Rio de Janeiro: air pollution kills more than traffic accidents

The traffic jams in Rio de Janeiro have skyrocketing due to the numerous interventions and works at various points in the city, which has caused more damage to the health of our citizens than hours lost, according to the least one Car.

Between 2006 and 2012, 36,194 people died as a result of diseases caused by air pollution, according to a survey of Health and sustainability Institute (ISS). This number is even more alarming when compared with the number of deaths caused by traffic accidents between 2006 and 2011: according to data from the map of Violence from 2013, 16,441 people died in Rio de Janeiro, i.e. less than half of the deaths from pollution, according to the Jornal do Brazil.

Also according to the study of the ISS, on average, 14 people died in Rio de Janeiro a day due to air pollution. In addition, the survey estimates that the deaths because of pollution can exceed the records of death by HIV, breast cancer and prostate in the State of Rio de Janeiro, same as pollutant emissions decrease over the years.

About 77% of the pollution in the Rio de Janeiro results from emission from cars, concludes the study. Second Evangeline Motta Pacheco, Director of ISS and coordinator of the study, "measuring parameters of pollution in the State is lagged. Therefore, the research used data from the World Health Organization (who), who come to be three times more stringent than the Brazilian legislation. Based on these data, the survey showed that in the State of Rio de Janeiro the pollution rate is two times higher than what is determined by who ".

"There are cities in the State [Rio de Janeiro] in which the rate is three times greater, but that's just the average per year. While conducting the study, when we analyze the relationship of emissions per day, we found that these amount to be between six to ten times higher than is considered to have a minimal effect on health "alerts.

The traffic of Rio de Janeiro has arrived to be ranked as the third worst in the world, in 2012, and the situation seems to have improved over the years. In 2013, a study indicated that the time that Brazilians spend in traffic has exceeded the time of congestion in Sao Paulo.

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Largest cave in the world is threatened by cable car

The plans for the construction of a cable car in the National Park of Phong Nka-ke Bang, Vietnam, may threaten the Son Doong cave, the longest cave in the world, considered a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2013.

The construction of the cable car you can open the cave to mass tourism, which in a short time will degrade the space. The Vietnamese are already protesting against the project and experts argue that the environmental impact can be devastating.

Projects the chairlift can carry around 1,000 visitors per hour. The new transport should have 10.6 miles of cable, which will connect the Son Doong cave to other caves in the Park, being housed in a complex of services, tourism and resorts ".

The project was approved in October by the authorities of the province of Quang Binh and the construction of the cable car will be charged to the Group of Sun resorts Group. The cost of cable car is valued at €171 million. After the announcement of the project generate a wave of unprecedented protests in the country, the Vietnamese Minister of tourism came the public make it clear that the project had not yet been approved by the Government. However, the Executive authorized a preliminary study on the impacts of the construction of the cable car.

The Sun Group advocates, in turn, the cable car will be the most ecological means of opening the area to tourism and will develop the region of Quang Binh as a tourist center, creating jobs for the locals, says the Guardian.

"The environmental impact will be devastating," defends Andy McKenzie, one of the first explorers to visit the cave. Researchers fear that the construction of the towers necessary to support the gondola could damage the fragile network of caves in the area. The construction of any infrastructure on top of Son Doong cave "would create pressure on the ceiling already fragile, which can eventually trigger its collapse," says geomorfologista Vu Le Phuong, who studies the Grotto since the first expedition, in 2009.

Le warning that the province still Phoung remote Quang Binh is not properly prepared to receive the millions of tourists who invade other popular destinations of Vietnam.

However, it was already created a Facebook page and an online petition against the construction of the cable car.

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2015 will be the international year of light

2014 is coming to an end and the attention is already focused on 2015. One of the aspects you must select the next year's agenda will be the light, since 2015 was declared the "international year of light" by the United Nations General Assembly, to celebrate the light as a matter of science and technological development.

The international year of light is a global initiative that aims to raise awareness of citizens around the world to the importance of light and optical technologies in society. To celebrate the light in its most varied forms, are already being prepared various activities aimed at audiences of all ages and different cultural levels.

With the advent of electricity in the 20th century, many people have forgotten the luxury that is you can access daily to this energy form. At the same time, in developing countries, there are millions of people who do not have access to electricity and is also the problem that the u.n. intends to emphasize with this international year of light.

