Tiny amounts of lead, chemical flame retardants and organophosphate pesticides, among other toxins, course through the blood of nearly every American. But just how much worry is a little poison worth?
A lot, especially when considering the cumulative effects of this chemical cocktail on children, warns a video unveiled Thursday during an environmental health conference in Ottawa, Canada. The seven-minute project, “Little Things Matter,” draws on emerging scientific evidence that even mild exposures to common contaminants can derail normal brain development — lowering IQs and raising risks of behavioral conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.
“The chemical industry argues that the effect of toxins on children is subtle and of little consequence,” co-producer Bruce Lanphear, an environmental health expert at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, states in the video. “But that is misleading.”
The word “drone” tends to conjure up images of planes that kill terrorists or of creepy surveillance tools.
But tiny drone airplanes made of foam may be more useful in rural environments, one researcher says. There, the fliers could revolutionize agriculture, reducing the need for pesticides and improving crop production.
Because drones can fly cheaply at a low altitude, they can get highly detailed images of cropland, said Chris Anderson, the CEO of 3D Robotics and former editor-in-chief of Wired, here on Saturday (May 18) at this year’s Maker Faire Bay Area, a two-day celebration of DIY science, technology and engineering. Drone-captured close-ups of fields could help farmers tailor their pesticide treatment and identify subtle differences in soil productivity. [Rise of the Drones: Photos of Unmanned Aircraft]
