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 February 28, 2011 and has No Comments
Photo by waferboard via Flickr Creative Commons It's no surprise that many bugs have excellent hearing thanks to finely honed antenna. In fact, some insect antennae are so powerful, it seems engineers haven't yet been able to come close to mimicking nature, especially when it comes to small, directional antennae. But a tiny bug is about to change that, ...
Read more...published February 4, 2011 and has No Comments
Trees that were removed after being killed by mountain pine beetles; Photo by Forest Service - Northern Region via Flickr Creative Commons The mountain pine beetle infestations are spreading. As filmmaker Michael Pellegatti states , "To date millions of acres of forests and billions of trees are dead and there is no end in sight. Some estimates predict that ...
Read more...published January 25, 2011 and has No Comments
Photo: Ersin Uyanik When Terry Allen planted a flowerbed outside his home 20 years ago, he could never have imagined it would become the sight of a blood-soaked bee battleground. Terry, an entomologist from Sacramento, discovered some European wool carder bees had taken up residence in his front yard, the first time the species had been spotted in California ...
Read more...published January 10, 2011 and has No Comments
m-louis / Creative Commons The stag beetle is the largest terrestrial insect in the United Kingdom but finding the elusive species has always been a challenge. Conservationists fear that the beetle's numbers may be declining but without an accurate count of the population, no effective protection plan can developed. Fortunately, new research suggests that a simple solution—using everyday ginger—could ...
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 22, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo: fueg0 While most young students are happy just having their academic achievements displayed on the refrigerator door at home, there are others whose sights are set a little higher -- and I'm not talking about the freezer. A group of elementary schoolchildren in Devon, England recently made a study on how bees identify colors that is, well, groundbreaking. ...
Read more...published December 10, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo by andy.v via Flickr Creative Commons Butterflies are one of the major pollinators and a vital component to a functioning ecosystem. We've seen dips in butterfly populations worldwide, and the latest report from Butterfly Conservation Europe is that 17 species of grassland butterflies are in a dramatic decline across Europe, with as much as a 70% drop in ...
Read more...published November 10, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo: Wagner Machado Carlos Lemes / CC Sometimes when researchers explore the array of complex and fascinating creatures on this planet, what they find has power to renew our sense of wonder about nature, and even to change the way we look at life itself -- but then again, it's not always so on the ball. Still, scientists recently ...
Read more...published November 3, 2010 and has No Comments
Photos via Guillaume Lehoux Spiders are one of nature's most capable engineers , crafting their delicate webs with uncanny precision, making it seem so effortless -- but when they get high on drugs, boy is it a different story. Once, in order to test the effects of psychoactive substances on ... Read the full story on TreeHugger Read the ...
Read more...published October 12, 2010 and has No Comments
Molecular diagram of a chemical extracted from fungal endophyte associated with the common Foxtail weed. It repels Chinese Stink Bugs. Image credit: ACS Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry If you're living in one of the US states which has experienced the latest Chinese invaders - brown marmorated stink bugs (aka the Chinese stink bug) - importance of the ...
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"The stakes are very high and scientists are not the best people to deal with the social, ethical or political issues that geoengineering raises." View original here: Geoengineering is a Technical Fix for a Political Problem
Google leads the pack in Greenpeace's annual ranking of IT companies based on their efforts to use clean energy and reduce their environmental impact. Here is the original: Google Tops Greenpeace's Clean IT List
