Photo via the New Republic It's a widely held notion that politicians have long been in the pocket of Big Oil. And there's good reason for that perception: oil companies' huge campaign donations, vast lobbying power, and close ties to politicians have ensured that their taxes remain low , that hidden subsidies are around to provide extra funding, and that they receive preferential treatment in US energy policy. But there could be a new, ... View original post here: The Next Big Oil: Big Smart Grid?
So there really isn't anything that deep to this image. It's just a (more or less) life-sized blue whale eye. And on the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society site you can educate yourself/be mesmerized/ waste some time for a while staring at it while the entire life-sized animal scrolls across your browser window. Believe me, it's way cooler than you might think:... Read more from the original source: Ever See a Blue Whale Life-Sized on Your Computer? Now You Can
published June 27, 2010 and has No Comments
Credit: Jill Clardy . You might say they're tapped out, so they're tapping in. More U.S. cities are phasing out bottled water from their budgets, according to a national survey released by the U.S. Conference of Mayors . Those surveyed say they're switching to tap water instead because it's fiscally and environmentally responsible. Either way, it's a refreshing sign, ...
Read more...published June 22, 2010 and has No Comments
PSFK, who should know better, titles its post " Ritz-Carlton Goes Green With Plant-Based Bottles " and points to a USA Today article which touts them as green bottles and says "Concerned about the waste, the luxury hotel chain is switching to a bottle made 100% from plants that can decompose in 30 days in a commercial composting facility, ...
Read more...published June 15, 2010 and has No Comments
Credit: Nasaimages.org . The U.S. Great Lakes have some competition. The moon. Yes, that old thing in the sky may hold more than all of the water contained in the Great Lakes, according to a NASA-funded study. Water bottling companies and thirsty-but-dry states are already scurrying to find ways of bringing the H2O back to Earth. Think of the ...
Read more...published May 31, 2010 and has No Comments
Images via The Plastiki Ever since the Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it seems the barometers of success and modernity within society have been measured by our interaction, or rather lack of interaction, with the natural world. The formula appears to be simple: The more we package, mechanize, and force nature into the background, the more ...
Read more...published May 27, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo: Klearchos Kapoutsis on Flickr If the trace pharmaceuticals and the spectre of a near-indestructible gyre of swirling plastic the size of Texas weren't enough to scare you off bottled water, then try this: Canadian researchers have discovered that some bottled brands contain more bacteria than water that comes out of the tap. ... Read the full story on ...
Read more...published May 24, 2010 and has No Comments
The New Yorker has published a quite thorough piece on the issue of Bisphenol A, the agent that the article's author, Jerome Groopman , says "may be among the world's most vilified chemicals." Bisphenol A (BPA), which is a nearly ubiquitous chemical used in thousands of plastic items and other products, is certainly one of the most vilified substances ...
Read more...published May 9, 2010 and has No Comments
Image: JoinThePipe Let me first say "Happy Mother's Day" to all the mothers out there. Then let me share something that seems fitting for this Mother's Day: a cause my daughter turned me onto, a cause which every mother can support. Yes, it is clean water for those who need it. Again. But JoinThePipe has done it with a ...
Read more...published May 7, 2010 and has No Comments
" Marks & Spencer is the first UK supermarket to convert its 25cl wine bottles to environmentally friendly plastic. Photo: Christopher Thomond " Image & caption credit: Guardian Alcoholic beverage distributors have long wanted to sell small bottles of wine into sports venues, at the beach, and for picnics. In part, it's been a hard sell because of the ...
Read more...published April 19, 2010 and has No Comments
Image via Arrowhead The fact that the University of California system is facing severe budget shortfalls is news to exactly no one--the increased tuition rates and widespread faculty layoffs have sparked controversy and student protest. But what may indeed be news to some is that despite facing a $637 million shortfall, the UC system still managed to pay $2 ...
Read more...published April 19, 2010 and has No Comments
Image via Arrowhead The fact that the University of California system is facing severe budget shortfalls is news to exactly no one--the increased tuition rates and widespread faculty layoffs have sparked controversy and student protest. But what may indeed be news to some is that despite facing a $637 million shortfall, the UC system still managed to pay $2 ...
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This hand operated gramophone is as simple as it gets. Original post: Minimalist Gramophone Makes Playing Music Super Simple
Contrary to previously held notions of how whale songs are shared between neighboring populations, a surprising study finds that whales living the same ocean basin are singing different songs. Read the original post: Study: Humpback Whales Living in Same Ocean ...
