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Health effects from titanium dioxide observed in the lab were particularly acute in young animals, which is a concern given that children are especially exposed to it through candies, chewing gum and desserts.

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'I wash all my food like crazy': scientists voice concern about nanoparticles"


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France is clamping down on a common food additive that has been shown to be carcinogenic in animal studies. The ban of titanium dioxide, announced by the French government last month, follows a review that could not rule out human cancer risks.

The ban is just the latest chapter in a long-running debate on the safety of widespread food additives known as nanoparticles, which are largely unregulated in the US. This suite of ingredients, engineered to almost atomic scale, may have unintended effects on cells and organs, particularly the digestive tract. There are also indications that nanoparticles may get into the bloodstream and accumulate elsewhere in the body. They have been linked to inflammation, liver and kidney damage and even heart and brain damage.


SNIP
Due to safety concerns, some scientists who have studied nanoparticles say they would have reservations about eating food that contains the technology. “As a consumer, I wash all my foods like crazy,” says Christine Ogilvie Hendren, executive director of the Center for the Environmental Implications of NanoTechnology at Duke University, when asked if consumers can wash off some of the nanoparticles that are increasingly found in food and packaging.






https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/29/i-wash-all-my-food-like-crazy-researchers-voice-concern-about-nanoparticles

The Femm app has users in the US, EU and Africa and sows doubt over the safety of birth control, a Guardian investigation has found

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The Femm app does not readily disclose the philosophy of its funders or leaders, and markets itself as a way to “avoid or achieve pregnancy”.

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Part of the Femm app encourages women to visit its own network of physicians for hormone tests, which it claims can diagnose “underlying” medical disorders.

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Fertility awareness birth control methods, such as that promoted by Femm, are considered the least effective, resulting in roughly 24 pregnancies for every 100 women using the method a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Implantable devices are considered the most effective, resulting in one pregnancy for every 2,000 women a year.

“The birth control pill is one of the greatest health achievements of the 20th century,” said Dr Nathaniel DeNicola, an OB-GYN with the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, which has studied fertility apps extensively. “This is part of standard women’s healthcare.”



https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/30/revealed-womens-fertility-app-is-funded-by-anti-abortion-campaigners

More than 130 residents at a Brooklyn apartment complex oppose plan to use the cameras, whose use, experts say, is quietly expanding in cities

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The row, which the tenants believe could become an important test case, comes as concern about the spread of facial recognition systems has grown across the US and globally, with law enforcement agencies increasingly relying on the tool.

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“We do not want to be tagged like animals,” said Icemae Downes, who has lived at Atlantic Plaza Towers since it opened 51 years ago. “We are not animals. We should be able to freely come in and out of our development without you tracking every movement.”


https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/may/29/new-york-facial-recognition-cameras-apartment-complex




Facial recognition at one's residence is damned outrageous and chilling

told a committee hearing in Ottawa today that social media platforms should be shut down until they can be reformed.

"If your goals are to protect democracy and personal liberty, you have to be bold. You have to force a radical transformation of the business model of internet platforms," venture capitalist Roger McNamee told the House of Commons privacy and ethics committee Tuesday morning.



WOW WOW AND MORE WOW!



"At the end of the day, though, the most effective path to reform would be to shut down the platforms at least temporarily. …. Any country can go first. The platforms have left you no choice. The time has come to call their bluff."


more at

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/facebook-grand-committee-tuesday-1.5152436

bee populations by 30 percent!


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New research published in the journal Biological Conservation reveals just how much bees hate freshly cut grass: Researchers found that mowing a lawn once every two weeks instead of every week raises the number of bees by 30 percent.

On a basic level, this makes sense. Cutting your grass less often leads to more flowers and weeds, which appeal more to the bees. But for some reason, letting the grass grow for even longer sees lower bee levels again. The researchers speculate that this is primarily due to the longer grass hiding or blocking the flowers for the bees.



https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a19550487/dont-mow-your-lawn-and-help-save-the-bees/



https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320717306201

Carolyn Maloney, a senior Democratic congresswoman from New York, said in a letter sent to Google’s chief executive, Sundar Pichai, that she was “appalled” by a report in the Guardian that Google awarded $150,000 in free advertising to the Obria Group, which Maloney said had a history of falsely advertising medical services to women.

“Google should in no way be subsidizing any misinformation campaigns, especially campaigns designed to deceive women about their own reproductive care options,” Maloney said in her letter to Pichai.

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Obria runs a network of health clinics which – in some ads – suggest they offer comprehensive reproductive health and family planning services, including abortion. But the organization is staunchly opposed to abortion and all forms of contraception.

The Guardian reported earlier this week that Google awarded Obria nearly $32,000 in free advertising in 2011, and $120,000 in 2015, as part of its Google grants program, which is meant to support not-for-profits around the world.


https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/may/17/google-anti-abortion-obria-group-carolyn-maloney

This surge in hi tech jobs is related in part to US immigration issues

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'This is like business development on steroids'

The high-tech field is booming in the Greater Toronto Area, led by research and investment in artificial intelligence, financial technology, biotech and software development.

Last year saw 29,000 jobs created in the GTA, which is more than San Francisco, Washington DC, New York and Seattle combined.

"It's hard to know why certain cities click over the long arc of history, but right now in Toronto something's clicking," said Cosgrave.

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Bryan Uyanwune and Dickson Nsofor are speaking at the conference next week. The two entrepreneurs want to tell others about their company and their experience doing business in Toronto.

"I would say for anyone looking to come to Toronto: take the leap. Everybody's welcoming and very friendly here."

Their company, Korapay, is developing a mobile banking service aimed at users in West Africa. The firm's software developers are based in Nigeria, but Uyanwune says he and his partner chose to set up their head office in Toronto.


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/it-s-like-tiff-for-tech-why-the-collision-conference-is-moving-to-toronto-1.5139325


HEY DONNIE HOW"S ALL THAT WINNING?????