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 September 1, 2010 and has No Comments
Example of a sweat bee -- Metallic colored sweat bee species are diverse, and difficult to identify to which species a specimen belongs; photo via zackzen Researchers Jason Gibbs who was working on a study of sweat bees discovered a new species while commuting from downtown Toronto to York University. It is one of 19 new species he found ...
Read more...published August 27, 2010 and has No Comments
photo: minnemom via flickr I admit there's no direct connection between this next one and sustainability, but from a science perspective it's just too interesting to pass by: New research shows that tobacco plants have evolved a "chemical SOS" signal that attracts insect predators when caterpillars are eating their leaves. Like TreeHugger said back in 2007, Plants, they're smarter ...
Read more...published August 24, 2010 and has No Comments
Image via Fast Company A British beekeeper has been working on creating a new strain of honeybee resistant to the varroa mite, a prime suspect in colony collapse disorder (CCD), and it looks like he's hit a high note after 18 years of careful observation and selective breeding. Ron Hoskins found that bees in one of his hives figured ...
Read more...published August 16, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo Peter Shearer, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research via darkroastedblend.com When the sun goes down, the creatures of the night come out: And some have really weird and incredible built-in ways to keep the lights on . The scientific term is Bioluminescence -- or the production and emission of light by a living organism . From a ...
Read more...published August 10, 2010 and has No Comments
Image via New Scientist The use of biomimicry has become increasingly helpful in robotics, but it's mainly been helpful in devising better ways for robots to move, whether swimming like a fish , flying like a butterfly , or See the rest here: Artificial Bee Eye Helps Mini Flying Robots See Better
Read more...published August 2, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo via James Jordan If mosquitoes have nightmares, odds are Huang Yuyen will be making an appearance in them. Yuyen, a pig farmer from Taiwan, may soon find a place in the record books for killing the most winged-bloodsuckers in a month -- over 4 million of them, in fact. The insect slaughter was part of a contest held ...
Read more...published August 2, 2010 and has No Comments
Image via Make Ants are amazing creatures. When we stop to really take a look at them, their status bumps up from pest to anything from hero to inspiration for biomimicry . So it's no wonder some people like to keep ant farms for a close-up look at how these phenomenal insects work. But one ant keeper, Franç... Read ...
Read more...published July 26, 2010 and has No Comments
photo: USDA This past Thursday, the NRDC and Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA) filed suit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to try to force the agency to ban the pesticide chlorpyrifos. Chlorpyrifos, an organophosphate, has been prohibited for residential application since 2001 but is still often used in agriculture. Inhaling the chemical can cause nervous-system reactions ...
Read more...published July 23, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo via Hayes Valley Farm I was just at Hayes Valley Farm this past Sunday, volunteering at the urban farm turning a crumbling freeway into crop land for local food production and education. I was working within 15 feet of two bee hives the entire time and barely noticed the insects as they went about their busy day. With ...
Read more...published July 19, 2010 and has No Comments
See more here: Planet 100: Top 5 Genius Animals
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photo: Graham Racher via flickr Go chimps, go! An interesting new paper in the journal Primates documents how a group of chimpanzees in Bossou, Guinea have been successfully deactivating snares set by human bushmeat hunters. Though not always successful, ...
Image credit: MASONS via The Telegraph From police on Vectrix electric scooters to cycling proficiency courses for cops , the British police are clearly willing to think outside the box when it comes to more efficient, and effective, transportation. ...