The international year of light coincides with several milestones in the field of the physical study of light, as the work in optics of Ibn Al-Haytham, in 1015; the wave behavior of light proposed by Fresnel in 1815; the electromagnetic theory of light proposed by Maxwell in 1865; Einstein's work on the photoelectric effect (1905) and on the link between light and Cosmology in the context of general relativity (1915); the discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation by Penzias and Wilson, in 1965, and the work of Charles Kao (1965) regarding the use of fiber optics in telecommunications.

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Identified new species of puffer fish

When scientists discovered that a certain type of puffer fish was responsible for the construction of bizarre circles in the seafloor have also discovered that the animal was quite different from his relatives.

The oceanic circles have been identified in the seabed Japanese since 1995, but until recently its origin remained a mystery. It was only last year that divers observed a Blowfish to construct the circles, which came to prove to be a sexual ritual to attract partners.

The study of animal behavior also enabled researchers to observe more closely the species and concluded that this puffer fish was quite different from other pufferfish.

Two specimens were collected, one male and one female, the waters off the Ryukyu Islands, in Japan, and scientists concluded then that this is a different subspecies of Blowfish. The new animals were called Torquigener albomaculosus, common name Blowfish-de-pintas-white.

The color of this fish-Brown with white spots on the back and white and silver with white spots on abdomen â€" helped scientists to distinguish this puffer fish of other species of the genus Torquigener. The discovery was published in the scientific journal Ichthyological Research, writes the BBC.

The new discovery raises to 20 the number of species in the genus Torquigener. It is thought that the new species of puffer fish is the only one to create circles in the seafloor as a mating ritual.

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Appliances sold online are required to have energy label from January

From January 1, 2015, online stores will be obliged to submit the energy label with information about electricity consumption on home appliances such as washing machines and dishwashers, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners or flat.

So far, these stores were only obliged to provide some of the information contained on the labels of products which are in physical stores, as the energy class. But as of 2015 will also be required to display energy label and the item card, pay-for-spares online store for Quercus said in a statement.

Initially, the scheme will be compulsory only for appliances such as those referred to above, but from April next year the obligation is extended to ovens and hoods and from September is extended to water heaters and hot water tanks, as well as to environmental heaters.

The availability of the energy label shall be made by the price of the product and is recommended to be available via a link from an image of a color arrow corresponding to the energy efficiency class of the product, such as the item card, which must be clearly visible and legible dimensions ", indicates the Quercus.

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Brazil: new species of monkey discovered is in danger of extinction

A team of Brazilian biologists, working inside the country's Centre, has discovered what is believed to be a new species of primate. The animal, never seen before, was discovered on the southern edge of the Amazon rainforest and confirms a theory that scientists have long suspected: there are hundreds of new species of animals and plants by documenting in the region.

According to the researchers at the University of Mato Grosso, the new species likely to monkey, which belongs to the genus Pithecia, writes the Dodo, was spotted three times in a fragmented forest area too little explored until now. Multicolor staining only of the animal has never been observed in any monkey of this genus, which scientists believe could be a new species. However, genetic tests will be needed to prove that it is a a new monkey species.

"We sent the first images to an expert, but everything indicates that this is a new species. The characteristics are very different, "says Manoel dos Santos Filho, one of the biologists that integrates team.

Although it is not know next to nothing about this new animal all odds indicate to what is already in danger of extinction, such as the bulk of the Amazon flora and fauna. As biologists, the region where it was found the animal is among the more have suffered from deforestation and only 15% of the original forestation remains today.

All years are identified hundreds of new species of animals and plants in the Amazon rainforest. At the same time, there are hundreds of species which will cease to exist without ever having been documented. According to statistics, the Amazon loses annually between 0.2% to 0.3% of their species.

Photo: Almério C. Gusmão/Unemat

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New York prohibits tattoos and piercings in animals

The u.s. State of New York has banned officially the tattoos and piercings in animals. The new law, which will enter into force within 120 days, that prohibits any forms of body art in pets. The infringement of the norm will be púnida with fines up to € 200 and imprisonment.

Although the tattoos and piercings in animals are considered animal cruelty â€" which is illegal and as such a crime throughout the territory of the United States â€" the charges and penalties will eventually fall by the wayside.

The State of New York decided to take existing laws further with a specific legislation which bans fashion. Besides New York, the State of Pennsylvania is the only one to have a similar legislation and New Jersey must pass a law like that soon, writes the Inhabitat.

The law contemplates on the inner exceptions only for tattoos for identification or medical purposes.

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