Unconventional natural gas development: economic salvation or looming public health disaster?

Social traps are negative situations where people get caught in a direction or relationship that later proves to be unpleasant, with no easy way to back out of or avoid. The concept was orignally introduced by John Platt who applied psychology to Garrett Hardin's "Tragedy of the Commons", where in New England herd owners could let their cattle graze in the common ground. This situation seems like a good idea, but an individual could have an advantage. If they owned...

The microbial conversion of organic matter into biofuels holds potential as a renewable energy source. Among biofuel sources, microalgae are recognized as a highly efficient and adaptable feedstock for biodiesel production, owing to their rapid biomass accumulation, elevated lipid productivity, and capacity to proliferate in diverse aquatic systems, including freshwater, marine, and wastewater habitats. Unlike terrestrial crops, microalgae do not compete for land and can achieve significantly...

Bioremediation is an environmentally sustainable process that employs living organisms—primarily microorganisms—to degrade or neutralize pollutants from contaminated environments. In oil spills and hydrocarbon pollution, bioremediation involves the use of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria to transform toxic compounds into less harmful substances. This approach leverages natural microbial metabolic processes and is considered both cost-effective and ecologically favorable compared to...

A heuristic is a general problem-solving framework (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974). You can think of these as mental shortcuts that are used to solve problems. Different types of heuristics are used in different types of situations, and the impulse to use a heuristic occurs when one of five conditions is met (Pratkanis, 1989):

Gas exchange, the intake of molecular oxygen (O2) from the environment and the outflow of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the environment, is necessary for cellular function. Gas exchange during respiration occurs largely via the movement of gas molecules along pressure gradients. Gas travels from areas of higher partial pressure to areas of lower partial pressure. In mammals, gas exchange occurs in the alveoli of the lungs, which are adjacent to capillaries and share a membrane with them.

Microorganisms play a pivotal role in maintaining ecosystem balance by recycling essential elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, as well as supporting processes like bioremediation, wastewater treatment, and biofuel production.Microbes in Elemental CyclesIn the carbon cycle, microorganisms decompose organic matter, releasing carbon dioxide via aerobic respiration. This carbon dioxide is subsequently used by photosynthetic organisms to synthesize organic compounds, closing the...