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Hundreds of tractors driven by angry farmers protesting a plan to cut nitrate levels converged on Brussels on Friday, creating major traffic disruption in Belgium's capital city. The BB farmers union and several others combined efforts to gather more than 2,700 farm vehicles, according to Brussels police. Several major roads in Brussels were closed and police warned that disruptions could last until the end of the day, recommending that people use public transportation instead of personal cars. The Flemish regional government is struggling to find a deal to cut nitrate pollution over farmers’ objections that it would put many out...

In ads on TV, it all looks so simple. People use mouthwash, it instantly neutralises all the nasty bacteria hiding in their mouths, and – just like that – their dental hygiene is assured. But what's really going on when you rinse a cap-load of antibacterial chemicals around your mouth? What does that to your body, and to other kinds of microorganisms that may actually be beneficial to health? As a study showed last year, the downstream effects can be surprising, and far-reaching too, affecting much more than just your dental wellbeing. In an experiment led by scientists from the...

A newly examined ice core shows what may be the chemical traces of supernovae that exploded a thousand years ago. Yuko Motizuki of the RIKEN research institute in Wako, Japan, and colleagues analysed the nitrate content of an ice core drilled at Dome Fuji station in Antarctica. Nitrate is produced in the atmosphere by nitrogen oxides, which in turn should be created by the gamma radiation from a supernova. Motizuki's group found high nitrate concentrations in three thin layers about 50 metres deep. Because snow gradually builds up into layers of ice, depth indicates age. After calibrating this icy calendar...

....[A]t this time – roughly 12,800 years ago, according to a new study from the University of Kansas – that a comet struck our planet and triggered massive wildfires. This impact also triggered a short glacial period that temporarily reversed the previous period of warming, which had a drastic affect on wildlife and human development. ... ...[T]he team combined data from ice core, forest, pollen and other geochemical and isotopic markers obtained from more than 170 different sites across the world. Based on this data, the team concluded that roughly 12,800 years ago, a global disaster was triggered when a...

DENPASAR, Indonesia, Sept 22 (Reuters) – Indonesian authorities on the resort island of Bali on Thursday detained a ship from Malaysia carrying around 30 tonnes of fertilizer which police believe may have been intended for making bombs.

"Pakistani fertilizer firm to expand in U.S., but balks on controlling bomb materials" SNIPPET: "The Pakistani corporation that has refused the Pentagon’s urgent appeals to control the flow of explosive materials to bomb-makers who kill U.S. troops is expanding its fertilizer manufacturing into the United States. And it is being done with the help of U.S. taxpayers through the municipal bond market."

Truck carrying 600 pounds of nitrate stolen in Dania Beach

Police investigate missing bags of ammonium nitrate Winston-Salem police are investigating the disappearance of 100 bags of ammonium nitrate from a local fertilizer plant. The chemical compound is commonly used as fertilizer but can also be used in explosives. According to police, Royster-Clark, one of the nation's largest retailers of fertilizer products, filed a report of a break-in and larceny that occurred between July 1 and Tuesday at the company's plant at 3105 N. Glenn Ave. An inventory check revealed that 100 50-pound bags of the compound were missing, Lt. Brad Yandell said. Police found 35 of the bags at...

Stolen Ammonium Nitrate Found in N.M. Saturday November 29, 2003 4:01 AM ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Seven bags of the kind of explosive material used in the Oklahoma City bombing were found Friday in a dry river bed, days after they were stolen. The bags, containing a total of 350 pounds of ammonium nitrate, had been stolen from an Albuquerque-based company that distributes explosives used in mining and construction. The bags, stacked up off an embankment and partially covered with tree limbs, were found by people walking in Albuquerque's western outskirts, Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White said. ``It was a...

This is my first post (not reply), so please be kind... Anyway, I was reading here at FR about the missing Amonium Nitrate. Several people commented about how it was a "slow" explosive material (when made to be one). Does that also imply that it burns at a low temp? The reason I ask is this. You know that low level radiological materials have been reported missing here and there. Would such a slow incindiary device be more condusive for a dirty bomb, or would optimum dispersal come from a quick, hot burning device? I'm concerned about this aspect... I...