Recent research done by Anne Steinemann of the University of Washington in Seattle has discovered that the fragrance chemicals found in detergents and dryer sheets release toxic chemicals into the air.

Our analyses found more than 25 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from dryer vents, with the highest concentrations of acetaldehyde, acetone, and ethanol. Seven of these VOCs are classified as hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) and two as carcinogenic HAPs (acetaldehyde and benzene) with no safe exposure level, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. As context for significance, the acetaldehyde emissions during use of one brand of laundry detergent would represent 3% of total acetaldehyde emissions from automobiles in the study area.

It’s time to break out the good ole washing board and head to the river.

via springer

I was making fun of Hurricane Irene a few days ago thinking that it wasn’t as destructive as expected and everyone just overreacted to it. But then I saw these photos of the destruction in Vermont. Unreal. Reminds me of Japan after the tsunami.

If you imagine Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds” but replace the birds with bees you get a picture similar to that seen at the site of a truck accident on an Idaho highway, where a delivery truck driver veered of the shoulder of the road and tipped more than 400 beehives.

The accident released 14 million bees, which people in the area initially described as a strange black cloud making a roaring noise – like the smoke monster in Lost.

A whole lot of honey was also spilled on the highway, making drivers pull over and frantically lick the road (not really, but I would have done it if I was there).

Unfortunately though, this story is sort of a buzz kill because cleanup crews had to kill many the freed bees by spraying them with fire foam. And although no one was seriously injured in the accident or in the clean up efforts that followed, the loss of so many bees is quite tragic.

In order to deal with our ever increasing food prices and make environmentally friendly organic food available to everyone on the planet, one Japanese scientist is eating his own shit. No, really. He extracts protein from human feces, mixes it with soya, adds steak sauce and calls it artificial meat.

Mitsyuki Ikeda, the scientist behind the idea, says the biggest hurdle stopping his artificial meat from catching on is the psychological barrier preventing people from eating their own shit. That and the fact that turd burgers are currently 10-20 times more expensive than regular meat (due to research costs and low demand).

I’m not sure if this video is an actual news report or an Onion-like parody, but… Holy shit snacks!

And the inevitable question: would you be tempted to eat shit burgers?

PS: I wonder how many times these shit burgers could be recycled.

To cut down on greenhouse gas emissions and fight global warming, an Aussie guy from Adelaide has declared war on camel farts. There was our problem!

Tim Moore is the managing director of Northwest Carbon and according to his math each camel roaming Australia’s outback releases roughly 45kg of methane per year – the equivalent of a tonne of CO2. He estimates that with each killed camel 15 tonnes of CO2 emissions would be prevented, which is how he plans to monetize this. If the Australian government will consider his plan to be eligible to benefit under its carbon initiatives, Tim could be earning carbon credits for the killed camels, credits which he would then trade for significant profits.

The only problem is that since Australia is so vast he’ll have to use helicopters and jeeps to get to the camels (burning large amounts of fossil fuel in the process). Nothing says environmentalism like shooting camels from helicopters.

Context for the photo:

“The chief Raoni cries when he learns that Brazilian president Dilma released the beginning of construction of the hydroelectric plant of Belo Monte, even after tens of thousands of letters and emails addressed to her and which were ignored as the more than 600 000 signatures. That is, the death sentence of the peoples of Great Bend of the Xingu river is enacted. Belo Monte will inundate at least 400,000 hectares of forest, an area bigger than the Panama Canal, thus expelling 40,000 indigenous and local populations and destroying habitat valuable for many species – all to produce electricity at a high social, economic and environmental cost, which could easily be generated with greater investments in energy efficiency.” – ver2go.tumblr.com

It’s heartbreaking to see the entire livelihood and heritage of so many people be flooded, ruined and used for profit. But small groups have always been exploited by larger ones, so this is nothing new.

Why do we keep letting it happen?