**** killer "castrates" male frogs, study says

[Neytiri]

**** killer 'castrates' male frogs, study says - CNN.com (http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/science/03/01/pesticide.study.frogs/index.html?hpt=T2)

Edit: I see that the word w.e.e.d. got automatically bleeped out of my post when I clicked the button to submit. Come on people! WTF is our world coming to???? Now we cant use the word w.e.e.d ? Why are we automatically assuming that everyone who uses that word has their mind in the gutter????? ..... Frustrating.

But then I suppose 9 out of 10 people using that word these days are NOT gardeners. What a shame....

[Pa'li Makto]

Atrazine is bad news, they should find ways to find organic pesticide
or change their methods of farming.

[brianct]

thats what scientific chemical do...they are totally unnatural,....

i suggest these US etc farmers go to the third world and learn from farmers there.

[Neytiri]

thats what scientific chemical do...they are totally unnatural,....

i suggest these US etc farmers go to the third world and learn from farmers there.


I agree with you. There is a wealth of natural knowledge to be inherited from people who really live off their land.

[ProfoundHeart]

I was just learning about this kind of stuff in Science, they really need to find a more natural method.

[eywa_devotee]

I pulled nasty noxious weeds from my garden, dried it, and burned them up in the fire pit. The **** in question is a hemp plant...

[Hometree]

Once again the reality of how nasty pesticides are! I did enjoy one of the comments from the article.....


Humans were mother natures biggest accomplishment and her worst mistake

And more on the pesticide front - lobsters are dying from them too....

'Despite being some of the most dangerous commercially-used chemicals known to man, pesticides are being spread on crops and fields with reckless abandon. Not only does the use of pesticides put people and the environment at risk, improper disposal can also have diastrous effects on wildlife.

CBC News recently reported that Canadian fishermen are furious that a pesticide normally used for agriculture somehow ended up in the Bay of Fundy and may have contributed to the death of hundreds of lobsters.

The Bay of Fundy is known as the home of the best-tasting lobster in the world, but that reputation might be in danger if authorities can't figure out why the lobsters are dying in alarming numbers.

Mass lobster deaths have occurred in three sites across the bay and have been linked to an agricultural pesticide, Cypermethrin, which is illegal to use in marine environments and toxic to lobsters (CBC).

Many people are unaware of just how easy it is for agricultural pesticides to become part of the food or even water supply in their area. It is even more disturbing to consider that even though pesticides are hazardous to human health and the environment, these pervasive chemicals are aggressively promoted by multinational corporations, government agencies, and other players in a more than $35 billion a year industry.

Earlier this month the Center for Biological Diversity informed the U.S. EPA that it intends to sue the agency for failing to adequately evaluate and regulate nearly 400 pesticides harmful to hundreds of endangered species across the country as well as human beings. And activitsts are demanding an investigation of the possible link between occupational pesticides and Parkinson's disease.

To provide consumers with current, accurate information about the dangerous pesticides that are present on the foods we eat every day, the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) recently released the What's On My Food? app for the iPhone.'

Pesticides Linked To Mass Lobster Deaths In Bay of Fundy (http://www.care2.com/causes/environment/blog/pesticides-linked-to-lobster-deaths/)

[Tsyal Makto]

The stuff weakens their immune systems, too.
Sex-Changing Herbicide Makes Amphibians Sick, Too | Wired Science | Wired.com (http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/03/atrazine-and-disease/#Replay)
This is some nasty ****.

[brianct]

just imagine what nano tech will do to lobsters and frogs....and the rest of nature...

BUT most humans being first class skxawng, never learn.

'Earlier this month the Center for Biological Diversity informed the U.S. EPA that it intends to sue the agency for failing to adequately evaluate and regulate nearly 400 pesticides harmful to hundreds of endangered species across the country as well as human beings. And activitsts are demanding an investigation of the possible link between occupational pesticides and Parkinson's disease.'

laughable..much too late. The EPA like the FDA are proof the american way is NOT to regulate. Thats what free market means...freedom from regulation...

2154 here we come!

[Spock]

just imagine what nano tech will do to lobsters and frogs....and the rest of nature...

BUT most humans being first class skxawng, never learn.

'Earlier this month the Center for Biological Diversity informed the U.S. EPA that it intends to sue the agency for failing to adequately evaluate and regulate nearly 400 pesticides harmful to hundreds of endangered species across the country as well as human beings. And activitsts are demanding an investigation of the possible link between occupational pesticides and Parkinson's disease.'

laughable..much too late. The EPA like the FDA are proof the american way is NOT to regulate. Thats what free market means...freedom from regulation...

2154 here we come!

Bah. Nano-tech is harmless, the only flaw could be the grey goo scenario, in which they would never stop consuming matter. However I fail to see how this is any more dangerous to lobsters than the rest of the universe.

[brianct]

Bah. Nano-tech is harmless, the only flaw could be the grey goo scenario, in which they would never stop consuming matter. However I fail to see how this is any more dangerous to lobsters than the rest of the universe.

how do you know its harmless? Have you carried out safety studies?

They said the same about nuke power, insecticides etc

Its only lately the Precautionary Principle has been invoked...because of so many cases of disasters being unleashed by researchers.

[Neytiri]

Are Dangerous Nanoparticles Lurking In Your Cosmetics and Sunscreens? (http://ezinearticles.com/?Are-Dangerous-Nanoparticles-Lurking-In-Your-Cosmetics-and-Sunscreens?&id=1034878)

You don't need to be a scientist to find out that nanoparticles are dangerous, you just have to be a girl looking for a non-toxic sunscreen doing research on the Internet. I did extensive research to try to find out if sunscreen ingredients are safe or not, due to all the conflicting data. Using the precautionary principle, the conclusion I came to: you're better off just covering up in light, loose clothing, and a straw hat... or using plant oils on your body that have a naturally occuring low spf... like shea butter. Even plain old zinc oxide I've read causes free radicals on your skin just as much as preventing them... so goodbye and hello to skin cancer all at the same time. Who needs to spend the extra money when I can take real and safe precautions for free just by wearing the proper attire and putting on some nourishing plant oils?

