Gleanings of the Week Ending July 29, 2017

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

When you can’t remember where you are or how you got there – Transient Global Amnesia. Evidently accident and emergency units are accustomed to seeing 2 or 3 cases a month. The good news is that usually it happens once…and not again…and that the memories return except for the brief period of the episode. Brain imaging studies show abnormalities in the hippocampus during the episode. The description sounds like a hippocampus re-boot.

New Kingdom Egypt: The goldsmith’s tomb – On an island in the Nile River in Sudan, there is evidence of a multicultural settlement: Egyptian and Nubian….with a focus on gold.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week # 97 – My favorite is a Green Bee-eater with a dragonfly.

How to Feed the World Without Killing the Planet? – A thoughtful piece about how we can all eat well into the future and not contribute to mass extinction.

Treated Fracking Wastewater Contaminated Watershed with Radium and Endocrine Disrupters – A study of sediments of Conemaugh River Lake – a dammed reservoir east of Pittsburgh – revealed that the highest concentrations of endocrine disrupting chemicals, carcinogens and radium peaked 5-10 years ago during a peak period of fracking wastewater disposal. High radium levels continued 12 miles downstream from treatment plants. Bottom line: treatment of fracking wastewater is not protecting our water supply. Aargh!

Plant Sources of Protein – This is done by serving size. I wish they had done it by calorie so it would be more obvious which sources are more protein dense. I found a reference that includes a table that shows grams of protein per 100 calories for some foods here although the list is not as extensive as I would like and includes too many highly processed items.

The underground railway that became a secret wartime base – In Bristol.  A railroad built to tunnel up a cliff from the port to a spa area in the late 1800s…that closed in 1934 but then during the bombings of World War II it housed the BBC Symphony Orchestra and a little later an alternate broadcast center. It became the nerve center for the BBC in the west of England for the rest of the war. The tunnel became a derelict by 1960 and is slowly being opened for tours now.

Prairie Noise – Some pictures and a short video of a cicada ‘singing’ – it’s the sound of summer to me both from growing up in Texas/Oklahoma and where I live low in Maryland.

Recovery: Bringing Back Bumble Bees – 46 indigenous bumble bee species in the US are at some risk of extinction. Bumble bees are frequently more efficient pollinators than honey bees. We in the US have been slower than other countries to recognize their importance and act to stop practices that make their survival more difficult.

59 Retro Posers Celebrate the Colorful Diversity of America’s National Parks – Eye candy for the week!

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 22, 2017

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

View and Print 3D Models of Smithsonian Artifacts – An article about Smithsonian X 3D – a website worth browsing through – a museum available from home!

Deepest dive ever under Antarctica reveals a shockingly vibrant world – From National Geographic – great pictures as usual.

The one trillion-ton iceberg: Larsen C Ice Shelf rift finally breaks through –  Lots of ice…leaving the Antarctica ice shelf.

Periodic Table in Pictures and Words – Hopefully this is use in intro to chemistry courses rather than the older form of the periodic table.

Can the Monarch Highway help save a butterfly under siege? – Making I-35 the safe corridor for Monarch migration. It won’t help the situation in Maryland where the Monarch population as dropped dramatically over the past 10 years.

The Chemistry of Frozen Desserts – Thinking about cool foods for summer heat…

Photography in the National Parks: Favorites for each season – National Parks are always good bets for photography…but going at the right time of year can make them even better.

Preeclampsia: New study documents its enormous economic and health burden – Rates of preeclampsia are rising…driven in part by maternal age and obesity….and it costs a lot. Hopefully continued research will improve prediction and treatment.

Birds around the world in 31 incredible photos –  From National Geographic….Celebrating the diversity of birds.

Study: Bumblebee Species Declining Worldwide – Researchers evaluated 40% of the 260 identified bumblebee species worldwide…and 30% of those evaluated were dwindling. Species that inhabit small geographical ranges appear to be at higher risk…and more vulnerable to warming climates.

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 27, 2017

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

US life expectancy varies by more than 20 years from county to county – So many variables…lifestyle, healthcare, poverty. The result is a daunting public health picture.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week # 87 – The kingfisher is my favorite in this group of images.

17 Mummies Unearthed in Egypt – There could be even more. They appear to be from Egypt’s Greco-Roman period. Hopefully more details will be reported as the excavation continues.

Several articles about women’s health that came out reclently: 1) We’re Ignoring Women Astronauts’ Health at our Peril – The surprise is how little we really know about human health risk (there isn’t much even on men’s health although the Twin Study has provided an uptick of information) of long times in space. There is a lot to learn as humanity enters spacefaring. 2) Focus on infants during childbirth leaves US moms in danger – This one came out a few days before Mother’s Day. I was appalled that women are dying during or immediately after childbirth in the US that I thought were well within our expertise to prevent.

The most dangerous highways in America – I am on the one listed for Maryland often!

Mega trends and technologies 2017-2050 – a graphic to display in large form (if you have it up in a browser – click on it to enlarge then scroll up/down and left/right.

Chihuly’s Colorful Glass Sculptures Sprout Up in the New York Botanical Garden – They will be there until October 29, 2017.

Don’t Screen for Thyroid Cancer, Task Force Says – There is enough experience with the results of increased testing over the past decade or so to determine that the ‘harms outweigh the benefits’!

Photography in the national parks: Birds, Beaches, Blooms, and Bottles at Padre Island National Seashore – Padre Island looks like a good destination for a birding trip…maybe next fall.

How to Clean the Eiffel Tower – A 43 second video shows how it is done….approximately every 7 years.

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 20, 2017

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Million-Dollar Prize Hints at How Machine Learning May Someday Spot Cancer – Hopefully this type of technology will reduce the number of false positives that have been so common as we’ve used advanced imaging to find cancer (too many times when biopsies have been done and it has not been cancer). Note that the winning team was from a Chinese university. No country – even the US – can rest on past innovation for their future.

How farmers put apples into suspended animation – 9 in 10 apples bought in the US are grown in the US. This article talks about how apples are stored so that we have them throughout the year rather than just in the fall.

Frosty Monarchs – This was a post from earlier in May…but it has great picture of the milkweed egg. We had some cooler temperatures here in Maryland after the milkweed came up; there was frost on the rooftops but the it must not have gotten to freezing at ground level since the milkweed was unscathed.

Antarctica’s Blood Falls Helps Unravel the Inner Workings of Glaciers – Briny water flows (i.e. in liquid form) flows under the ice of the glacier!

Golden years are longer and healthier for those in good health in middle age – When I read the headline, my first question was - what did they define as “middle age”? The answer was ages 40-59. It was a 40 year study with 18,714 participants. It makes the point that living healthy in mid-life is important to health later in life.

It’s Raining Blood and Feathers: Catching the Spring Raptor Show – There is so much going on in the spring…and it not just flowers and song birds.

Dragons on the Hunt – Komodo dragons bring down a water buffalo. (5-minute video)

Cost of Zika outbreak in the United States could be high – There is a lot of complexity….but even assuming a lower incidence rate that has been observed in other parts of the world and that only the southern tier of the US would be impacted…still results in high costs. Prevention costs money and treatment even more. The range from the models is $183 million to $1.2 billion. Another article on the broader topic of mosquito-borne illnesses: Researchers analyze what a warming planet means for mosquito-borne illnesses.

The Art of Botanical Illustration, Scientific Botany – Some of these botanists/artists I have found before…I’m going to check what Internet Archive and Hathi Trust have in their scanned collections for each of them.

Serene Photos Highlight the Tranquil Beauty of 100 Japanese Gardens – Eye candy…even better if you have a garden near you to visit.

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 13, 2017

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Sounding Off on Noise – I’ve been thinking a lot more about noise since I started driving an electric vehicle. I notice and enjoy the quiet of the vehicle even though the noise from the well-maintained gasoline powered cars was something I accepted as ‘white noise’ for all the years of my life up to 2017. I would rather hear natural noises (birds singing, wind in the trees) that noise from a highway or airplanes overhead.

