SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
In polluted environments, diesel fumes may be reducing the availability of almost half the most common flower odours that bees use to find their food, research has found.
The new findings suggest that toxic nitrous oxide (NOx) in diesel exhausts could be having an even greater effect on bees' ability to smell out flowers than was previously thought.
NOx is a poisonous pollutant produced by diesel engines which is harmful to humans, and has also previously been shown to confuse bees' sense of smell, which they rely on to sniff out their food.
Researchers from the University of Southampton and the University of Reading found that there is now evidence to show that, of the eleven most common single compounds in floral odours, five have can be chemically altered by exposure to NOx gases from exhaust fumes.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Hyperturtle on Monday October 19 2015, @11:48PM
Nitrous Oxide is N20; laughing gas. Used by dentists and demanded by patients.
NOx is various NO compounds -- like nitrogen oxide and nitrogen dioxide. Nitrogen dioxide is probably what is affecting them based on previous studies.
If it's not the nanoparticle sized pollutants screwing them along with the rest of us, then it may be the nitrogen dioxide overwhelming their sense of smell.
Between that and nicotiamides and the parasites they get when weakened, (perhaps that is spelled wrong), the bees have a lot working against them.
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 20 2015, @12:44AM
Nitrous Oxide is NO2. It is why a lot of Dental offices in LA advertise 'NOS Refills here.'
Oxides of Nitrogen ARE related to Dental Nitrous, they are molecules produced through high temperature and pressure in the combustion cycle, combined with a 'lean' (excess oxygen) condition common to all diesels and many modern gasoline engines (where it is controlled through cylinder head design, gasoline direct injection, enriching the mixture, ignition timing, etc.)
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Tuesday October 20 2015, @06:51AM
OK, so what the hell is NO4? Huh? Chemistry Biaches?
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday October 20 2015, @06:23PM
Actually, this AC is correct. Nitrous Oxide is an NOx compound.
See page 2 of this EPA technical bulletin [epa.gov]
(Score: 2) by Hyperturtle on Wednesday October 21 2015, @10:54PM
I agree, Nitrous Oxide is a Nitrogen Oxide.
The context of which the article discusses NOx, however, would leave Nitrous Oxide out of the discussion. It is a pollutant at large, but it is not of primary concern for the bees. Nitric Oxide, too -- which is what is affected by (lameness filter prevented use of the word) and helps it do what it does. herbal (lameness filter prevented use of the word), and substances that had no such name but did the same thing prior to (lameness filter prevented use of the word) coming out--are Nitric Oxide affecting chemicals/compounds. One can have better sex through chemistry... but that doesn't help the bees, even it relates to the birds and the bees.
The true villain for the bees in this context appears to be gas dinitrogen dioxide, and it's influence on the olphactory network within the typical bee. either it blocks it, disables it, numbs it, or binds effectively due to some sort of related chemical pathway related to other compounds of importance in a bee's evolution, the article does not say. Bee's getting dental work and being too out of it to make more bees, however, is not the primary concern.
(Score: 2) by fritsd on Tuesday October 20 2015, @05:24PM
I think hyperturtle is right, we're talking here about the higher-valency nitrogen compounds, the stinky brown gas that hurts your nose, which you get when you dissolve a coin in nitric acid.
laughing gas is N2O (N valency +1). I think it doesn't easily change into one of the other nitrogen oxides.
NOx probably means NO (N valency +2) mixed with N2O3 (N valency +3) mixed with NO2 [wikipedia.org] (N valency +4) and maybe a bit of N2O5 (N valency +5, the precursor of nitric acid), but these all probably readily change into each other depending on how much oxygen is around.