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 December 22, 2010 and has No Comments
photo: Steve Garvie / Creative Commons You may not have been debating whether African elephants living in savannah or forests were two separate species, but it's been an unanswered question among scientists for a while. A new study in the journal PLoS Biology claims to put the question to rest though, determining though DNA sequencing that African elephants are ...
Read more...published December 21, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons The Mariana crow, native to Rota Island in the western Pacific Ocean, could become extinct in 75 years —nearly twice as fast as conservationists had previously estimated. The problem, a new study suggests, is that the mortality rate among juvenile birds—recently estimated at nearly 40 percent—is much higher than earlier estimates. As dire as this ...
Read more...published December 21, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo: sharktrust.org It's a loophole that should have been closed long ago -- but since it wasn't, shark finning is still legal off the West Coast and in the Pacific. Shark finning , as you're probably aware, is the practice of capturing a shark, slicing off its dorsal fin, and casting it back into the water, where it slowly ...
Read more...published December 20, 2010 and has No Comments
Image: TreeHugger Looking back at 2010, it's clear that the Gulf Oil Spill is the story that will headline environmental history books. But it's not the only memorable one: From nearly invisible mirrored treehouses to strange pale and blind ants found in the Amazon to See the rest here: The Most Popular and Memorable Stories of 2010
Read more...published December 17, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo credit: Sierra Club During this lame duck congressional session or in the next Congress, we are expecting a battle over the gray wolf and its listing as an endangered species . Wolves are being unjustly blamed for killing too many elk in the western U.S. The numbers, however, don't support this. In Montana, Idaho and Wyoming elk numbers ...
Read more...published December 9, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo: USFWS Endangered Species / CC In the middle of the last century, things weren't looking good for the majestic Short-tailed Albatross. From a hardy population estimated to be in the millions just decades earlier, the bird's numbers underwent a dramatic decline from over-hunting -- nearly disappearing from th... Read the full story on TreeHugger Read more: Bird Once Thought ...
Read more...published December 3, 2010 and has No Comments
Losing species, like the critically endangered tiger, can actually increase our chances of getting sick. Photo credit: cliff1066 / Creative Commons The sixth great extinction is underway , many conservationists warn, meaning that as many as 50 percent of animal species on earth may vanish by the end of the century. The numbers are staggering—and undeniably tragic—but what do ...
Read more...published December 1, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo credit: Polar Cruises / Creative Commons In the Arctic, polar bears have recently been observed swimming in icy water while carrying young cubs on their backs . It's the result, researchers explained, of having to swim greater distances to find solid sea ice—and is an innovation that may be crucial for the survival of the species.... Read the ...
Read more...published November 30, 2010 and has No Comments
International efforts to reduce fishing quotas for Icritically endangered Atlantic bluefin tuna , or better yet ban the trade outright, may have failed (again...), but that doesn't mean you can't help take action to reduce demand. The Center for Biological Diversity has just launched a boycott campaign urging chefs, restauranteurs and consumers to not buy or serve the bluefin... ...
Read more...published November 26, 2010 and has No Comments
"Lose the animals, lose the ecosystems. Lose the ecosystems, game over." Caroline Fraser touched down in more than a dozen countries to understand what rewilding really means. Rewilding the World: Dispatches from the Conservation Revolution looks at how this radical approach is being put to work, pulling endangered species back from the brink, relinking critical habitats, and keeping 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 ...