Albatrosses counted from space – Even nests inaccessible to humans (on the Chatham Islands off New Zealand) can be seen in satellite images from the WorldView-3 satellite. The numbers of nesting pairs were lower than expected. Several more years of observations will be needed to determine if it is just a poor year or the numbers of birds are indeed declining.

The Nature of Americans: A national initiative to understand and connect Americans and Nature – There is a lot on this site. I started browsing with the Major Findings and then Recommendations. It is well organized and intended to be actionable.

Foods that Lower Cholesterol – No surprises…but the review is good.

Guggenheim Museum Releases over 200 Modern Art Books Online for Free – I am enjoying browsing this collection on the Internet Archive.

Saber-Tooth Cats, Dire Wolves Found in La Brea Tar Pits Show Wounds from Ice Age Battles – Based on analysis of just under 2,000 bones that revealed signs of trauma sustained in combat….events of lives etched in bone.

2-ingredient no-sugar date caramel sauce – Yum! I made this in my small Ninja – very easy and yummy. I’ve used it as a dip for apple slices and spread on toast. A great treat and counts as a fruit and calcium.

Moose hair and birch bark – Taking a close look at an artifact that will go into the Native American Voices gallery at the Penn Museum later this month – after a bit of treatment in The Artifact Lab.

A first-ever find in Egypt: 4,000-year-old funerary garden at tomb entrance – Before now, this type of garden was only known from illustrations on tomb walls.

The secrets of the Coke and Mentos Fountain – A fun experiment….and chemistry lesson.

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 6, 2017

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Meditation: Which type is best for you? – So many choices…it doesn’t take long to choose and tailor one that fits your needs. I feel better when I have a meditation practice almost every day!

Sea-Level Rise Will Send Millions of Refugees to Inland Cities – A study authored by a demographer at University of Georgia about how the US will change as people move from areas that are increasingly flood prone over the next century. The state by state graphic shows Louisiana and Florida losing the most; Texas and Georgia gain the most. Maryland – where I live – gains a little.

Underdiagnoses of age-related macular degeneration, findings suggest – Evidently early stages of age-related macular degeneration is under diagnosed by both optometrists and ophthalmologists….something to talk to your provider at your next eye checkup if you are over 60.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #85 – Birds….always great eye candy. This set contains an American Oystercatcher near the bottom (a closer view than I captured near the Dupont Nature Center.

For Some, Pre-Hospice Care Can Be a Good Alternative to Hospitals – Palliative care at home…happier patients and saving money…win-win. Hope these types of programs become available nation wide.

The Essential I.M. Pei – The architect recently celebrated his 100^th birthday. This article from the Smithsonian includes pictures of his most iconic works.

Welcome to the Poison Garden: Medicine’s Medieval Roots – A description of the garden at Alnwick Castle that contains plants with poisonous properties.

Behold the James Webb Telescope in all its Unfurled Glory – It’s still under construction…but will succeed the Hubble Space Telescope (launch projected in 2018).

35 Years of American Death – An interactive US map with color coding to show mortality rates for different diseases from 1980 – 2014. The one for ‘mental and substance use disorders’ shows the impact of the opioid epidemic – more pronounced in some areas of the country than others.

3D printing of glass now possible – A new way to work with glass from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany).

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 29, 2017

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

The Creamy, Sculpted Dunes of White Sands National Monument – I’ve only been there once…but it was memorable. It was a hot day but the sand is so white that it reflects the sun and can be walked on barefoot! (See my post from back in June 2013 here)

Tracking down water pollution through DNA of algae – A new method for rapid and reliable bioassessment of aquatic environments which will allow for synchronous processing of many samples in record time and reduced cost….no more microscopic identification of organisms in samples!

