Where are all the birds? Where have they gone? Even a cursory glace at the skies, in the trees, listening for bird sounds .,. there are fewer birds today in the midwestern US. What is the cause? Can the decline be halted? Or, is this the new “normal”? Featured articles: *Rosenberg, K. V., Dokter, A. M., Blancher, P. J., Sauer, J. R., Smith, A. C.,…
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The transmission of COVID-19 “is believed to be predominantly through respiratory droplets from infected persons in close proximity to uninfected persons, although airborne transmission may also play a role. Face shields have been proposed to prevent transmission in the community.” This study describes “transmission in a community setting [in India] before and after the use of face shields.” Featured article: Bhaskar ME, Arun S. (2020)….
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In 2017, Hurricane Harvey moved very slowly across parts of Texas (US) dropping “more than 30 inches of rain in two days and nearly 50 inches over four days.” “Harvey’s rainfall exceeded every known flooding event in American history since 1899.” The reason for the high rainfall totals was the slow movement of the storm–and a 2018 study (Kossin) reports that “between 1949 and 2016,…
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Featured article: Ceballos, G., Ehrlich, P. R., & Raven, P. H. (2020). Vertebrates on the brink as indicators of biological annihilation and the sixth mass extinction. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117(24), 13596-13602. [PDF] [Cited by] “The ongoing sixth mass species extinction is the result of the destruction of component populations leading to eventual extirpation of entire…
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“Since at least the 1960’s it has been widely recognized that insecticide application can also negatively affect non-target species, including populations of insect pollinators [like bees] and natural enemies that serve to support crop production.” The development of neonicotinoid insecticides (insecticides chemically similar to nicotine) have made their effect more potent. Featured article: Douglas, M. R., Sponsler, D. B., Lonsdorf, E. V., & Grozinger, C….
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Featured article: Gafoor, A., Ali, N., Kumar, S., Begum, S., & Rahman, Z. (2020). Applicability and new trends of different electrode materials and its combinations in electro coagulation process: A brief review. Materials Today: Proceedings. Available online 7 June 2020. The content of textile wastewater “broadly depends on the composition of scum in fibers and the chemicals used in various stages.” A large quantity of…
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