Banned pollutant PCB threatens Europe's whales

Scientists are warning that a banned pollutant could wipe out Europe's killer whales and dolphins.The use of the PCB chemical was prohibited from the 1980s but it still exists in the environment. (BBC News)

A polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) is a synthetic organic chemical compound ofchlorine attached to biphenyl, which is a molecule composed of two benzene rings. There are 209 configurations of organochlorides with 1 to 10 chlorine atoms. The chemical formula for a PCB is C₁₂H_10−xCl_x. Of the different PCB arrangements and orientations 130 are used commercially.

Polychlorinated biphenyls were widely used as dielectric and coolant fluids in electrical apparatus, cutting fluids for machining operations, carbonless copy paper and in heat transfer fluids. Because of PCBs' environmental toxicity and classification as a persistent organic pollutant, PCB production was banned by the United States Congress in 1979 and by the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in 2001. The International Research Agency on Cancer (IRAC), rendered PCBs as definite carcinogens in humans. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), PCBs cause cancer in animals and are probable human carcinogens.Many rivers and buildings including schools and other sites are contaminated with PCBs, and there have been contaminations of food supplies with the toxins.

Some PCBs share a structural similarity and toxic mode of action with dioxin. Other toxic effects such asendocrine disruption (notably blocking of thyroid system functioning) and neurotoxicity are known. The maximum allowable contaminant level in drinking water in the United States is set at zero, but because of water treatment technologies, a level of 0.5 parts per billion is the de facto level.

in Wikipedia

Einstein's gravitational waves 'seen' from black holes 100 years after his prediction

Scientists have made a huge discovery about the universe - they have detected the waves made after two black holes collided.

Black holes can't be seen, but scientists know they exist because of the way they move things around them in the universe.

In a far away galaxy, two black holes smashed together more than a billion years ago.

The shock waves from this crash have just reached earth, and scientists were able to detect the signal for the first time.

Prof. Stephen Hawking says discovery of gravitational waves provides ‘completely new way

They have observed the warping of space-time generated by the collision of two black holes more than a billion light-years from Earth.

The international team says the first detection of these gravitational waves will usher in a new era for astronomy.

It is the culmination of decades of searching and could ultimately offer a window on the Big Bang.

The research, by the Ligo Collaboration, has been published today in the journalPhysical Review Letters.

The collaboration operates a number of labs around the world that fire lasers through long tunnels, trying to sense ripples in the fabric of space-time.

From BBC News

The Balance of Nature must be kept!

My Role In Maintaining Balance Of Nature from Hannah Jane del Castillo

The Moroccan city of Ouarzazate is powered by salt

A Moroccan city is being powered at night by solar energy, thanks to salt.

The newly-opened plant at Ouarzazate harnesses the Sun's warmth to melt salt to 500C. The salt holds its heat and powers a steam turbine in the evening.(BBC News)

The new site near the city of Ouarzazate -- famous as a filming location for Hollywood blockbusters like "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Gladiator" -- could produce enough energy to power over one million homes by 2018 and reduce carbon emissions by an estimated 760,000 tons per year, according to the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) finance group.

As His Majesty Mohammed VI of Morocco pressed a button on 4 February 2016, the first phase of the three-part project was set in motion.From CNN

How do you prepare orangutans to go back into the wild?

Orangutans living at a sanctuary in Indonesia are being prepared for release back into the wild.

Forest fires and poaching have led to a decrease in the population.

Some baby orangutans don't have parents to teach them how to look after themselves.

International Animal Rescue has more than 100 of the animals at its sanctuary in Ketapang in western Kaliman province.

It's set up a forest school so the oraguntans can play and learn how to survive in the wild.

It can take up to eight years for the babies to be ready to be released.

From CBBC Newsround