Circadian Rhythms Influence Treatment Effects – There is a lot of evidence that timing of a medication may have a marked impact on effectiveness….yet drug trails did not track time of day information and thus not on drug labels. Simultaneously – understanding a patient’s circadian rhythm is an aspect of precision medicine - find the right drug for the patient at the right dose… administered at the right time. Also see the infographic: Circadian clock affects heart and disease

How Western Civilization could collapse – Doom and gloom scenarios. Do they seem more likely than they have in recent decades?

What’s chemistry ever done for us? – In infographic from Compound Interest that came out prior to the March for Science last weekend.

Incredible photos of Japan’s natural landscape that look like watercolors – Eye candy….and a little geography too.

4 great things the EPA had done for our health – A lot of progress has been made since 1970 when the EPA was created. No one should want to go back to air so filled with smog that your eyes watered when you went outside (like happened in LA) or lakes became sterile from changing pH or rivers caught on fire.

Foreignceuticals: our drugs go global – Scary. It’s often hard to tell where drugs and supplements come from….and there may be little or no quality control along the way.

Climate change is turning dehydration into a deadly epidemic – More very hot days….drinking soft drinks rather than contaminated water to rehydrate…maybe some other factors  - kidney disease rise dramatical in laborers in Latin America.

5 Ways to Prevent Food Waste in Your Kitchen – Probably nothing new here but always worth a quick check…ratcheting up what you do to avoid wasting food.

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 1, 2017

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Articles on women in STEM, March 2016-2017 (Women’s History Month) – A collection of links to articles that examine gender (in)equality and (in)equality in science.

Embrace Spring with Pictures of Japan’s Cherry Blossoms –  From National Geographic.

Carbon Dioxide emissions are flat for a third year running, but the economy continues to grow – Economic growth doesn’t require an increase in greenhouse gases! The US actually had a 3% reduction in emissions in 2016 and a 1.6% growth in the economy.

20+ Stunning Nature Tunnels – From around the world. The main street in my neighborhood seems like a tunnel with the trees meeting overhead during the summer.

Top 25 wild bird photographs of the week # 80 – Which one is your favorite in this set of bird pictures? Mine is the red-tailed hawk about mid-way through although the green heron is a close second.

World Tuberculosis Day – 1.8 million people died from tuberculosis in 2015. Article and infographic from Compound Interest.

Target Ruin & Ballroom Cave – A hike with young children in Bears Ears National Monument.

How noisy is your neighborhood? – Read the story then check out the interactive version of the map here. If you live in the US – zoom in on an area you are familiar with. Where I live is light orange because of the airport noise.

Rare ‘Super Bloom” Bursts California Desert to Life with Vibrant Wildflowers – A little rain…and the desert blooms.

Plant Evolution & Pollinator Type Much More Intimately Associated Than Supposed – What does it matter that the Earth is losing bumble bees? The article talks about one of the implications.

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 25, 2017

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Un-sweetened: How a Maryland County Cut Soda Sales Without a Soda Tax – A story from the county where I live…how soda sales were reduced by 20%...fruit drinks by 15% --- via TV, outdoor advertising, social media, health care professionals and a new local law that promotes access to healthier food and drink options on local government property (such as vending machines at parks and other government buildings).

The biggest energy challenged facing humanity – One point that this article makes: in the future, some appliances (like dish washers) will run when electricity is most available/least expensive. I already have that situation with my Prius Prime – I charges in the middle of the night when electricity from our utility is at the lowest rate. If I had solar panels on my house….I would charge it on sunny days!

Painting the National Parks with Wildflowers – Spring is a great time to get out and explore not just national parks…but local natural areas at well. Finding wildflowers is the joy of spring!

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #78 and #79 – Lots of great bird pictures. My favorite in the first set is the kingfisher with the tadpole. In the second set, I like the spotted owlet peeking out from the trunk of a tree

Picturing Birds at Risk – More birds….these are ones that were once common in the US…but have declined dramatically recently.

Should we manage for rare species or species diversity – The challenges of managing ecosystems…species diversity and ecological resilience can be counter to management for rare or conservation species.

