Environment

The U.N. atomic agency said on Tuesday that rendering male mosquitoes infertile by exposing them to nuclear radiation could help reduce populations of the insect carrying the Zika virus What could possible go wrong? RT reports: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the so-called Sterile Insect Technology (SIT) can help tackle the outbreak which has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO).

One of Brazil’s most senior health officials has admitted that the Zika virus outbreak is much worse than originally believed, due to the fact that most patients display no symptoms.  Health Minister Marcelo Castro said that Brazil will begin mandatory reporting of all cases by local government next week when most laboratories will have more up-to-date testing facilities. Yahoo News reports: On Monday, the World Health Organization declared the Zika outbreak to be a global emergency, a decision that should help fast-track international action and research priorities.

Two years after China’s Chang’e-3 lunar rover started exploring the moon, the National Space Administration has released hundreds of true color HD photos of the lunar surface for the world to see. New China TV YouTube video: China’s Yutu rover reveals Moon’s “complex” geological history RT reports: The China National Space Administration published images, videos and scientific data on its website, making them available to anyone who registers.

Researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder have said that toxic substances in fracking fluid have been found in many everyday household items, including toothpaste, detergent, and ice cream.  Their findings, published in the journal Analytical Chemistry, prove what many people have long-thought: that contamination of water supplies may be traceable to the chemicals used in fracking.

Lawrence M. Krauss, a physicist at Arizona State University, writes in the New Yorker about the Doomsday Clock, which was created in 1947 by people associated with the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: