Ivermectin makes blood toxic to mosquitoes

A study in Kenya has shown that treating people with the inexpensive antiparasitic drug ivermectin reduces the risk of malaria by making their blood poisonous to mosquitoes.

Researchers treated 84 clusters of households with either ivermectin or another drug that doesn’t kill mosquitoes.

The trial found a 26% reduction in the number of malaria cases among children who received ivermectin.

Some researchers are sceptical of the study’s small size, but others think the approach is worth pursuing.

“I think this is a wonderful addition to the malaria control arsenal and should be celebrated,” says malaria researcher Fredros Okumu.

There’s a new acid in our rain

A chemical called trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) is falling in rain and its levels are rising across the planet — in lakes and rivers, food crops, trees, and in our own bodies.

TFA’s strong carbon–fluorine bonds are unbreakable by natural processes, making it, by some definitions, a member of the suite of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) known as ‘forever chemicals’.

Questions about its health impacts could have a far-reaching impact on the pharmaceutical industry, which uses TFA to make larger fluorine-containing molecules.

TFA can escape from such facilities, but is not widely regulated.

Project aims to boost wildlife in neglected spaces

People living in one Bristol neighbourhood are transforming its spaces to boost wellbeing and help the environment.

Volunteers working on the Really Wild Lockleaze project, set up by Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust, have planted bulbs and fruit trees and worked on woodland, ponds and hedgerows.

As well as improving the look of the suburb, the project hopes to encourage more biodiversity and is monitoring plants and animals, including bumblebees.

"There was some worry that because of housing developments we would lose some of our green space," said Laura Tarlo-Ross from the trust. "It's just grown from there."

The project is partly funded through the National Lottery as part of the community climate action partnership.

Some money has also been given to the trust from local people.

According to the Bristol One City Ecological Emergency Strategy, numbers of common songbirds like swifts and starlings have dropped by more than 96% in the city since the 1990s.

"There is a real love for nature in Lockleaze," Miss Tarlo-Ross said.

Residents started the scheme in Stanfield Close and have since planted more than 1,600 sq metres (17,200 sq ft) of woodland and 170 metres (557ft) of hedgerow. They have also created five ponds.

Ms Tarlo-Ross said the project is also bringing neighbours together.

"Many hands make light work," she said.  ……….Continued.

The volunteers are working largely on green areas around houses but are also focusing on hidden spaces, like behind Lockleaze Sports Centre.

"When you've got lots of little pockets of land, if you can work across all of them you can create a sort of connected habitat," said Ms Tarlo-Ross.

"We're lucky to be right in between Stoke Park and a railway line which creates a sort of accidental nature corridor."

Penguins choose energy-saving routes

Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) are masters of energy efficiency: instead of taking a straight-line route to their destination, they’ll ride curved currents that are headed roughly in that direction when possible.

The currents can make their trips slightly longer, but that has an upside — it allows them more time to hunt for food.

Researchers found that by using currents, the penguins consistently returned to within 300 metres of their homes.

The findings suggest that the birds keep track of the changing tidal cycle and use it to their advantage.

”For these, and other wildlife, nature, and environmental news items, go to www.nature.com/nature/ … also bbc.co.uk/news