Not directly related to space settlement, but still interesting to think about.
The age of (cheap) oil is doomed in the long run, even if we do not care about climate change, as petroleum is a finite resource which would eventually be depleted. However, our modern industrialized society requires a lot of energy and without it our planet cannot sustain a ten billion population.
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We have discussed shorter work weeks in the past. There are several reasons for a reduction or working hours. Now French research adds another one to this list. According to a report on ScienceDaily people who work long hours over a decade have an increased risk of a stroke. Continue reading Health and working hours
Our regular reader will know that we are quite hawkish when it comes to air quality and public health. One of the measure we have proposed is for space habitats to ban the use of internal combustion engines. A study by researchers from Cornell University provides a solid scientific base for a complete ban on internal combustion engines. Continue reading Electric vehicles and public health
ScienceDaily reports three interesting studies relevant for designing a public health policy. As we have stated previously, public policy should focus on prevention of disease – also known as health promotion. Continue reading Health promotion – some studies
Cosmic radiation is one, if not the most, major obstacle to space colonization. Different proposals have been made to address this issue. However, scientists have discovered that a protein called URI can protect against high dose radiation.
Though this research is done in mice and with the intend to help cancer patients through radiotherapy, it is still highly relevant for human space settlers.
The Guardian has an interesting article on a robot designed to pick raspberries – and potentially also other crops as well. This robot is able to about 25,000 berries a day, whereas a human picker can only do 15,000. It took about 700,000 Pound to develop this machine and it is expected it will come into production next year.
Farm automation is a rapidly developing field and one that is of great importance for future space settlements as we discussed earlier on this site.
ScienceDaily reports of a Spanish study that shows that exposure around birth has a negative effect upon one’s cognitive abilities. Given that other studies on particulates have found similar and other negative impacts on human health, this study should not really surprise anyone. Continue reading Air pollution one more time
ScienceDaily reports yet another study that shows that solving puzzles such crosswords or Sudoku has a positive effect on our brain. Tl-dr: regular puzzling makes your brain about ten years younger.
Plastic waste is a major environmental and social problem. The fact that plastics or polymers hardly decompose naturally is one of the contributing factors to the issue of this type of waste. Though polymers could be recycled only a tiny portion of separately collected plastic waste is actually recycled. Continue reading Polymer waste and recycling
When it comes to the world’s future energy supply both fusion power and renewable energy are experiencing a steady pace of progress. However, regardless of the particular choice of technology, there is an ever increasing need for a reliable method of storing energy. Continue reading Energy storage
