Yes, Deepwater Horizon Oil Did Enter the Food Chain

Along with the death of scores of marine animals and seabirds, one of the main concerns during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was the impact on the food chain. A new study clarifies that impact: Hydrocarbons from the Macondo well trickled into the ocean food chain via its tiniest members, zooplankton.

Deepwater Horizon oil was found in zooplankton up to a month after the Macondo well was finally capped, the study found. Just as other oil spill studies have found, the impacts were patchy — some zooplankton far away from the wellhead showed evidence of contamination, while other plankton close by showed lower levels of exposure.

In any event, traces of oil in these tiny creatures shows they came into contact with the spilled oil, scientists say. Given their importance as a food source for a wide range of animals, this indicates compounds in the oil did work their way into the food chain — and still are.

The study was published in last month's issue of Geographical Research Letters.

Source: Popsci

Hundreds of Israelis march in Tel Aviv to protest war with Iran

Hundreds of Israelis marched in Tel Aviv on Saturday to protest against a possible Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. Get all the latest updates on Haaretz.com's Facebook page Anti-war protest - Hadar Cohen - 24.3.2012

The protest came amid a recent Facebook campaign linking Israeli and Iranian citizens in their opposition to war between the two nations. Campaign leaders, however, made it clear on their Facebook page that they had nothing to do with the Tel Aviv protest march.

Last week, graphic designers Ronny Edry and his wife, Michal Tamir, unknowingly began a Facebook phenomenon when they uploaded a poster depicting Edry and his daughter with the words, "Iranians, we will never bomb your country, we [heart] you."

That one image sparked a movement of sorts, with hundreds, if not thousands, of images sent from Israel, Iran, and elsewhere in the world, in support of exposing what participants consider to be the human side of the conflict between Iran and Israel.

Read more: Haaretz

Monsanto wants to brainwash your children with 'Biotechnology Basics Activity Book'

(NaturalNews) In response to mounting public backlash from the older generation, the biotechnology industry has launched a new propaganda campaign aimed at convincing children that genetically-modified (GM) crops are not only safe, but also an improvement over natural agriculture. Monsanto, Dow, Bayer, and five other major biotechnology companies and associations have collectively released the Biotechnology Basics Activity Book, a colorful guide designed to reeducate children into the false dogma of biotechnology.

The 16-page guide -- which includes word scrambles, fill-in-the-blank puzzles, and matching games -- contains an introductory paragraph that claims biotechnology boosts crop yields, improves environmental conditions, and leads to more nutritious food. Throughout the book, children are told that biotechnology is changing the world for the better, which is a complete contradiction to all available independent science. And yet this guide is reportedly slated for inclusion in some school curriculums.

"This is an activity book for young people like you about biotechnology -- a really neat topic," says the first page of the book. "Why is it such a neat topic? Because biotechnology is helping to improve the health of the Earth and the people who call it home."

You can view the entire activity book for yourself at: whybiotech.com

The guide was produced by a group known as the Council for Biotechnology Information (CBI), a pro-GMO coalition of the world's largest biotechnology companies and organizations. CBI routinely ignores independent science that shows GMOs and their growing chemicals to be dangerous, and continues to purvey the lie that GMO technologies are not only safe, but that they are superior to conventional and organic growing methods.

Read more: Natural News