An international team of researchers has identified pheromones that are specific to queen wasps, bumblebees and desert ants that keep workers sterile while in their presence. View original – Observatory: A Queen Bee’s Secret, Pinpointed ; ;Related ArticlesClimate Aids in Study Face Big Obstacles3 Campers Linked to Fire Are Arrested in CaliforniaTexas Company, Alone in U.S., Cashes In on Nuclear Waste ;
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The Cannabis Grow Bible – Greg Green
The definitive guide to growing marijuana just got better! Greg Green’s original Cannabis Grow Bible set a new standard for handbooks on cannabis horticulture and established Green as the leading authority in the field. Green’s comprehensive and professionally presented work on how to cultivate superior cannabis struck a chord with beginner, amateur and prof […]
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Cat Sense – John Bradshaw
Cats have been popular household pets for thousands of years, and their numbers only continue to rise. Today there are three cats for every dog on the planet, and yet cats remain more mysterious, even to their most adoring owners. In Cat Sense , renowned anthrozoologist John Bradshaw takes us further into the mind of the domestic cat than ever before, using […]
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Codex: Tyranids (Enhanced Edition) – Games Workshop
From the cold darkness of the intergalactic void comes a race of ravenous aliens known as the Tyranids, a numberless horde of super-predators governed only by the instincts to hunt, kill and feed. Each Tyranid is a living weapon, perfectly adapted to its designated function, but each creature is no more than a single cell in a vast gestalt entity controlled […]
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Paracord Fusion Ties – Volume 1 – J.D. Lenzen
J.D. Lenzen is the creator of the highly acclaimed YouTube channel “Tying It All Together”, and the producer of over 200 instructional videos. He’s been formally recognized by the International Guild of Knot Tyers (IGKT) for his contributions to knotting, and is the originator of fusion knotting-innovative knots created through the merging of […]
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Decoding Your Dog – American College of Veterinary Behaviorists
More than ninety percent of dog owners consider their pets to be members of their family. But often, despite our best intentions, we are letting our dogs down by not giving them the guidance and direction they need. Unwanted behavior is the number-one reason dogs are relinquished to shelters and rescue groups. The key to training dog […]
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Marley & Me – John Grogan
The heartwarming and unforgettable story of a family and the wondrously neurotic dog who taught them what really matters in life. Now with photos and new material
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How to Raise the Perfect Dog – Cesar Millan & Melissa Jo Peltier
From the bestselling author and star of National Geographic Channel’s Dog Whisperer , the only resource you’ll need for raising a happy, healthy dog. For the millions of people every year who consider bringing a puppy into their lives–as well as those who have already brought a dog home–Cesar Millan, the preeminent dog behavior expert, says, “Yes, […]
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What the Dog Did – Emily Yoffe
Dave Barry meets The Secret Lives of Dogs in Emily Yoffe’s funny and insightful look at all things canine. Filled with adventures of heroic dogs, lovable and lazy dogs, malodorous dogs, phlegmatic and incontinent dogs, What the Dog Did delivers some of the most outlandish and certainly the funniest dog stories on record.
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Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team (Interactive Edition) – Games Workshop
Not all battles in the 41st Millennium are massed engagements between lumbering armies and towering war machines. In the shadows of these epic conflicts, squads of elite soldiers clash – their missions no less vital, their foes no less deadly. Designated as Kill Teams by the Imperium, or by a myriad of different names for their alien and daemonic counterpart […]
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Warhammer 40,000 Altar of War: Tyranids – Games Workshop
The Tyranids are a deadly race of intergalactic monstrosities, bent upon devouring the galaxy’s many worlds and leaving nothing but airless wastelands in their wake. To fight the Tyranid swarm is an experience utterly unlike any other battle a general may face, for these terrifying aliens seek not to conquer or to raid, but to consume all life in their path. […]
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Celebrating Deep Freeze, Insect Experts See a Chance to Kill Off Invasive Species
Just in time for Halloween — a video made by researchers shows how ticks that carry Lyme disease cut into skin and hang on for days. Read original article: How Does a Tick Do Its Dirty Work? Research Video Offers a Clue ; ;Related ArticlesDot Earth Blog: Will Sandy’s Lessons Fade as a Sleepy Atlantic Storm Season Ends?Image of Hindenburg Haunts Hydrogen TechnologyU.S. Says It Won’t Back New International Coal-Fired Power Plants ;
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How Does a Tick Do Its Dirty Work? Research Video Offers a Clue
Is extreme weather to blame? steveburt1947/Flickr In the summer of 2011, a small band of Ontario scientists set out to perform the most ambitious survey ever attempted of the imperiled monarch butterfly. Leading the fieldwork was Tyler Flockhart, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Guelph, who trekked nearly 22,000 miles through the United States and Canada to bag and tag hundreds of butterflies, which were then put under a lab analysis to determine their birthplaces. “As far as I know, it’s the broadest sample of monarch butterflies through an entire breeding season across North America,” Flockhart said recently. The results of the endeavor confirmed what entomologists have fretted about for years: Everyone’s favorite butterfly seems to be fluttering on the road toward extinction. “They’ve been declining steadily,” said Flockhart, to the point that 2012 their population numbers in their Mexican winter home were at the lowest point on record. Tracking these fairylike insects is a dicey proposition because their yearly migration spans vast distances and involves several different generations. The butterflies spend the colder months hunkered in the mountainous fir forests of central Mexico, but in the spring travel northward into America and Canada to be near their larvae’s favorite food, the milkweed plant. In the middle of it all are the croplands of the Midwest, where the monarchs engage in a flurry of breeding that sets the direction for future generations to spread over the continent. To keep reading, click here. Continue at source: Tracking This Year’s Dismally Small Monarch Migration ; ;Related ArticlesMystery Lung Fungus: Are You at Risk?Buried in Muck, Clues to Future NYC DroughtIs Keystone XL a Distraction From More Important Climate Fights? ;
