat preferences that bring them into contact with humans. She notes that all sharks should be treated with caution and respect. Dr Newton is passionate about correcting myths about sharks. Contrary to popular belief, sharks can get cancer, and they can't actually smell blood from miles away - the max distance the length of an Olympic-size swimming pool. They are also not mindless man-eaters seeking human prey. "They are most often looking for prey or typical prey items when there are interactions with humans," Dr. Newton said. "They're not out there actively looking for humans. They're looking for the typical prey that they would want to eat." OCEARCH's tracking of Contender has also provided valuable data about great white shark migration patterns. Its movements from Florida northward along the Atlantic coast have provided researchers with unprecedented insights into the behavior of adult male sharks. "Catching an adult male shark in January was a new data point for us," Dr. Newton noted. "We were really excited to catch him, tag him, sample him, and release him." This tracking effort helps scientists understand shark habitat use and identify areas where human and shark activities overlap, potentially reducing the risk of negative interactions between them. The ongoing monitoring of Contender and other sharks contributes to both conservation efforts and public safety by providing real-time data about shark movements and behavior patterns. This knowledge allows for more informed beach management decisions and helps educate the public about sharing the ocean with these apex predators. As summer approaches and more people head to beaches along the Atlantic coast, Dr. Newton emphasizes that awareness and respect for the ocean environment are key to staying safe. "Understanding that we're entering their habitat is important," Dr. Newton said. She added: "Sharks play a vital role in maintaining healthy ocean ecosystems, and with some simple precautions, we can safely enjoy the water while respecting these magnificent animals that have been evolving for over 400 million years." TIPS Avoid swimming at dawn or dusk when sharks are most active and hunting Stay close to shore where you can quickly exit the water if needed Always swim with a buddy rather than venturing into the ocean alone Remove shiny jewelry or accessories that might resemble fish scales and attract sharks Be aware of your surroundings, especially schools of fish jumping out of water, which could indicate predator presence Move away from areas with fishing activity, as bait and injured fish can attract sharks Maintain visual contact if you spot a shark, backing away slowly while facing it
Scientific American
3 days ago
- Business
- Scientific American
Fun Ways to Ditch Fast Fashion for a Sustainable Wardrobe
In New York State's Hudson Valley, Lilly Marsh weaves scarves, shawls, and other apparel out of fibers sourced from the Northeast. The items are beautiful and informed by historical techniques—for her Ph.D., Marsh studied contemporary North American hand knitting—but her interest in producing woven goods goes far beyond the final product. In 2017 Marsh co-founded the Hudson Valley Textile Project (HVTP), a natural-textile supply chain that aims to break free from the global fashion industry. One big problem the HVTP set out to solve involves wool. After sheep are shorn at farms, the wool is greasy and needs to be cleaned, or scoured, before it can be worked with. For years the scouring facility closest to New York was in North Carolina, and it had a 1,000-pound minimum for processing—an amount most small farms can't reach on a yearly basis. Using money from grants and private donations, the HVTP opened Clean Fleece, a local scouring facility that washes small batches of wool and other animal fibers. 'It's enabled a ton of farmers who want to work on a small or mid-size scale to get that done,' Marsh says. 'That's made a big difference in our industry.' Now farms across the region are selling socks, hats and mittens on a consistent basis—and at prices that are comparable to those of similar products from major brands. The HVTP now has more than 160 members working up and down the supply chain, including Marsh. The work hasn't been easy, she says, and they've faced a handful of setbacks, such as a recent flood at a favorite dyeing facility. Also, many artisans who want to scale up production are having trouble finding enough employees trained in the craft. 'We're trying to restart an industry that left the U.S. 40 years ago or more,' Marsh says. 'It's hard to find skilled work.' But, she adds, the benefits of nurturing a local textile industry are many: more transparent supply chains, support for local economies and regenerative farming practices, less waste, fewer emissions, and a profound sense of community and interconnectedness. 'We all know each other in some way,' Marsh says of her colleagues. 