Yes, nano-tech is dangerous.

One thing I don't recommend however, is going without sunscreen if you plan to be in a bikini for a long time in the burning sun at midday, and your skin is pale as a ghost. It will become quite clear in a very short period of time that you are better off WITH the sunscreen than without it, if you decide to expose your skin to this kind of solar abuse. But I digress. So easy to digress...

[brianct]

for sunscreen i use coconut oil...prevents the burning

[Neytiri]

for sunscreen i use coconut oil...prevents the burning

yes, and make sure its not refined oil... if its refined its protective properties are not the same (this is true for any oil)... if its not refined it should have a smoky smell to it...

Also check out this page:

http://www.sickamongthepure.net/avoiduvr/sunscreens/naturalsunscreens.html

[brianct]

yes, and make sure its not refined oil... if its refined its protective properties are not the same (this is true for any oil)... if its not refined it should have a smoky smell to it...

Also check out this page:

Natural and/or organically produced sunscreens (http://www.sickamongthepure.net/avoiduvr/sunscreens/naturalsunscreens.html)

i only ever use the virgin oil...which now its virtue is becoming better known, and the scientific fraud that had it taken off the market is now more public, has become more common.

[Fkeu'itan]

Atrazine is bad news, they should find ways to find organic pesticide

Or maybe they should stop spraying our food with artificial crap in the first place...

[HufweMakto]

This is reminding me of the way DDT was and still is, effecting the environment when I first read about it in "Silent Spring".

As for natural ways of getting rid of weeds, it would be something that works in nature, the same way that the Native Americans of the East Coast used to use beans and a certain fish to help their crops grow. They didn't use monoculture is the norm of most farming in the modern US, it was more common to put many different kinds of plants growing in the same plot to help in fertilizing/keeping away bugs/and renew the soil. Tobacco is considered a natural pesticide from what I've read.

[Spock]

how do you know its harmless? Have you carried out safety studies?

From what is already in use, its hamless. Have you carried out any studies that suggest that the little chip in your computer is screwing you over? Because mine certainly isn't.



They said the same about nuke power, insecticides etc

First of all, there is nothing wrong with nuclear power, and this has been proven to you many times. Second of all, they didn't say the same of insecticides, they didn't say anything at all. When insecticides were introduced they completely failed to forsee any consequences.



Its only lately the Precautionary Principle has been invoked...because of so many cases of disasters being unleashed by researchers.

Excuse me, based on what?

[joeylovesgaia]

**** killer 'castrates' male frogs, study says - CNN.com (http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/science/03/01/pesticide.study.frogs/index.html?hpt=T2)

Edit: I see that the word w.e.e.d. got automatically bleeped out of my post when I clicked the button to submit. Come on people! WTF is our world coming to???? Now we cant use the word w.e.e.d ? Why are we automatically assuming that everyone who uses that word has their mind in the gutter????? ..... Frustrating.

But then I suppose 9 out of 10 people using that word these days are NOT gardeners. What a shame....

The plant in question should not be illegal. From what I've read, it is less addictive than cigarettes (almost everything is) and less dangerous than beer. What No One Wants to Know About Marijuana (http://deoxy.org/pdfa/marijuana.htm)

[Nydra]

thats what scientific chemical do...they are totally unnatural,....

i suggest these US etc farmers go to the third world and learn from farmers there.

You mean the methods we used in the dark ages? when people were starving? natural chemicals are just as dangerous as scientific. you don't seem to realise what scientific advance has done for every one of us, in agriculture aswell as medicine, etc

[Pygmy-Na'vi]

People in the Third World are not starving because of outdated farming methods, they're starving because of draughts, corruption and general imbalance and instability. And because they choose to grow "luxury crops" (coffee, bananas, coconuts, chocolate, oil palms) and then sell their crops to companies that process them and in turn sell them to us for three times (if even that) the price which they bought them for. They simply get nothing in return.

The problem with modern agriculture is that they've forgotten what weeds and insects do. Many of the plants considered "weeds" have natural insect-repelling abilities, not only for themselves but for the plants around them as well. The same goes for many vegetables, if combined. For example, plant yellow onion or leeks together with carrots, and they will protect each other from carrot fly and onion fly, no insecticides needed. Insects like ladybugs and dragonflies helps against many insect pests.

Modern conventional agriculture works like this in most cases: You use monoculture, which means planting the same crop on the same piece of land over and over, or crop rotation, meaning you change the type of crop (1. roots, 2. cereals, 3. vegetables, 4. beans, last year letting the field rest). I don't know about America, but in Europe crop rotation is the most common method today. Monoculture especially is like lighting up a big neon sign saying "SALE" to any pests and diseases which happens to come by. Then you use chemicals to kill off the pests, killing off the natural predators and protectors at the same time. When the next plague hits there is no natural line of defence, which means you need to use more and more poison and chemicals each time, increasing the cost for the same field without getting more money out of it (same amount of cereal/vegetables every time). So you must extend, create more fields, cut down trees and drain marshland to plant more crops, using the same methods. Eventually the land you started out with is so drained from nutrients that it cannot sustain even the crops you want to grow (this is especially true in the case of monoculturing). So you must buy manure to revitalise it, perhaps that cheap synthetic one from the same company that sells your pesticides? That means more money spent, so you need to grow even more crops, etc etc etc. It's a wicked circle that never ends.