Blue light from artificial sources is on the rise, which may have negative consequences for human health and the wider environment, according to a study.

Academics at the University of Exeter have identified a shift in the kind of lighting technologies European countries are using at night to brighten streets and buildings. Using images produced by the International Space Station (ISS), they have found that the orange-colored emissions from older sodium lights are rapidly being replaced by white-colored emissions produced by LEDs.

While LED lighting is more energy-efficient and costs less to run, the researchers say the increased blue light radiation associated with it is causing “substantial biological impacts” across the continent. The study also claims that previous research into the effects of light pollution have underestimated the impacts of blue light radiation.

Chief among the health consequences of blue light is its ability to suppress the production of melatonin,

A cross-agency working group tasked last year with providing new strategies for treating criminal defendants with severe mental illness has been unable to agree on what proposals to back.

The internal debate underlines the challenge in addressing one of the root causes of some of Vermont’s most high-profile violent crimes.

“The Legislature really wants some concrete ideas,” Karen Barber, general counsel for the Department of Mental Health, said at the working group’s Aug. 31 meetings. “We’re not going to be able to get to consensus.”

last year, Act 57 tasked the Forensic Care Working Group with studying the gaps in the mental health and criminal justice systems “related to individuals incompetent to stand trial or who are adjudicated not guilty by reason of insanity.”

Specifically, the group was asked to investigate how

Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared uneasy during a visit to the Russian far-east province of Kamchatka — with his legs shaking amid speculation about his possible declining health.

The Russian president fidgeted his way through the National Environmental Youth Forum in Kamchatka Monday, and was seen shifting in his seat while addressing Russian students.

Some saw this as yet further evidence of Putin’s supposed health woes, one of several examples of odd behavior that Kremlinologists and Western intelligence agencies alike have said bolster reports that the Russian strongman is fading fast, most likely from cancer.

The speculation abounds, despite statements to the contrary from both CIA Director William Burns and Britain’s MI6 chief Richard Moore.

Burns, speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in July, said that the KGB-man turned president was “entirely too healthy.”

Moore

A mysterious outbreak that sickened 11 people in Argentina, killing four, has been solved.

Health authorities said the illness was likely caused by Legionella, the bacteria that leads to Legionnaires’ disease.

The outbreak has been contained to a health clinic in San Miguel de Tucuman, which is the capital city of Tucuman province and is located 670 miles northwest of Buenos Aires.

Minister of Health Carla Vizzotti said during a press conference Sunday that four samples — including blood, respiratory and tissues samples — of the deceased patients tested positive for the bacteria.

“The genome of the Legionella bacterium was detected,” she told reporters. “The suspicion is that it is Legionella pneumophila.”

In the long history of humanity, no goal has been more consistently imagined, discussed, and pursued than happiness. In fact, our persistent focus as a species on happiness—across centuries, continents, and circumstances—is possibly matched only by the diversity of means through which we’ve sought to obtain it. From Greek philosophers such as Aristotle, religious texts such as the Quran and the Bible, to modern happiness science and self-help books, happiness is a goal we never stop chasing and a feeling we never stop craving.

Although we have traditionally pursued happiness through relationships and religion, status and substance use, money and material goods, arguably the most enduring and powerful contributor to our happiness is the quality of our physical health. The profound influence of health on our capacity for happiness is readily demonstrated in two ways: First, our state of health strongly affects how we feel. Energy, vitality, motivation, and resilience