'It's an accountability system because I care about your well-being. I think that's kind of incalculable.' On supporting science journalism subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. The HVTP is one part of a growing effort to mitigate the harms of the global fashion industry, in which millions of low-paid garment workers around the world endure unsafe working conditions to churn out huge amounts of clothing and textiles year after year. The pull on the planet's natural resources is immense: Annual textile production uses up enough water to fill at least 37 million Olympic-size swimming pools. Cotton agriculture alone uses 2.1 percent of the world's arable land. And because roughly 60 percent of global textiles now contain plastic derived from fossil fuels, it is estimated that more than a third of the microplastics in the oceans today were shed from clothing. The fashion industry is also responsible for up to 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions—more than the aviation and shipping industries combined. If apparel consumption continues to grow at its current rate, by 2050 the industry will be using more than one quarter of the world's carbon budget. The problem becomes even worse when you consider that most clothes make a quick trip to the landfill, where they'll emit greenhouse gases such as methane. These numbers reflect a growing appetite for fast fashion, a business model that brings trendy designs to the masses as quickly and cheaply as possible. As clothing consumption rises, the consumer tends to shoulder the blame. But what's enabled things to get this bad is a lack of regulation. Despite being worth some $1.7 trillion, the global fashion industry has for years been allowed to operate with little transparency or oversight. 'There's nothing stopping a brand from churning out an insane number of products,' says Kate Hobson-Lloyd, the fashion-ratings manager at Good On You, a website that monitors and rates fashion brands' sustainability. 'There's nothing to incentivize brands to not operate on a fast-fashion model,' she says. 'If there's money to be made, they're going to do it.' Projections indicate that by 2030 the world will be producing 134 million tons of textile waste every year. Some new regulations are meant to make the industry more accountable. The European Union, for instance, recently started requiring fashion and textile brands to report transparently on their greenhouse gas emissions and supply-chain labor practices; improve their products' durability and recyclability; and take responsibility for collecting and recycling clothing and footwear, essentially encouraging a circular textile economy. The E.U. also moved to restrict microplastics in textiles and introduced a rule requiring that clothing come with a 'passport' that gives shoppers a detailed rundown of a product's life cycle, including its origins, manufacturing process, environmental footprint, and safe disposal or recycling instructions. The passport concept speaks to consumers who are more and more aware of the industry's harms—in one international 2025 survey, 70 percent of consumers said sustainability is a factor when they're shopping for clothes. But making responsible and informed decisions is increasingly complicated. Are clothes made from plant fibers such as cotton and linen always better than polyester and other synthetics derived from petrochemicals? What about recycled materials made from plastics? And how do you know that an innovative material that's better for the environment isn't harming the people who make it? With some T-shirts, reading the tag is not unlike trying to decipher a food label making a barrage of claims that may not be standardized or enforceable. Nearly 60 percent of brands are behind on achieving even their own self-imposed sustainability goals. Greenwashing—when brands make misleading claims about the impact of their sustainability efforts—is 'an absolutely enormous problem' in the fashion industry, Hobson-Lloyd says. The HVTP isn't waiting for top-down initiatives to change the fashion industry. And it has company. Fibershed, which started in 2011, involves a regional community of farmers, textile producers and artisans who make clothes from regenerative materials sourced and assembled within a 150-mile radius. The initiative, which began in California, has now grown to 79 Fibershed textile economies operating across 18 countries. Movements such as these are making it easier to participate in accessible alternatives to fast fashion—all while bringing some fun back to getting dressed. The true scale of the modern fashion machine is difficult to gauge. Brands aren't required to disclose how many new garments they produce every year, so most of them simply don't. But our landfills provide clues. In the U.S. alone, at least 17 million tons of textiles are discarded annually, which works out to about 100 pounds of clothes per person. Projections indicate that by 2030 the world will be producing 134 million tons of textile waste every year. While the E.U. is 'regulating the heck [out] of the fashion industry,' says Rachel Van Metre Kibbe, founder and CEO of advisory firm Circular Services Group, things in the U.S. are moving more slowly. In 2024 California introduced the nation's first extended producer-responsibility law for apparel and textiles, which puts the onus on brands to ensure their products don't end up in landfills. Similar bills are pending in New York State and Washington State. Van Metre Kibbe says the success of California's bill isn't guaranteed. 