Continuing it’s role as our solar system’s cosmic vacuum cleaner, the planet Jupiter swallowed up an object that was estimated to be similar in size to the meteorite that exploded over Chelyabinsk in Russia in 2013 — an incident that reportedly caused property damage and injuries to approximately 1,500 people. But, despite being 674.5 million km (419.1 million miles) away, the spectacular explosion the impact caused was recorded by modest-sized telescopes here on Earth.
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Mainstream medicine has traditionally had a heavy reliance on chemical-based pharmaceuticals, drugs designed to alter the molecular pathways within the body, to achieve specific medical results. Despite the benefits provided by many of these drugs, unwanted side effects, some of them quite severe, plague the industry — and some drugs simply aren’t nearly as effective as they’re meant to be. However, over the past few years, researchers may have come up with an alternative to this hit-or-miss practice.
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While we’re well aware of the ongoing plight of honeybees that are facing colony collapse disorder, and the potential impact on crops that depend on our little apian allies for pollination, it’s important to remember that there are a large number of plant species that we use for food that rely on species other than bees, both invertebrate and vertebrate. Toward that end, a new study, commissioned by the United Nations, has been released, warning that a shocking number of these alternate pollinators are at risk of extinction.
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