Links

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-organic-food-cancer/organic-foods-tied-to-slightly-lower-cancer-risk-idUSKCN1MW23D
Oct. 22, 2018
People who eat more organic foods may be slightly less likely to develop certain cancers, a French study suggests.
Compared to people who consumed the least amount of organic foods, people who consumed the most were 25 percent less likely to develop cancer during the study. In absolute terms, this translated into about a 0.6 percent lower risk of cancer.
“It has to be born in mind that an overall healthy nutritionally diet (rich in fruit and vegetables etc.), whatever the farming system (organic or conventional), as well as high physical activity are important documented protective factors against certain cancers and other diseases,” said lead study author Julia Baudry of the French Institute of Health and Medical Research INSERM in Paris.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/midterms-2018-more-candidates-using-225114020.html
Oct. 22, 2018
Midterms 2018: More candidates using anti-muslim rhetoric than ever - but it's not working


https://www.yahoo.com/news/flooding-prompts-boil-water-notice-132007972.html
Oct. 22, 2018
Residents of the Texas state capital are being ordered to boil their tap water before drinking after flooding in recent weeks filled the lakes that supply Austin with silt, mud and debris.


https://www.npr.org/2018/10/01/649701669/the-american-dream-is-harder-to-find-in-some-neighborhoods
Oct. 1, 2018
People born in the 1940s or '50s were virtually guaranteed to achieve the American dream of earning more than their parents did, Chetty says. But that's not the case anymore.
"You see that for kids turning 30 today, who were born in the mid-1980s, only 50 percent of them go on to earn more than their parents did," Chetty says. "It's a coin flip as to whether you are now going to achieve the American dream."
Chetty found that if a person moves out of a neighborhood with worse prospects into to a neighborhood with better outlooks, that move increases lifetime earnings for low-income children by an average $200,000. Of course, moving a lot of people is impractical, so researchers are instead trying to help low-performing areas improve.


https://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2018/oct/22/severe-thunderstorm-covers-rome-in-hail-and-floods-video
Oct. 22, 2018
A severe hailstorm hit Rome on Sunday evening, bringing a dramatic end to a long spell of hot weather and covering the streets of the Italian capital in hail and floodwaters.
Drivers found themselves stranded in high waters, while the runoff poured into underground stations. The temperature around the city dropped by 10C during the storm.
An area of low pressure moving south from northern Europe to Italy over the weekend brought disruption to most of the country, with other Italian cities – such as Milan and Palermo – experiencing floods as well.


No surprise, except that it hasn't appeared previously.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/22/microplastics-found-in-human-stools-for-the-first-time
Oct. 22, 2018
Microplastics have been found in human stools for the first time, according to a study suggesting the tiny particles may be widespread in the human food chain.
The small study examined eight participants from Europe, Japan and Russia. All of their stool samples were found to contain microplastic particles.
Up to nine different plastics were found out of 10 varieties tested for, in particles of sizes ranging from 50 to 500 micrometres. Polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate were the plastics most commonly found.