The controversial plan to tunnel beneath Stonehenge – Not directly under….but close…and new discoveries around Stonehenge extend the area of the ancient site. It becomes a complicated project!

Twelve Famous Female Chemists – An Infographic that came out for International Women’s Day. How many of these women have you heard of?

1.7 Million Children Died Every Year from Unhealthy Environments, WHO Reports – “A polluted environment is a deadly one – particularly to young children.” 1 in 4 deaths that occur before the age of 5 are not related to environmental problems.

Are you pre-sick? and Do you need an annual checkup? – Both of these articles came out from Berkley Wellness recently. It is worth considering over checking… and then unnecessary treatment…when it comes to our health.

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 18, 2017

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

WHO’s First-Ever List of the Dirty Dozen Superbugs – Bacteria resistant to our antibiotics are appearing more and more often…and the development of new antibiotics to treat them is not keeping pace.

Hotter days will drive global inequality – We’ll probably be seeing more of these types of projections as we see hotter weather. The temperature has an impact on so many things….some can be positive up to a point (like corn yields which increase up to a point…then decline sharply).

Ah-Choo! 11 Fun Facts about Sneezing – How many of these ‘fun facts’ did you already know?

Why China’s internet use had overtaken the West – The number of internet users in China exceeded the US in 2008…and they are leaping ahead using technology in a way that supports their culture rather than merely copying from elsewhere.

US Wind Energy Provided 5.5% of Nation’s Electricity in 2016, over 20% in 5 heartland states – Oklahoma, where I visited last weekend, generates 25.1% of their electricity from the wind. Hurray for them!

A tiny bug is upsetting Shenandoah National Park’s ecosystem – Aargh! The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (invasive insect) is killing hemlocks. The trees at Belmont Manor and Historic Park where I volunteer with the Howard Country Conservancy are infected….and dying too.

Why we can’t look away from our screens – I seem to be noticing more articles recently about addiction to modern digital products.

The Chemistry of Daffodils – In honor of spring. We got to enjoy our daffodils for a little while. Now most of them have been pushed into the mulch by the ice and snow that came along over the past week.

The last things that will make us uniquely human – In recent decades, we discovered that humans are not the only organisms to use tools…some we thought was once uniquely human. Now the ability of Artificial Intelligence maybe encroaching on what we think makes us unique. What will our value – our niche – be in the ecosystem of the future?

Diet and global climate change – Making dietary changes could dramatically reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, colorectal cancer and Type 2 diabetes (and associated health care costs) and greenhouse gases!

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 4, 2017

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

A tale of four skulls: what human bones reveal about cities – History from a different perspective!

I spent a week exploring how we’ll have to live in a post-water America – We often take water for granted – turn on the faucet and it comes out. This article was about taking a different perspective and might be a shift in thinking we’ll be required to make in the future.

New map highlights bee population declines across the US – Not good. The declines are occurring in key agricultural regions.

10 Must-see Sites of Iran’s Historical Architecture – There are 20 UNESO World Heritage Sites in Iran. Too bad that part of the world is not a safer travel destination. Enjoy the pictures!

Our Water on Drugs – Treatment of water started out focused on sewage…then expanded to include nitrogen and phosphorous. Now the residues of drugs and personal care products are becoming a concern.

Popular heartburn drugs linked to gradual yet ‘silent’ kidney damage – Proton pump inhibitors (like Prevacid, Prilosec, Nexium and Protonix) taken over prolonged periods can have significant risks.

Cocoa, Caffeinated ‘Black Drink’ was Widespread in Pre-Contact Southwest – A ‘caffeine trade network’ brought cocoa and yaupon holly to the southwest….and the residue from the drinks are found in pottery. One of the first analyzed was from Chaco Canyon!

The Country’s Most Famous Bald Eagle Pair Just Laid Another Egg – The Bald Eagles at the US National Arboretum are keeping 2 eggs warm! See them on the nest cam.

6,600 spills from fracking in just four states – Drilling down on the stats – 26% in Colorado and 53% in North Dakota occur at wells that experienced more than one spill…the industry should be using this data reduce the risks of additional spills.

