Environmental News

Indonesia has one of the highest burdens of dengue fever, a mosquito-borne virus, in the world, and children account for many cases. Well over half of all children in urban areas are infected with dengue by the age of 5, and more than 80 percent have been infected with the virus at least once by age 10, researchers now report.

The Paris Agreement on climate change goes into effect today, but while the agreement set ambitious targets for tackling climate change, scientists say there is a long way to go to achieve it. Research suggests pathways to get the world on track.

Physicists have boosted the efficiency of material that holds promise as base for next-generation solar cells. Perovskite solar cells are made of a mix of organic molecules and inorganic elements that together capture light and convert it into electricity, just like today's more common silicon-based solar cells. Perovskite photovoltaic devices, however, can be made more easily and cheaply than silicon and on a flexible rather than rigid substrate.

Taking cannabidiol may cut seizures in half for some children and adults with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), a severe form of epilepsy, according to new information from a large scale controlled clinical study. Cannabidiol is a molecule from the cannabis plant that does not have the psychoactive properties that create a 'high.'

Harvests from freshwater fisheries such as the Great Lakes could total more than 12 million tons a year globally and contribute more to global food supplies and economies than previous estimates indicate, according to a study.

Vitamin D supplementation can reduce the severity of tuberculosis (TB) in wild boar and red deer, new research shows. Wild boar and red deer are key hosts of TB and transmit the disease to cattle and other species, causing a major problem in farm and domestic animals across Europe, say researchers.

The essential role that the receptor FFAR2 plays in the success of fermentable carbohydrates -- found in foods such as vegetables, fruit, breads, cereals and pasta - in suppressing appetite and preventing obesity is now better understood, thanks to new research.

An ambitious study has investigated various factors that contribute to air pollution inside the house. Not surprisingly, cigarette smoke emerged as a major source of airborne particles in homes with smokers, but cleaning products, candles, frying food and marijuana smoking also jumped out as in-home air polluters. It's the first study to identify marijuana as a significant source of in-home air pollution.

Scientists identify two new tribes of ceratopsian dinosaurs based on distinctions in frill ornamentation. These two tribes employed different strategies and lived side-by-side in the Late Cretaceous in what is now western North America.

A huge iceberg looks set to break away from the Larsen C ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula. Satellite observations from December 2016 show a growing crack in the ice shelf which suggests that an iceberg with an area of up to 5,000 square kilometers is likely to calve soon.