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 January 6, 2011 and has No Comments
Image: Inquistr As you're likely aware, there's been a pretty bizarre spate of mass animal deaths reported around the world. First, it was the thousands of birds that fell from the sky in Arkansas on New Year's Eve. Some 100,000 fish also washed up on the shores of a river 100 miles away. Birds fell from the sky in ...
Read more...published January 3, 2011 and has No Comments
Photo credit: woodleywonderworks / Creative Commons Throughout the history of the Earth, there have been five great extinction events—periods in which there was a sharp decrease in both the diversity and abundance of life. With estimates indicating that currently one animal species is lost every 20 minutes, some have begun calling the present period the " sixth great extinction ...
Read more...published December 31, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo via IFAW Animal smugglers will go to outrageous lengths to get their illegal bounty past officials -- so it's nice to hear about animals that are able to return to the wild after their ordeal, like eight gyrfalcons who were recently released back to the wild after being seized by customs officials in Moscow. Read on for more ...
Read more...published December 30, 2010 and has No Comments
mape_s / Creative Commons As their native habitat melts, polar bears have been forced into close contact with grizzly bears and humans —both of which have limited the iconic carnivore's ability to obtain food . This... Read the full story on TreeHugger Read more: Polar Bears Full of More Toxins Than Any Other Creature
Read more...published December 29, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo: Catty Shack Support Big Cats As they described themselves, "the Catty Shack Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization that provides a safe and permanent home to many of the great cat species that are endangered and have been rescued or confiscated for illegal ownership, improper enclosures or maltreatment." They are located North of Jacksonville in ...
Read more...published December 29, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo credit: Keith Slausen/US Forest Service According to some estimates, a species is lost every 20 minutes . This shocking number considers factors like habitat loss but also includes approximations of the planet's total number of species, known and unknown. Actually declaring a species extinct, however, is a long and laborious process that requires evidence beyond a reasonable doubt ...
Read more...published December 28, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo by jkirkhart35 via Flickr Creative Commons Keeping honeybees safe from viruses is a top concern among beekeepers. However, they may be the ones spreading diseases to other pollinators. Researchers from Pennsylvania State University in University Park have found eleven species of wild pollinators that are carrying some of the viruses found in honeybees. Because most of the pollinators ...
Read more...published December 27, 2010 and has No Comments
There are only an estimated 116 wild Asian elephants in Cambodia's Seima Protection Area, and until now most of the photographic evidence of them has be taken by camera traps. New footage released by the Wildlife Conservation Society changes that. The short video, a screengrab of which is above ( here's the original footage ), taken back in August ...
Read more...published December 22, 2010 and has No Comments
Image via NASA Using a laser onboard NASA's Icesat spacecraft, University of Idaho scientists have been monitoring and tracking woodpeckers in the northern part of the state. They are interested in woodpeckers because the species is a great indicator on overall forest bird diversity. "They create homes for lots of other species in the forest setting," explained Dr Kerri ...
Read more...published December 22, 2010 and has No Comments
Image via YouTube video The Shanghai Ocean Aquarium in Pudong gave visitors an extra treat when they saw Santa swim past. An employee with the aquarium donned the special suit and hopped in with sharks to raise awareness about the state of ocean biodiversity and the problem of shark finning. Check out a video of the dive after the ...
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A Finnish designer has made a working surfboard from broken skateboards. Read the original here: Hollow Surfboard Is Made from Broken Skateboards
How to grow tastier tomatoes and how to make food taste sweeter without sugar: just two amazing discoveries from a study of the chemical interactions underlying tomato flavor preferences Read the rest here: The Secrets of Tasty Tomatoes Discovered - Can ...
