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The number of domesticated honeybees in the U.S. hasdeclined by about 50%. Unless this changes, many fruits andvegetables may disappear from the food supply.

John Roach writes in National Geographic News that beepollination is responsible for 15 to 30% of the food we eat.Biologist Claire Kremen is hearing many more stories latelyabout farmers losing their crops due to the honeybeeshortage. Last February, there weren’t enough honeybees forall the almond blossoms in California, so some farmers hadsmaller crops than usual.

Entomologist Dewey Caron says, “?We started to ask, Well,what is affecting the bees? What can we do to keep themhealthier?”
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Fish with both male and female sexual tissue have beendiscovered near wastewater treatment plants on the SouthPlatte River and Boulder Creek in Colorado. And it’s beendiscovered that utilities across the country have been lyingfor years about the lead levels in their drinking water.Biologist John Woodling says, ”This is the first thing thatI’ve seen as a scientist that really scared me.”

The sex changes in fish are probably being caused byhormones from birth control bills and hormone replacementthat end up in the water. Barbara Biggs, of the MetroWastewater Reclamation District, says, ”We don’t want toleap to any conclusions yet. There are a lot of estrogensources in the environment, and this is going to take time.”
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We’re not sure if water goes down the drain in ananticlockwise direction above the equator and in a clockwisedirection below it (or vice-versa), but scientists DO saythat dolphins in the northern hemisphere swim inanticlockwise circles, while dolphins in the southernhemisphere swim in clockwise circles.

Emma Marris writes in nature.com that dolphins swim in lazycircles as they nap, but they only sleep with one half oftheir brains at a time, so they can keep swimming as theysnooze.
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In the future, we’ll all be able to get genetic scans thatwill tell us how to eat and exercise, as well as whatdiseases await us in the future. The question is, do wereally want to know?

Daith

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