'We're about to start collecting the most clothes we've ever collected in U.S. history,' she says, emphasizing that there is almost no infrastructure in place for such an endeavor. The waste could simply get transferred to another warehouse in another country, which wouldn't be a success at all. Although state bills are a start, Van Metre Kibbe says, federal regulation is needed. To get there, we need to frame the regulation of textile waste as an opportunity. 'We have to make the business case for why this is the future,' she says. 'There are job opportunities and manufacturing opportunities. Ultimately, it should be more cost-effective to reuse materials.' 'Recycled versions are preferable, but the recycled content of that fiber could be less than 10 percent.' —Kate Hobson-Lloyd, Good On You Donating unwanted clothes rather than throwing them out isn't an effective solution to the growing waste problem. Charity shops are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of low-quality garments they receive, and many of these items are exported or thrown away. In a study published last year in the journal Nature Cities, researchers said charity shops are unintentionally shielding the public from the true volume of overconsumption and postconsumer textile waste. The authors called for investment in new circular business models such as clothing rental and upcycling. In Los Angeles, the Suay Sew Shop is an innovative model for how this kind of business might work on a larger scale. It operates a circular textile-recycling program, taking in a significant amount of unwanted clothes from brands and the local community. Suay deconstructs these items and then patchworks the materials into funky-chic garments and home goods. Old jeans get turned into jackets, nylon track pants into wrap skirts, flannel shirts into oven mitts. 'We can do something with everything,' says Suay co-founder Lindsay Rose Medoff. 'We can use the cheap stuff, finding ways to really transform it.' The company says its operations have diverted more than four million pounds of textile waste from landfills since 2017. At the same time, Medoff says she is committed to prioritizing worker rights, creating a positive and safe working environment, and paying Suay employees well for their skills. Labor, she says, is her biggest cost, and she's aiming to set up a worker-owned business model. Suay's operations are unconventional because donating to the shop isn't 'free.' Customers pay $20 to offload 20 pounds of textiles, and they get $20 of in-store credit in return, which they can spend on upcycled clothes, repair services or one of Suay's workshops. The customers' money supports the shop, and in turn the shop supports a behavioral shift toward more sustainability. Suay isn't a cottage operation. It's a team of about 50 workers who have completed an extensive in-house training program to learn the art of upcycling at scale. They sort, prep, clean, dye and rework textiles from the community and from apparel brands. In the days following the Los Angeles fires in January 2025, the shop received more than 100,000 pounds of donated textiles. Medoff is trying to get funding to expand in the most impactful ways, perhaps by building a hub for training on upcycling. 'Suay cannot repair every pair of jeans in the world,' she says, 'but it really has the skills to teach people how to do that on a larger scale.' Clothes often end up discarded because of tears, missing buttons, frayed hems, stubborn stains and moth holes. Up until the 1960s, mending worn-out clothes was the societal norm. 'It was supercommon knowledge,' explains Sara Idacavage, a fashion historian and sustainable-fashion educator who is currently getting her Ph.D. at the University of Georgia. With the rise of cheap clothes and fast fashion, much of this repair culture has been lost. Flora Collingwood-Norris, a knitwear designer based in Scotland, is one person trying to bring it back, but with a twist. Using so-called visible creative mending, she fixes a garment's flaws by patching and darning in contrasting colors and patterns. The objective is not to repair a hole by blending the repair in as much as possible but to give a sweater a custom—and imperfect—new mark. 'Not only do you feel like you have something new in your wardrobe, because you've just changed it, but you get to enjoy the creative process,' says Collingwood-Norris, author of Visible Creative Mending for Knitwear. At 39 years old, she still has (and continues to wear) most of the sweaters she owned when she was a teenager—but these days they're covered in her bright stitching and delicately embroidered flowers. Her jeans are 'more mend than the original jeans,' she says. Studies show that the main reason people don't mend their clothes is that they simply don't know how. Visible mending doesn't have a steep learning curve, Collingwood-Norris says. 