It’s time to get dirty! Recently, scientists have found being too clean can impair the skin's ability to heal. In a work published by Nature Medicine, scientists found that normal bacteria living on the skin trigger a pathway that helps prevent inflammation when we get hurt. The BBC reports that researchers from the School of Medicine at University of California, San Diego, found a common bacterial species, known as Staphylococci, blocked a vital step in a cascade of events that led to inflammation. Several U.K. parents have comment that this work offers scientific support for its campaign to stop children being “mollycoddled and over-sanitised.”
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Ever thought you might like to grow your dream house? It may become a reality. Technology and Entertainment Design Conference fellow Rachel Armstrong has revealed a concept called “metabolic materials,” which are construction materials that possess some of the properties of living systems. These can be manipulated to “grow” architecture.
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Think that living near a small airport makes means you don’t have the same issues are those living near larger ones? MNN.com reports on a new study by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles. Scientists found worryingly high levels of air pollution at Santa Monica Airport. The study shows that regional and municipal airports can be major health hazards, particularly if they’re in densely populated urban neighborhoods. Consequently, calls have been made for larger buffers at urban airports, large and small.
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In better eco-aviation news: Pretty soon airplanes may be able to fly across the globe with only the sun to power them! Recently, a Switzerland airport saw the Solar Impulse HB-SIA taxi down the runway powered by its own engines for the very first time. This solar-powered plane was built by The Solar Impulse Foundation and it can fly with its power generated by solar panels. It has the wingspan of a Boeing 747-400 and weighs just less than a Toyota Camry. The airplane has yet to take flight, but scientists are hopeful. “We just can’t wait to see it fly, culminating 6 years of work”, said Bertrand Piccard, the initiator of Solar Impulse.
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Electric cars in the United Kingdom just got a huge zap forward! Treehugger reports that UK Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis recently announced that his government would be investing £30 million in charging stations for electric cars. The initiative is called "Plugged-In Places" and the stations will be located on streets, in car parks and in commercial, retail and leisure facilities in regions of the UK. Mr. Adonis says, "Our aim is for electric and low carbon cars to be an everyday feature of life on UK's roads in less than five years.” Hopefully, this initiative can inspire other countries to do the same.
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Electric Car Photo Source Eb0la/Flickr