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The Art of Raising a Puppy (Revised Edition) – Monks of New Skete
For more than thirty years the Monks of New Skete have been among America’s most trusted authorities on dog training, canine behavior, and the animal/human bond. In their two now-classic bestsellers, How to be Your Dog’s Best Friend and The Art of Raising a Puppy, the Monks draw on their experience as long-time breeders of German shepherds and as t […]
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Kids Puzzle Fun #1 – Lovatts Crosswords & Puzzles
Junior puzzlers will enjoy hours of quality entertainment with the first issue of Kids Puzzle Fun! This interactive book features ‘Magic Touch’ drawing tools, allowing kids to solve the puzzles by using their finger as a pen. Magic Touch unites the tactile feel of a printed book with a superior digital format, resulting in a more natural, intuitive experienc […]
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Inside of a Dog – Alexandra Horowitz
The bestselling book that asks what dogs know and how they think, now in paperback. The answers will surprise and delight you as Alexandra Horowitz, a cognitive scientist, explains how dogs perceive their daily worlds, each other, and that other quirky animal, the human. Horowitz introduces the reader to dogs’ perceptual and cognitive abilities and then draw […]
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How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend – Monks of New Skete
For nearly a quarter century, How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend has been the standard against which all other dog-training books have been measured. This new, expanded edition, with a fresh new design and new photographs throughout, preserves the best features of the original classic while bringing the book fully up-to-date. The result: the ultimate trai […]
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How to Raise the Perfect Dog – Cesar Millan & Melissa Jo Peltier
From the bestselling author and star of National Geographic Channel’s Dog Whisperer , the only resource you’ll need for raising a happy, healthy dog. For the millions of people every year who consider bringing a puppy into their lives–as well as those who have already brought a dog home–Cesar Millan, the preeminent dog behavior expert, says, “Yes, […]
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Paracord Fusion Ties – Volume 1 – J.D. Lenzen
J.D. Lenzen is the creator of the highly acclaimed YouTube channel “Tying It All Together”, and the producer of over 200 instructional videos. He’s been formally recognized by the International Guild of Knot Tyers (IGKT) for his contributions to knotting, and is the originator of fusion knotting-innovative knots created through the merging of […]
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Munitorum: Vulcan Mega Bolter – Games Workshop
The Vulcan Mega Bolter churns out bolt shells into the ranks of the enemy, its huge rotary cannons capable of turning entire platoons of soldiers into crimson mist in the blind of an eye. The largest of the Imperium’s bolt weaponry it is found only on titans and in the turrets of super heavy tanks. About this Series: Weapons are the tools of war and with the […]
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Index Astartes: Rhino – Games Workshop
The ubiquitous Rhino is the mainstay of the Space Marine Chapters, providing tactical squads with protection from their foes as they grind across the battlefield. Based on ancient STC technology it is a hardy and reliable vehicle, mirroring the endurance of the Space Marines themselves. About this Series: The Adeptus Astartes are genetically engineered warri […]
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Trident K9 Warriors – Michael Ritland & Gary Brozek
As Seen on “60 Minutes”! As a Navy SEAL during a combat deployment in Iraq, Mike Ritland saw a military working dog in action and instantly knew he’d found his true calling. Ritland started his own company training and supplying dogs for the SEAL teams, U.S. Government, and Department of Defense. He knew that fewer than 1 percent of […]
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How to Paint Citadel Miniatures: Eldar – Games Workshop
The deadly skimmers, skilled Aspect Warriors and valiant Guardians of the Eldar craftworlds fight a constant battle for the survival of their very species. In this Army Workshop, the talented Studio army painters demonstrate how to paint a varied selection of Eldar miniatures using the Citadel paint range. Example miniatures featured in this extensive painti […]
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A Chinese farm worker sprays pesticides. Photo: IFPRI-Images
“All things are poison, and nothing is without poison: the dose alone makes a thing not poison.” The wisdom of Paracelsus, a 16th-century physician and alchemist, has formed the backbone of modern toxicology. There is a safe dose of radiation, and you can be poisoned by water. Some substances, like medicine, can be incredibly helpful at low levels but deadly at high ones. A modern toxicologist’s job is to find this line, and it’s a government’s job to put limits on exposure levels to keep everything safe.
For some compounds, however, the balance between safe and deadly may not be possible. The European Union seems to believe this is the case for one set of pesticides, the so-called neonicotinoids. The EU has recently banned their use. Writing for Nature, Sharon Oosthoek says that when it comes to certain pesticides, including these now-banned neonicotinoids, we may have missed the mark—at least in Europe and Australia.
Citing two recent studies, Oosthoek says that even when pesticides like neonicotinoids are used at a level that is deemed “safe,” there may still be deadly effects on local wildlife. Looking at streams in Germany, France and Australia, scientists found that “there were up to 42% fewer species in highly contaminated than in uncontaminated streams in Europe. Highly contaminated streams in Australia showed a decrease in the number of invertebrate families by up to 27% when contrasted with uncontaminated streams.” Pesticides can have outsized effects on some species, while others endure them just fine. And year-after-year applications can cause the pesticides to build up in the environment, making them deadly after a few years even if the amount sprayed each year is within guidelines. It’s not clear whether such strong losses are the case everywhere, but they were for the studied streams.
As Paracelsus taught us, there is a safe level for everything—even pesticides. The trick is finding the right balance such that we can still derive their benefits without the unintended consequences.
More from Smithsonian.com:
Another Downside to Your Classic Green Lawn
Crazy Lies Haters Threw at Rachel Carson
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