Environment

The current global outbreak of the Zika virus may have originated from GM mosquitoes that were released in Brazil during trials funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.  The Zika virus, which has been detected in 18 of the 26 states in Brazil, is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. A  generically modified version has been developed by a British biotech company called Oxitec. The results of a trial in Brazil published this summer involved genetically engineered mosquitoes that allegedly fight the spread of dengue fever, yellow fever, chikungunya, and zika virus.

Putin has announced plans to ban soybeans and corn imports into Russia from the United States over possible GMO contamination.  Russia’s food safety watchdog say that the contaminated products risk affecting food safety in Russia and could adversely affect other Eurasian Economic Union members. RT.com reports: The Russian agency says it notified US authorities on Monday to halt exports of corn contaminated with dry rot to Russia.

Watch the moment onlookers scream as  a road full of cars, trees and lamp posts disappears in front of their eyes into a sinkhole. The Express reports: The video, shot in Baltimore, begins with people gathering round a row of at least 10 cars that are teetering on the edge of a street. Onlookers are then left screaming as the stretch of cars along with trees and lamposts are engulfed in the space of a few seconds. ToddTesla YouTube video: The cars fell onto nearby train tracks and nobody was injured. The landslide followed a period of heavy rain in Baltimore.

People across South Carolina reported hearing vibrations and loud boom sounds earlier on Tuesday afternoon.  Residents in Charleston, Berkeley, Williamsburg,  and Mount Pleasant reported hearing the strange sounds. Counton2.com reports: Some on Daniel Island, James Island and Goose Creek said their homes shook. This happened around 12:26 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. The USGS website currently does not have an earthquake recorded. At 1:37 p.m. the USGS said “We see no detectable EQ in Charleston at the time of reported shaking.

International researchers suggest that the descendants of the Black Death that consumed Europe during the first outbreak of the bubonic plague in the 14th century, are the source of subsequent repeated European plague outbreaks that followed in later centuries. Devastating waves of the bubonic plague re-emerged on the European continent over the next four centuries, killing hundreds of thousands, after the initial Black Death claimed the lives of about a fifth of the world’s population and in Europe it killed 30–60% of the populace.