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 1, 2010 and has No Comments
Image via University of Exeter The iridescence of butterfly wings have been the source of inspiration for more energy efficient yet vivid displays , but their shine is proving useful for brightening up not just our gadgets, but the money we buy them with as well. Researchers are looking in to how biomimicry can foil the efforts of would-be ...
Read more...published May 20, 2010 and has No Comments
Image via YouTube video While butterfly populations worldwide struggle to stay afloat as the global temperature rises and changes their migration patterns and food sources, scientists have been hard at work coming up with their replacement - the mechanical butterfly that can survive anything but perhaps an attack of rust. Researchers successfully built and flew a flapping-wing-powered swallowtail butterfly, ...
Read more...published May 17, 2010 and has No Comments
Cotton Fleahopper - Heteroptera Miridae Image credit: Texas A&M University Authors of a 15-year long field study in China have reported that cotton "farms gradually become a source of mirid bug infestations, in parallel with the rise of Bt cotton. The bugs, initially regarded as occasional or minor pests, spread out to surrounding areas, "acquiring pest status" and infesting ...
Read more...published May 17, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo by CRhyne Scientists have been investigating how to mimic spider silk for years. The seemingly delicate threads actually have a tensile strength five times greater than steel, and the possibilities for using a similar material in everything from buildings to bridges to cars and even clothing, are practically infinite. The only problem is, the stuff seems to be ...
Read more...published May 16, 2010 and has No Comments
Photos via O Estado A fire broke out this weekend in Brazil, destroying one of the world's largest collections of snakes, spiders, and scorpions. Housed at the Butantan Institute in Sao Paulo, the collection contained roughly 500 thousand dead specimens, which took over 100 years to amass, preserved for research into the creation of serums and vaccines . On... ...
Read more...published May 5, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo via wildxplorer Mosquitoes spread Malaria, and while the drug to combat the disease is relatively cheap, the distribution of it is problematic. That's why mosquito nets are such an important measure of prevention - they're cheaper and easier to dispense. But there's an even better way to combat Malaria, and without the use of chemicals, including the increasingly ...
Read more...published May 2, 2010 and has No Comments
tanakawho via Flickr. Barley and hops means more bumps and itching, according to a recent study that says mosquitoes prefer to bite beer drinkers. As if we needed more reasons to kill mosquitoes. The bugs already spread malaria and West Nile virus. But what's the best way to control these buggers? We don't need more chemicals sprayed into the ...
Read more...published April 27, 2010 and has No Comments
This species of green horsefly was discovered by researchers on their first insect quest into the Amazon. Photo via artour_a To date, around 1 million insect species have been identified throughout the world. But, while that may be a mind-boggling number, biologists estimate that there remains at least 4 million more left undiscovered--many of which may lie deep in ...
Read more...published April 19, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo by Tercerintento What happens as bee numbers decline and there aren't enough to pollinate all the crops grown in California? One solution is to make the plants self-pollinating. And that's just what scientists and farmers are testing out with almond orchards in California. Almonds are the top California food export and the nation's sixth largest export. Over 90 ...
Read more...published April 7, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo by Thomas Shahan We love our insects! There is a huge variety of bugs across the planet, and they're masters of adaptation. That's the inspiration for an upcoming episode of Life on Discovery Channel this Sunday, April 11 at 9 PM. We're excited to watch the episode, which shows off everything from weird mating quirks to incredible migrations. ...
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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 ...
"The technology that we have here gives us a first-ever look at the Amazon in its full three-dimensional detail, over very large regions," says the study's lead researcher. Here is the original post: Lasers Used to Generate Remarkably Detailed 3D ...
