Organic products would seem tailor-made for shoppers seeking foods and beverages that are healthier for them, their families and the planet, but a new analysis reveals that most Americans perceive the organic label as nothing more than an excuse to sell products at a premium. 

71 percent of consumers don't even think that organic products have a labeling standard. 51 percent believe that labeling something as organic is just an excuse to charge more. 72 percent do believe that the products are probably healthier.

If you have been purchasing Blue Buffalo pet food based on its rather suspicious claims about being "byproduct free", well, that is the power of marketing, no different than organic- and gluten-free manufacturers have created a similar health halo for their customers.

But competitor Purina didn't like marketing claims that its pet food was inferior. On May 6, 2014, Purina filed a lawsuit against Blue Buffalo for false advertising after testing revealed the presence of poultry by-product meal in Blue Buffalo's top selling pet foods. 

While secondhand exposure to cigarette smoking is linked with numerous health maladies, cannabis smoke is currently under a halo of no harm. Yet second-hand marijuana can cause an effect that cigarettes cannot - problems with memory and coordination, and in some cases testing positive for the drug in a urinalysis. At least in a very small study.

Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in the world. The authors say the new research is the most comprehensive study of secondhand cannabis smoke and its effects since the 1980s, when researchers found the drug's active ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and other cannabis byproducts could turn up in nonsmokers' bodies after an hour or more spent in extreme conditions with heavy smokers in an enclosed space. 

A new simulation modeled the effects of land use changes on the species diversity in rivers and streams and estimates that the loss of biodiversity will caused by changes in land use practices far more than by climate change.

Despite that, climate change gets all of the attention and changing land use practices, such as clear-cutting of forests for agricultural use, are frequently neglected in the development of conservation concepts.

A  psychological analysis of novice assassins has delved into how hitmen bury their feelings after a successful attack.

Hired killers don't deal with people, they are businessmen and they are doing a job, no different than a soldier in the military.

New natural gas extraction using hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has been the biggest reason American CO2 emissions have dropped but it is not without controversy. Environmentalists have taken to videos showing 'flaming tapwater' and seek to blame natural gas for it.

Thousands of years ago those same phenomena were similar religious belief - gas and oil seeps have been part of cultural practices for thousands of years. From the Oracle at Delphi to the Chimera fires, people from Indonesia and Iran to Italy and Azerbaijan have studied and been mystified by “eternal flames”.