'You just need a needle, some yarn and a pair of scissors.' You can also pick and choose which technique you like most. If darning is too complicated, try patching instead. 'They're both valid, and they're both going to fix your hole,' she says. Collingwood-Norris began teaching online workshops on visible mending in 2019. Since then, her workshops have become the most successful part of her knitwear business. She's also noticed many more knitwear companies and brands offering mending services and workshops. Womenswear brand TOAST, for instance, offers visible mending as part of a free repair service. People also discard clothes because of fit. This is especially true for children, who can outgrow seven or eight sizes in the first two years of their lives. The authors of one small study found that size or poor fit was the number-one reason for throwing out children's clothes, accounting for 47 percent of all discarded items. To address this problem, some new brands are designing clothes that grow with kids. Clothes from U.K.-based company Petit Pli have intricate pleating that allows the fabric to expand or collapse to make the garment larger or smaller. Founder and CEO Ryan Mario Yasin, a former aerospace engineer, got the idea while designing instruments that can be packed inside nanosatellites and then deployed in orbit. 'It involved a lot of research into origami and folding little carbon-fiber panels into a two-millimeter gap,' Yasin says. The three sizes Petit Pli offers in its children's line cover kids for the first nine years of their lives. The prices range from about $75 to $130 per item. 'So, yes, it's more expensive initially,' Yasin says. 'But it's cheaper in the long run.' Adults' bodies aren't static, either. There is now an abundance of so-called flexible fashion that can accommodate fluctuations in weight or body shape. There are one-size-fits-all garments designed to stretch and spring back, as well as a clothing line made specifically to adjust to body changes during pregnancy, postpartum, and beyond. When the brand Universal Standard launched in 2024, its CEO announced it would offer free exchanges if one of its garments lost its fit. Sustainable fashion doesn't have to mean no new purchases. Knowing some basics about different fibers and how they function can help you pick items that will best meet your needs, letting you stock your closet with things you're more likely to wear, enjoy and take care of for a long time. There are three main types of fibers used in textile production: natural plant fibers such as cotton and linen; natural animal fibers such as wool; and synthetic or human-made fibers, which include plastic-derived materials, such as polyester and nylon, and viscose, a common material made from wood pulp [see ' A Taxonomy of Textile Fiber Types ' graphic to learn more]. Each material has its merits and purposes as well as its cons. Natural fibers are renewable and, depending on how they're processed, potentially biodegradable. They also require huge amounts of land and water to grow, and these crops are often treated with hazardous fertilizers and pesticides. Their supply chains can be rife with human- and animal-rights violations. When buying clothing made from natural fibers, look for labeling that guarantees it is certified organic, such as the Global Organic Textile Standard. Synthetic fibers such as polyester, nylon and acrylic are made from plastic derived from petrochemicals. They're ubiquitous in modern fashion and account for roughly 60 percent of global fiber production. These materials are cheap and versatile, but they also contribute hugely to plastic pollution. A single laundry load of polyester clothes will shed somewhere between 640,000 and 1.5 million plastic microfibers per wash. And when these clothes end up in a landfill, they emit greenhouse gases such as methane and release dangerous chemicals into the surrounding environment as they decompose over hundreds of years. Human-made cellulosic fibers such as viscose rayon, modal, Lyocell and cupro are technically renewable because they're derived from trees (or, more specifically, from cellulose, the molecule that gives trees their structure). The process of extracting the cellulose from wood pulp and converting it into usable fiber filaments relies on harsh chemicals, and the manufacture of these fabrics contributes to deforestation. 'People are still interested in fashion trends. It's hard not to get swept up in those. We just don't have to do it so mindlessly.' —Alyssa Beltempo, sustainable stylist Recycled versions of all these fabrics exist, and 'from an environmental perspective, recycled versions are preferable,' Hobson-Lloyd says. It is important to remember, however, that recycled materials still require the consumption of energy and water to be converted into something suitable for clothing manufacture. Clothing labels with vague references to recycled materials can be misleading. 