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 April 1, 2009 and has No Comments
Image: by Gail Patricelli in the Billings Gazette Researcher Gail Patricelli took a clue from Austin Powers for her latest research. The professor of evolution and ecology at the University of California at Davis is conducting studies which may be important to saving the dwindling population of the sage grouse. "The sage grouse is the North American version of ...
Read more...published April 1, 2009 and has No Comments
photo Original post: Constructal Theory: 5 Designs Shaping the Future of Sustainable Engineering
Read more...published March 30, 2009 and has No Comments
photo: Alexander Steffler via flickr Much of the discussion around the Texas Board of Education 's textbook requirements has focused on the teaching of evolution , creationism, intelligent design, et cetera. But one thing which the Environmental Defense Fund is pointing out and which has fallen though the cracks is the revised wording on how textbooks are going to ...
Read more...published March 27, 2009 and has No Comments
photo: Wikipedia In a very specific example of how changes in one part of an ecosystem have wide reaching effects, researchers in the UK how changes in the crane fly population, caused by warmer summers, are having a severe impact on the population of birds which depend upon them, the golden plover :... View original post here: Climate-Induced Declines in ...
Read more...published March 26, 2009 and has No Comments
Image credit: Reuters According to Spanish newspaper El País last weekend, British scientists have developed a 1,5 meter long robot fish that will swim around the Spanish north coast to detect contamination in the water. ... Read more: Robot Fish Detects Contamination in the Sea in Northern Spain
Read more...published March 25, 2009 and has No Comments
photo: Adam Sofen via flickr Though in the long-run rising sea levels and temperatures because of climate change certainly still pose a threat to coastal wetlands, researchers from the Smithsonian Institution and the US Geological Survey have concluded a two year study on the effect of CO2 levels on soil elevation in marshes which adds a new wrinkle to ...
Read more...published March 25, 2009 and has No Comments
photo: Carbonscape I generally like George Monbiot's writing, but in his latest piece in The Guardian on the benefits and consequences of using biochar (aka, charcoal) buried in the ground to sequester carbon is a bit sloppy. While I agree with his larger message that collectively there is the tendency to look for a techno-fix to our environmental problems, ...
Read more...published March 24, 2009 and has No Comments
These small copepods ate up algae, preventing it from sinking to great enough depths for long-term sequestration to work. Photo: AWI Researchers investigating ocean iron fertilization in the Southern Ocean as part of the Lohafex project have reported back that their results show that the geo-engineering technique could not have a major impact on absorbing excess carbon dioxide from ...
Read more...published March 23, 2009 and has No Comments
Barcelona's per capita carbon emissions were particularly good. Photo: Amitabh Trehan via flickr While cities certainly use a lot of energy in a concentrated area, the per capita emissions of their residents are often well below national averages, a new report from the International Institute for Environment and Development says. David Dodman compared the emissions of 12 of the ...
Read more...published March 22, 2009 and has No Comments
photo Josh Sommers @ Flickr Land degradation is the decline in soil, water, and vegetation quality - the very things we depend on for life. For the first time scientists have used satellite pictures and GIS software to assess the degradation of land over the entire Earth. They found that from 1981-2003, 24% of the globes land surface has ...
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Save the sea creatures! Handcraft your own natural specimens using these these simple patterns, some yarn and a crochet hook. View post: 8 Enchanting Sea Creatures You Can Crochet
A Finnish designer has made a working surfboard from broken skateboards. Read the original here: Hollow Surfboard Is Made from Broken Skateboards
