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Scientists adapt solar energy technology to detect chemical warfare agents and pesticides

Envirotec Magazine

In a colourful solution to a dangerous problem, Australian scientists are adapting a component from cutting-edge solar cells to design a rapid, light-based detection system for deadly toxins. The wrong amounts or incorrect use of these fumigants can be harmful to people and degrade the ozone layer.

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Less air pollution leads to higher crop yields, says study

Envirotec Magazine

These gases can directly damage crop cells and indirectly affect them through their role as precursors to formation of ozone, an airborne toxin known to reduce crop yields, and particulate matter aerosols that can absorb and scatter sunlight away from crops. Nitrogen oxides, or NOx, are among the most widely emitted pollutants in the world.

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The Overview Effect

Grist

Some worry that the rejuvenated interest in private space travel might provide an escape for Bezos, Elon Musk, and other members of the super-rich, allowing them to take up residence elsewhere in the solar system and leave the rest of us behind on a burning planet. There’s another similarity between today and the era of the moon landing.