'The recycled content could actually be less than 10 percent,' Hobson-Lloyd says. Also, brands might say a garment is made from 'recycled' material when what they mean is that the item can be recycled eventually if the consumer so chooses. Some big-name brands are investing in R&D to clean up the industry, including through the use of biodegradable polyester alternatives and enzymes that make it possible to infinitely recycle plastic synthetic fibers. Others are developing textiles through advanced manufacturing processes. Bananatex, a natural fabric made by Swiss bag brand QWSTION, is derived from the fibers of the abacá banana plant, which grows in the Philippines and doesn't require fertilizers or pesticides. Because the abacá plant thrives in the shade of taller plants, it can't be grown as a monoculture, which makes it a good candidate for reforestation projects. Unlike most other trees cut down for their cellulose, the abacá plant regenerates: each tree grows suckers—small shoots that develop at the base of the plant and grow again after being cut back. Workers harvest these suckers for their strong fibers and leave the rest of the plant intact. The fibers are dried and woven into a durable fabric that has been incorporated into designs from major brands, including Balenciaga, Stella McCartney and H&M. But not all solutions involve technological innovation. Hemp, for instance, grows fast, retains water, prevents soil erosion, encourages biodiversity, is an impressive carbon sink and, like the abacá plant, can be grown without pesticides. These traits make hemp a very sustainable alternative to cotton. Hemp products are now much more widely available than they were even a few years ago, and some brands make entire clothing lines from the plant. The global hemp-fiber market is projected to grow from $5.76 billion to $23.57 billion between 2022 and 2030. The fashion industry continues to be propelled by rapidly shifting and seasonal trends. But growing awareness of the harms of fast fashion has inspired the 'shop your closet' movement, which encourages consumers to re-create inspired styles using items they already own instead of buying something new. This idea had a big moment on social media last year when fashion writer and analyst Mandy Lee started the #75hardstylechallenge, which encourages people to document their efforts to shop their closet for 75 days. Lee wrote that more than 70,000 people joined in. It's fitting, in a way, that Instagram and TikTok—platforms awash with the fashion hauls and try-on videos that have helped supercharge the fast-fashion movement—can be harnessed to nudge people toward sustainable habits. 'It's about a mindset shift,' says Alyssa Beltempo, a slow-fashion content creator and sustainable stylist. 'People are still interested in fashion trends. It's hard not to get swept up in those. We just don't have to do it so mindlessly.' Beltempo teaches shop-your-closet techniques on her YouTube channel, which has nearly 300,000 subscribers. She starts with what she calls the 'elements of style,' the basic, broad categories that underpin every outfit: things like silhouette, proportion, texture and use of color. Beltempo encourages people to take inspiration from these elements rather than trying to replicate an outfit they've seen on someone else. 'Do you actually like that sweater, or do you like the vibe it's giving?' she asks. 'Do you like how it's styled with a wide-leg pant? Then maybe it's the proportions you like. Maybe it's the use of color that you like, and it has nothing to do with the sweater that [someone else is] wearing.' By teasing apart what appeals to you about an outfit that flashes across your social feed, you can think about how to re-create something similar with your current wardrobe rather than making a spontaneous purchase. This level of consideration 'is joyful and engaging, and it allows the consumer to feel good about themselves,' Beltempo says. Not only is it better for the environment, 'it's better for you,' she adds. To that end, Beltempo gives her followers basic tips for avoiding impulse buys, such as always shopping with a list and implementing a 24-hour pause before buying something new. 'It just gives you that space to think and serves as a trigger to be like, 'Wait, do I have anything at home that can do that job already?'' she explains. Sometimes, though, the items in our closet seem stale. Maybe the colors have faded from years of washing and sun exposure. One way to reinvigorate old clothes is to re-dye them. But not all methods are the same. The textile industry uses more than 10,000 tons of synthetic dyes every year, many of them laced with toxic heavy metals that get released through factories' untreated wastewater and wreak havoc on soil health and aquatic ecosystems. According to the European Parliament, textile dyeing and finishing are responsible for about 20 percent of pollution of clean water worldwide. These dyes can be toxic for humans, too. Textile dyes in the largest commercial class, known as azo dyes, can release carcinogenic compounds when they come into contact with the bacteria on human skin. The E.U. and the U.S. both have some restrictions on azo dyes in clothing, but these regulations are patchy. There is an alternative: botanicals have been used to dye textiles for millennia. To extract a plant's unique coloring, people simmer its roots, seeds, bark or leaves at low heat until the water changes color. To help the dye bind to fabric, manufacturers treat clothes with a nontoxic mineral mordant such as a food-grade aluminum sulfate. When the dyeing process is done, the water can simply go down the drain without risk of harm to the watershed, and the remaining pigments and plant matter can be composted. Until synthetic dyes were created, this was the way all textiles were imbued with color. Green Matters Natural Dye Company in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is trying to bring this technique back to the mainstream. Owner Winona Quigley says the company often uses local plants or even food waste from restaurants in its dye recipes. 