On January 30, the chief editor of the Belgian daily newspaper Le Soir [Delvaux 2021] published a striking article headed Parliament is the guarantor of democracy, not Twitter. I have translated the first paragraphs for you: We definitely do not need another Twitter “battle” between politicians and experts! The most recent exchange opposed the President
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Diets link environmental and human health Rising incomes and urbanisation are driving a global dietary transition, whereby traditional diets are replaced by diets higher in sugars, fats, oils and meats. If unchecked, these dietary trends will be a major contributor to the estimated 80 % increase in global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. Global
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This title is a tribute to the famous French biologist and humanist, Jean Rostand. In 1967 he published Inquiétudes d’un biologiste (Concerns of a biologist). It is sometimes well for a blatant error to draw attention to overmodest truths! As long as 55 years ago, significant residues of DDT were found in Adélie penguins and
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A tree’s most important means of staying connected to other trees is a “wood wide web” of soil fungi that connects vegetation in an intimate network that allows the sharing of an enormous amount of information and goods. A few years ago, I bought a book by Peter Wohlleben, put it aside and forgot about
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At first I thought I was fighting to save rubber trees. Then I thought I was fighting to save the Amazon rainforest. Now I realise I am fighting for humanity (Chico Mendes) Although essential to the balance of the global ecosystem, forests are under severe strain. Slash and burn fires destroy large sections of forests. But, as we are all aware, forests play a
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Eleven billion metric tons of plastic are projected to accumulate in the environment by 2025. Because plastics are persistent, they fragment into pieces that are susceptible to wind entrainment [Brahney et al. 2020]. The presence of plastic in the environment can no longer be denied. It has become a very frightening and global problem. Plastics
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In March 2019, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published a note entitled EFSA adopts a specific methodology for assessing chemical mixtures. The new methodological framework will provide EFSA scientists with the tools that will enable them to adopt, where appropriate, a specific approach to address mixtures of chemical contaminants. This approach will complement the
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COVID-19, we are talking about nothing else! As the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 surges past 2.2 million globally and deaths surpass 150000, clinicians and pathologists are struggling to understand the damage wrought by the coronavirus as it tears through the body. They are realizing that although the lungs are ground zero, its reach
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Food contact and packaging articles are made up of a very large number of different food contact materials (FCM), each of them consisting of numerous food contact chemicals (FCC). Inevitably, FCC migrate from any type of material into the food and consequently, they are absorbed along with the food. Muncke et al. [2020] emphasise their
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Something weird is going on The fear and revulsion you may feel towards insects was probably instilled in you when you were very young, but the feeling is now beginning to dissipate. The thought of holding a grasshopper, a praying mantis, or a caterpillar no longer puts you off. More so even, if you are researching entomophagy,
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