Category: Environment - Sci-Tech Bulletin

Rising Temperatures and Heatwaves may affect our mental health

A meta-analysis found that rising temperatures and heatwaves are linked to increased mental health problems, including higher mortality and hospital admissions. Each 1°C rise in temperature significantly raises risks for mood disorders, neurotic disorders, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and suicide. When the temperature stays extremely high for consecutive 3 days, older adults, males, and fragile populations living in tropical and subtropical climate zones are more vulnerable. As global temperatures rise, addressing heat-related mental health risks becomes increasingly important for healthcare systems and policymakers to adopt heat mitigation strategies and provide mental health support during extreme weather.

Rising Temperatures and Heatwaves may affect our mental health Read More »

Microorganisms adapting to environmental changes such as temperature, pH, and nutrient availability

How microorganisms adapt to changing environments at molecular level and undergo evolution

Microorganisms adapt to changing environments through molecular and cellular mechanisms by pleiotropy, often driven by changes in gene regulation and signaling pathways. Organisms may evolve as specialists or generalists depending on environmental variability and predictability. Strategies include anticipatory regulation, cellular memory, and stochastic bet-hedging. Rapid adaptations like gene amplification or aneuploidy provide short-term benefits but are costly long term. Research shows that genetic background strongly influences outcomes, making evolution context-dependent. These insights are important for understanding antibiotic resistance, cancer evolution, biotechnology, and managing adaptation in natural and applied systems.

How microorganisms adapt to changing environments at molecular level and undergo evolution Read More »

How Hot and Humid Weather Could Be Fuelling Influenza Pandemics

Study conducted on mice at various hydrothermal environments influences influenza H1N1 pandemics. The warm–wet environments supress our immune responses to influenza by reduction in cytokine production, suppressed T-cells differentiation, weakened T-cell activity, and impaired viral recognition RLH signalling pathway. As a result, infected hosts cannot effectively clear the virus, leading to persistent infections. These findings have implication in public health planning, highlighting the need to consider climate factors in disease prediction, surveillance, and early vaccine manufacture, especially in regions prone to warm and humid conditions.

How Hot and Humid Weather Could Be Fuelling Influenza Pandemics Read More »

Natural environment could restore your ability to concentrate using attention Restoration Therapy (ART)

Attention Restoration Therapy (ART) as termed, is a psychological theory that suggests that spending time in natural environments helps to restore an individual’s focus and attention. ART states that nature engages the mind in a gentle way known as “soft fascination” that allows the brain to rest from effortful thinking, recover attention capacity and improve concentration afterward. Activities such walking in parks, spending time by the lake-side or daily morning jogging around natural surrounding improves attention, especially for demanding tasks like working memory and executive function.

Natural environment could restore your ability to concentrate using attention Restoration Therapy (ART) Read More »

How Household Activities Increase Propylene Exposure upto 30 times

Propylene exposure above 1500 ppmv (as per Protective Action Criteria) from the residential sources such tobacco, wood combustion, cleaning agents and air fresheners are the largest contributors of acute health effects like dizziness, lightheadedness, headaches, nausea, eye irritation and respiratory discomfort. Severe exposure may also lead to central nervous system (CNS) toxicity, hyperosmolarity, hemolysis, cardiac arrhythmia, seizures, agitation, and lactic acidosis, especially in children. Indoor smoking is the largest contributor to rise the propylene levels up to 30 times and major source for individuals without occupational exposure.

How Household Activities Increase Propylene Exposure upto 30 times Read More »

A Bacteria That Destroy Plastics A Sustainable Solution to PET Pollution

Scientists have discovered strains of Ideonella sakaiensis that can degrade polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a plastic commonly used in beverage bottles, packaging containers, and synthetic fibres. These bacteria utilize the enzymes PETase and MHETase to degrade PET as its major energy and carbon source, achieving 100-fold efficiency at room temperatures within approximately 6 weeks.

A Bacteria That Destroy Plastics A Sustainable Solution to PET Pollution Read More »