'We have a shed in our parking lot that has hundreds of thousands of dried avocado pits in it,' she says. 'We work with local restaurants to collect those.' The pits impart a dusky pink color. Green Matters attracts commercial clients that are looking to turn away from synthetic dyes in their textile and clothing production. It is one of the only dye houses in the U.S. producing solely plant-based dyes on an industrial scale. But much of the company's recent growth has come from people looking to breathe new life into their own garments. To meet this demand, Quigley launched custom dye services for individuals in 2022, including a community 'dye lot of the month' club that has quickly become her most popular service. For $35, people can mail in their natural textiles to be dyed in one big batch, with colors rotating monthly. Recent offerings include 'eggplant,' a dark violet made from the root of the Rubia tinctorum plant, commonly known as madder. Quigley says this side of the business grew 800 percent in 2024. 'We've been really excited that there are people who want to have tools to keep their own garments out of the landfill,' she says. People also send in their sheets and tablecloths (which can be tie-dyed to offset any stains)—and even their wedding dresses and precious but outdated family heirlooms. 'It's more than just a piece of clothing,' Quigley says. 'It's a piece of family history, and seeing people turn it into something that's a part of their life is really touching.' Sending in a batch of well-loved clothes to be dyed a new color doesn't take any more time or effort than sending back an impulse clothing purchase that doesn't fit. It's less expensive than buying new, and you'll still get the joy of receiving and unwrapping a package. Sustainable fashion doesn't have to be a chore or financially inaccessible or staid—you can have fun while sending a message to the fast-fashion industry. 'I think people can feel very empowered to take action to keep their own garments out of the landfill,' Quigley says. 'These are choices we can make that will have an impact on companies' sales.'
Montreal Gazette
13-06-2025
- Health
- Montreal Gazette
The Right Chemistry: Can you get cancer from kissing a smoker and other questions with definitive answers
It was in early June 1980, that my phone rang. On the line was Helen Gougeon, host of a talk show on radio station CJAD. Would I like to come on the air and comment on the controversy that had been alluded to in the Montreal Gazette? That call turned out to be life-changing, the beginning of what has become a 45-year stint on CJAD with a show dedicated to demystifying science and answering listeners' questions that have ranged from the thoughtful to the bizarre. The newspaper article described a chemistry show that a couple of colleagues and I had been putting on at Montreal's Man and His World exhibition, a spinoff of Expo 67. At the time, there was concern about urea-formaldehyde, a popular insulating agent that was accused of releasing toxic formaldehyde into the air. The columnist wondered why we were entertaining the public with a demonstration that presented this substance in a positive light. I quickly responded, explaining that we were demonstrating the formation of polyurethane, a totally different substance, and that the only similarity with urea-formaldehyde was that both could be produced as foams. I agreed to come on with Helen to discuss this 'controversy,' and I guess she liked my approach because I was invited back to answer some listener questions, which I have been doing on the Dr. Joe Show ever since. I thought that after four and a half decades, it would be fun to reflect on some of these questions, the nature of which has certainly changed since the early days. There was of course no Internet back then and no social media spewing out scares and miraculous remedies on a daily basis. Callers wanted to know how best to clean silverware (wrap in aluminum foil and immerse in hot sodium bicarbonate solution), remove rust stains from the bathtub (oxalic acid) or get rid of bedbugs. When I began my answer to the latter by saying this generally is very difficult, I was told by the questioner that she knows that because she had found no way to get rid of the giant bedbug who was snoring away beside her. Today, the majority of questions are triggered by something that has been encountered online, usually related to some chemical supposedly impairing health. These