Pestalotiopsis; Fred Brooks, University of Hawaii at Manoa CC-BY 3.0

By Carolanne Wright
Contributing Writer for Wake Up World

In a world addicted to plastic, it’s hard to imagine life without it. The problem is, plastic doesn’t breakdown safely and has proven itself to be exceedingly toxic for the planet and its inhabitants. We’re drowning in the stuff and it doesn’t look like our reliance on the material will end anytime in the near future. Radical solutions are needed — and soon. Recently, a team of students discovered what very well may be part of the answer: a plastic-eating fungus.

Choking to Death on a Modern ‘Wonder’ Material

Plastic is a relatively new material, developed in the last seventy years or so. As I wrote previously in “Plastic is Killing the Planet and Our Health — Here’s How We Can Turn the Tide,” the widespread use of the material is directly linked to the military needs of the United States:

By Dr. Edward Group
Guest Writer for Wake Up World

One of the world’s most popular herbicide–Roundup–is making its way back into the headlines in regards to its health and environmental effects. Monsanto, the producer of Roundup (glyphosate), claims this herbicide is safe; however, study after study from independent researchers is showing the exact opposite.

A new research study is showing that small amounts of exposure – up to thousands of times lower than permitted in drinking water in the U.S. – can produce unfavorable and concerning effects in the liver and kidneys. Could this study be the turning point for finally phasing out Roundup in agriculture? Or will it simply be ignored and human health continue to suffer?

The Damaging Effects of Roundup to Liver and Kidney Health

By Jack Adam Weber
Contributing Writer for Wake Up World

At some point in our lives, we are asked to show up for an addict. When we love or are attached to this person, the ride can be rough for us, for the relationship, and everyone involved. Addictions most often conceal emotional pain, some form of despair and self-dislike. They either numb physiological pain, or distract the addict on a psychological level. Most often, both physical and emotional denial and numbing are at play.

The damage that addictions cause is usually more damaging than what one feared facing in the first place. When we face a challenge, or pain, we fear dying. But the challenge usually presents a death and rebirth experience from which we can emerge more whole and healed, not a literal death threat. While we may fear the death of our sense of self, and avoid that reckoning through addiction, ironically, our addictions are what actually kill us. What the addict does to counteract fear is scarier than what he avoids. Presented with an opportunity, the addict misunderstands the opportunity and takes it as a threat to his survival, and ends up killing his life.

By Dr. Kelly Neff
Guest Writer for Wake Up World

Autoimmune disease is caused by an overreaction of the body’s immune system. This happens when systemic inflammation triggers your body’s cells to attack themselves. Inflammation is usually understood as some combination of pain, swelling, redness and heat. It might be easy to observe on the outside of the body, but when it happens inside the body, we usually know something is wrong, but we are not quite sure what it is.

As many as 50 million people suffer from autoimmune disease, ranking it in the top 10 causes of death for women under the age of 65. There are more than 80 recognized types of autoimmune disease, includng Celiac Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Hashimoto’s, Graves Disease, and many more.

Many autoimmune diseases have an underlying genetic component that is then expressed in the presence of toxins or chronic inflammation tied to food sensitivities or leaky gut.

By Zen Gardner
Contributing Writer for Wake Up World

If anyone needs a confirmation of this energetic change we’re experiencing as well as expecting more of, scientists have just confirmed it. This is big news and should be an encouragement to many that what we’ve been sensing does indeed have a confirmed, identifiable physical counterpart.

“Three orbiting X-ray space telescopes have detected an increased rate of X-ray flares from the usually quiet giant black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy after new long-term monitoring. Scientists are trying to learn whether this is normal behavior that was unnoticed due to limited monitoring, or these flares are triggered by the recent close passage of a mysterious, dusty object.”

“By combining information from long monitoring campaigns by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s XMM-Newton, with observations by the Swift satellite, astronomers were able to carefully trace the activity of the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole over the last 15 years. The supermassive black hole, a.k.a. Sagittarius A*, weighs in at slightly more than 4 million times the mass of the Sun. X-rays are produced by hot gas flowing toward the black hole.