The trouble with climate change used to be short-termism. The catastrophe was predicted for a future that lay further away than the next election, so most politicians feared the issue as a potential vote loser. They didn’t dare to ask anybody to make sacrifices or incur costs for the benefits of future generations.
The alternating periods of light and darkness we experience as the Earth rotates about its axis have changed considerably over time. A gradual slowing of our planet’s rate of rotation has resulted in the average duration of a 24-hour day increasing by some 1.8 milliseconds every century. Read the book review.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been attracting negative headlines in recent months. But from a manufacturing perspective such technology is indispensable for firms seeking to remain competitive in their respective industry sectors. With advances in AI and the Internet of Things (IoT), the manufacturing sector is undergoing a transformative shift.
For most of human history, bacterial infections have been a leading cause of disease and death. Given this, it is hardly surprising that antibacterial treatments have been developed many times by different cultures at different points in human history.
The infectious diseases market is forecast to grow at 5.7% CAGR between 2023 and 2029 to reach $150bn in annual sales. The key players: Pfizer, Gilead Sciences and GSK, are expected to collectively generate 62% of total sales.
A study from the University of Nottingham, UK, suggests that proper cooking and dietary decisions during antibiotic treatment may hold the key to reducing antibiotic resistance. The research (Plos One, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289941) sheds light on how antibiotic resistance genes accumulate over a lifetime, offering insights into long-term resistance in gut bacteria and potential prevention strategies.
Work published by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, US, indicates that microplastics in agricultural soil could contribute to antibiotic resistance of bacteria in the food chain (Pathogens, doi: 10.3390/pathogens12070888).
Chemicals secreted from maize roots boosted the yields of wheat sown in the same field the following year, a two-year study in a crop field in Switzerland found (eLife, doi: 10.7554/eLife.84988).
Read the organic chemistry highlights for September 2023 written by G. Richard Stephenson, University of East Anglia, UK.