may be perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in underwear, siloxanes in cosmetics, phthalates in toys, bisphenol A in canned food, arsenic in rice, aluminum in vaccines, parabens in antiperspirants or microplastics in bottled water. There was no worry about such things when I started because we were generally unaware of their presence. Now that my colleagues, the analytical chemists, can detect contaminants in the part-per-trillion range — roughly one drop in 20 Olympic-size swimming pools — we find that we are exposed to all sorts of chemicals everywhere. There is no simple answer as to how exposure may affect us, and I often end up invoking the 'only the dose makes the poison' principle with the addendum that sometimes, as in the case of endocrine disruptors, that dose can be vanishingly small. Let me, though, give a few examples of questions to which I was able to give a 'yes' or 'no' answer. No. No. No. Is it safe to eat a banana peel? Yes, but why would one want to? Can eating banana and a fried egg at the same time kill you? No. Can wearing a Fitbit cause cancer? No. Is the tin foil wrapping around a Lindt chocolate bar bad for our health? No, and it isn't tin, it's aluminum. Is it true that KFC chicken is made from mutant lab grown chickens? No. Can decorating your house with crystals combat bad energy and attract positive energy? No. Is it true that the glycine I'm taking to combat insomnia is made from a pernicious chemical, monochloro acetic acid, that is used to make herbicides? Yes, but this needs a qualifier. The fact that glycine is made from the same chemical as is used to make the herbicide 2,4-D has no bearing on its toxicity. I've always enjoyed questions that are prompted by someone making an observation: 'Why did my purple cabbage turn blue when I washed it?' Purple cabbage contains a compound in the anthocyanin family that is a natural indicator meaning that it changes colour depending on whether it is present in an acidic or basic medium. In a neutral solution, it is purple, but the colour changes to blue in an alkaline solution. Tap water can be slightly alkaline because of naturally occurring calcium and magnesium carbonates, but sometimes calcium hydroxide is added during water treatment to reduce acidity and protect water pipes. Then there was, 'Why did the skim milk I used to make my oatmeal turn almost solid when I didn't have blueberries and added fresh sliced pineapple instead?' Pineapple contains bromelain, an enzyme that cleaves some bonds in the milk protein casein, resulting in the protein forming clumps. Essentially, the milk has turned into cheese. That would not have happened with canned pineapple because heat destroys bromelain. Then there are questions that sent me scurrying for answers that I would provide the next week. These days it means hunting online, but back in the 1980s it meant trips to the library. 'Where does the carbon dioxide in beverages comes from?' My first guess was that it is generated by heating limestone (calcium carbonate), but actually the source of carbon dioxide is the Haber-Bosch process for making ammonia, one of the most important industrial processes because ammonia is needed to make fertilizer. The hydrogen used in this process is made by reacting natural gas, methane, with steam. Carbon dioxide is a byproduct. Some questions defied my research. I could not find a place where my caller could go to analyze a bowler hat for toxic chemicals, but I did give the general advice that making a meal of the hat was probably not a good idea. Now for the really strange. An individual had made an unusual observation. He related how once, as he had been getting dressed, he buttoned his pants and proceeded to pull up his fly. But it was already up! He was mystified. It had now happened again! He assured me that he had not absent-mindedly closed the fly and wondered if spirits were involved. He opined that this raises questions about the nature of our universe. Not having observed this particular phenomenon, I could only comment that it was a lucky thing that the spirits were mindful and that the zipper had not encountered any obstacles on its upward journey.
Time of India
07-06-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
National ice hockey championship to be held in Doon from June 8 to 17
Dehradun: The national ice hockey championship is set to take place at the Himadri indoor ice rink, located within Maharana Pratap Sports Complex in Dehradun, from June 8 to 17. The event will be hosted at India's only Olympic-size indoor ice rink and will feature 21 teams competing across three categories. Uttarakhand secretary of sports, Amit Sinha, said that the championship will include nine teams in the men's open category, and six teams each in the women's open and boys' under-18 categories. He also announced that entry will be free for all spectators, with matches scheduled daily from 10 am to 8 pm. "The teams will be from Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Indian Army, and ITBP. The championship will be more than a sporting event; it will be a symbol of India's rising sporting horizon," said Sinha.
