An Unusually Quiet Sun Baffles Astronomers
Our sun is the quietest it’s been in a long time, producing few solar flares and no sunspots. Instead of becoming more active as it’s 11-year cycle would have predicted, last year’s solar wind pressure and radio emissions were at a 50-year low, and sunspots at a 100-year low, leaving scientists scrambling for explanations.
Dust Storms in US Western States Prompt Environmental Fears
“The dust storms are a harbinger of a broader phenomenon, researchers say, as global warming translates into less precipitation and a population boom intensifies the activities that are disturbing the dust in the first place. Jayne Belnap, a research ecologist at the U.S. Geological Survey who has studied the issue, predicts that by midcentury, the fragility of the region’s soil ‘will be equal to that of the Dust Bowl days.’” – Washington Post
Could Our Obsession with Climate Change be Exacerbating Species Extinction?
Brendan Borrell presents a compelling case at Slate.com.
Woman Wins Environmental Prize for Fighting Mining Problems
West Virginia activist, Maria Gunnoe, was among those awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for her work in helping to expose the damage done by the coal-mining industry’s practice of mountain-top removal.
Emission-Free “TerraCabs” for Seattle
From the “old ideas made new again” file comes tear-dropped-shaped pods powered by human pedalars, providing emission-free rides about town. With corporate sponsorship, rides could also be cost-free.
Failure to Yield: Evaluating the Performance of Genetically Engineered Crops
From the Union of Concerned Scientists comes a new report that evaluates yields of genetically engineering crop compared to other agricultural technologies.
After reviewing two dozen academic studies, “the UCS report concluded that genetically engineering herbicide-tolerant soybeans and herbicide-tolerant corn has not increased yields. Insect-resistant corn, meanwhile, has improved yields only marginally. The increase in yields for both crops over the last 13 years, the report found, was largely due to traditional breeding or improvements in agricultural practices.”
Could the current, worldwide economic downturn finally spur us to re-examine our hyperconsuming ways?
The Seven Sins of Greenwashing: Is Everybody Lying?
Joel Makower weighs the pluses and minuses of the methodolgy behind TerraChoice’s new report, The Seven Sins of Greenwashing.
“In the end, I can’t help but wonder which is worse: the companies that aren’t being fully truthful or transparent about their claims, or the consumers who will walk away from the green marketplace in frustration, dismissing all green products — the good ones and the rest — as cynical ploys by uncaring companies intended solely at separating consumers from their wallets.”
Kepler’s First Look at Planetary Hunting Ground
“A week after jettisoning its protective dust cover, NASA’s Kepler telescope has released the first image of the patch of sky that it will scrutinise for the next three-and-a-half years in search of Earth-like planets” — New Scientist
Using the energy of light to explore the cosmos.
No Comments
Subscribe to Comments for this Post via RSS