Fractions

 The full moon does make people more violent, according to a scientific study of prisoners in the maximum-security wing at Armley jail, Leeds. Researchers discovered that there was a definite rise in the number of violent and unruly incidents recorded during the first and last quarter of each lunar cycle, days before and after a full moon.

 Believe it or not, pollution from eastern Asia is beginning to have measurable effects on air quality in western North America, a researcher from the University of Washington claims. Pollutants traceable to Asia include carbon monoxide, a direct byproduct of combustion: Peroxyacetyl Nitrate (PAN), indirectly caused by combustion; and particulates, says Dan Jaffe, an associate professor who studies atmospheric chemistry and air pollution.

 Disposing of worn-out tyres has always been a major headache. But now, researchers at the University of Illinois have learnt to recycle them into carbon adsorbents, a product that helps improve air quality.

 Intensive farming, logging and landscapes play a major role in altering the world’s climate, say scientists. Almost as much as the usual suspect of global warming—industrial pollution from factories, power plants and vehicles. The findings suggest that negotiation to control climate change by limiting industrial emissions may also need to target farmers, loggers and developers.