Scoop
29-05-2025
- Sport
- Scoop
Council Votes On New Aquatic Network Plan
Press Release – Tauranga City Council The Aquatics Network Plan will include an aquatic centre at Memorial Park, the retention of tmoetai Pool for at least 15 years, and support for the 50m training pool at Mount Maunganui College. Tauranga City's Mayor and Councillors have voted to support the development of a 50-metre outdoor training pool at Mount Maunganui College and to keep the Ōtūmoetai Swimming Pool up and running. At this week's Annual Plan 2025/26 deliberations, the Council was presented with three key options as part of a draft Aquatics Network Plan, which will outline a roadmap for aquatic facilities in Tauranga. The Council was told site investigations are underway to inform the next step for the Memorial Park Aquatic project. If found to be favourable, a design review will ensure the project has the right scope, design and cost to deliver value for money for the community. Tauranga Mayor Mahé Drysdale says a community survey undertaken at the end of 2024 showed 73% of respondents supported additional aquatic facilities with an indoor 50-metre lane pool ranking the second highest feature in the feedback. He says the initial Memorial Park Aquatic Centre proposal, which had an original budget of $124 million, was inherited from the Commission but he is keen to get a better financial outcome. 'We're committed to delivering value for money, so it's on us to understand what our community wants and consider what cost savings could be possible,' Mahé says. 'I applaud the Mount Maunganui Aquatic Centre Trust for bringing us the 50-metre pool option. It ticks a lot of boxes, and we would provide an Olympic-size pool for Tauranga in the shortest possible timeframe. From a Council perspective, it's probably the most economical pool we could ever build.' The Council is supportive of the 50-metre pool proposal but will continue to work with the Trust and undertake due diligence before releasing the funding. Deputy Mayor Jen Scoular says the Aquatic Network Plan is looking at the bigger picture for Tauranga and delivering what the people of Tauranga have said they want. 'This supports a healthy Tauranga. We want kids learning to swim and being safe in the water. We want them having fun and we've now got some great options on the table.' The Aquatics Network Plan will now be drafted and go back to the Council for endorsement before going out for community consultation. Council Recommendations: Memorial Park Aquatic Centre (c) Notes that the site investigations currently underway for the existing Memorial Pool site (including geotechnical) will be available in early August 2025. If the results are favourable, this could present an opportunity to locate the new Memorial Aquatics Centre on that site and to retain the Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre for circa 15 years. Ōtūmoetai Pool (d) Supports the Ōtūmoetai Pool Working Group's recommendations to retain and upgrade the Ōtūmoetai Pool and signals its intent to allocate indicative capital funding of $3.28m (uninflated) in 2027/28 and $2.43m (uninflated) in 2032/33 through the next Long-Term Plan in line with those recommendations. (e) Notes that if the Ōtūmoetai Pool is retained in the network the Development Contributions Policy will need to be amended to reflect the implications of that decision. Mount Maunganui College 50-metre pool (f) Confirms in-principle support for the Mount Maunganui College 50m Pool expansion proposal, including ongoing Council support to subsidise the community use of the pool, with: (i) a $4.945m initial 10-year loan-funded operational grant for the pool construction, paid to the Mount Maunganui Aquatic Centre Trust over 2025/26 (2.59m) and 2026/27 ($2.355m), and (ii) up to $340,000 annual operational grant, based on actual net operational costs, on an ongoing basis to meet the extra cost of providing a 50m community pool, as outlined in the Mount Maunganui Aquatic Centre Trust proposal (attachment 4). Subject to: Annual Plan decisions and their impacts on the balanced budget financial benchmark, formal support for the proposal from Ministry of Education and Mount Maunganui College Board of Trustees, and the outcomes of resolution (g). (g) Instructs staff to continue further due diligence and financial modelling, and to work with the Mount Maunganui Aquatic Centre Trust to finalise a funding agreement that provides: (i) the legal and financial framework for the upgrade and ongoing operation of a new 50m pool, (ii) long-term confidence to the Mount Maunganui Aquatic Centre Trust and the Council regarding the financial sustainability of the proposal, and (iii) fair, equitable and safe community use of the pool, including non-structured community open use. (h) If resolution (f) and (g) are not successfully implemented, signal in-principle support for option 2, 33m pool expansion to a wider 33m x 25m pool in 2025/26 and 2026/27 approving: (i) an initial 10-year loan-funded operational grant of $2.6 mil for construction, and (ii) an ongoing operational grant of up to $20,000 to cover the additional cost of meeting PoolSafe requirements, as the alternative preferred option. Subject to Annual Plan decisions and their impacts on the balanced budget financial benchmark and formal support for the proposal from Ministry of Education and Mount Maunganui College Board of Trustees. Aquatic Network Plan (i) Approves the development of an Aquatics Network Plan, as outlined in this report, including targeted stakeholder engagement and broader community consultation. (j) Notes that, subject to the above resolutions, staff will prepare an Aquatic Network Plan that outlines a roadmap for the future of aquatics in Tauranga, including: (i) An aquatic centre at Memorial Park, (ii) Retention of Ōtūmoetai Pool for at least 15 years, and (iii) Support for the development of a 50m training pool at Mount Maunganui College.