New Discoveries from Cahokia’s ‘Beaded Burial’ May Rewrite Story of Ancient American City – Some of the ‘men’ buried in an elite grave excavated in 1967 were women based on a new evaluation of the skeletons!

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 25, 2017

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Busy Bees: Patterns of pollen and nectar foraging specialization by bumblebees over multiple timescales using RFID – At the top of my list this week…the paper (link is at the bottom of this post), is authored by my son-in-law and daughter!

Automatically darkening windows in a wide range of colors – Maybe insulating drapes will not be needed in the future…although I like the idea of windows that generate power rather than just changing color.

From Vector to Zoonotic: A Glossary for Infectious Diseases – Some of these words are used in news stories without definition….how strong is your knowledge of what they really mean?

How Blizzards and Extreme Cold Impact Birds – We haven’t had any extreme cold in our area this winter….but it may be happening somewhere. This article talks about the studies about how birds cope with the cold; some succumb to the cold itself and some starve because their food source becomes unavailable.

Why Killer Viruses are on the Rise – An outcome of our increasing impact on environments that previously were wildlife habitats.

Winning images of the Underwater Photography of the Year Contest – Eye candy…but educational too.

NASA’s Osiris REx takes its first image of Jupiter – We saw Osiris REx launched last September so I always take a look at any new news about it.

Torpid Turtles, Tortoises, and Terrapins – Examples from turtles in the US…several are common enough in Maryland that I’ve seen them.

The oldest grave of the Netherlands, “Trijntje” – A facial reconstruction of a woman buried 7500 years ago.

The Feather Atlas – A feather reference. I hope I remember this exists the next time I find an interesting feather!

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 4, 2017

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Face of 9,5000-year-old Man Revealed for First Time – A mummy from Jericho. The skull was covered in plaster…with eye sockets containing sea shells. Now just the skull inside, a probably face has been revealed via digital imagining, 3D printing and forensic reconstruction.

Site Diary: What we found inside the Morecambe Urn – A cremation urn…with fragments of bone…painstakingly sorted. At first they thought there was too much bone to be just one individual, but the analysis of the fragments they were all from the same person: young adult, relatively healthy.

Magical Photos of the World’s Oldest Lake Frozen Over – Eye candy….but educational too.

New Publication Reveals Birthplaces of Eastern Monarchs – The whole region east of the Rockies contributes to the Monarchs that make their way to Mexico. I’m glad that so many people are planting milkweed appropriate for their area of the country!

How solar may save Ukraine’s nuclear wasteland – What to do with the area around Chernobyl. There is a project to start installing solar panels. The electric power lines are already there so getting the electricity generated to the power grid.

Eye-opening Photos Capture the Terrifying Beauty of Melting Polar Ice Caps – It’s winter even though we haven’t had any substantial snows in Maryland yet…I’m enjoying photos of ice instead for their beauty but realize that this is an indicator of a warming planet. Some of these lakes are formed from very old ice.

TED Dialogues: An urgent response to a dangerously divisive time – I’ve signed up to be notified of the events. The first one will be on 2/15 at 1PM EST. The speaker for the first one will be Yuval Noah Harari. I enjoyed his class on Coursera – A Brief History of Humankind.

Seven heart-health habits could save billions in Medicare Costs – $14 billion per year in Medicare costs could be saved if all beneficiaries achieved ideal levels in 5-7 heart-healthy habits (the 7 are: cigarette smoking, physical activity, diet, body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels). Of course – it all starts before you get to Medicare age. How many of the 7 habits are you achieving?

What Peter Pan Teaches us about Memory and Consciousness – Barrie was an astute observer of how we learn to think.

Peacock colors inspire ‘greener’ way to dye clothes – 3-D colloidal crystals (polystyrene nanoparticles and polyacrylate for mechanical stability. It does not produce contaminants…but are the particles themselves problematic? The article didn’t say but microbeads and plastics have been in the news as problems in the oceans – already.