One key chemical tool used to control mosquito-spread malaria in the developing world -- DDT -- has harmful environmental consequences. Now a new article in the journal Nature tells of research on chemicals that may promise to be effective mosquito repellants by blocking the insects' ability to detect carbon dioxide.
"One of the world's most common insect repellents [DEET] acts on the central nervous system in the same way as some insecticides and nerve gases, according to a study released on Wednesday."
"Imported insects have been deployed as foot soldiers in the fight against invasive bugs and plants that cause billions of dollars in damage each year. But some of those imports are proving to be pests themselves that upset the balance of nature and threaten native species."
The bark beetles devastating millions of acres of western pine forests are actually a native insect whose destruction -- like that of wildfire -- is part of a natural cycle of forest regeneration.
"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday a proposed settlement of a lawsuit that could result in scrutiny of how dozens of dangerous pesticides affect threatened and endangered species living around San Francisco Bay."