Sunday, November 30, 2008

Ned Batchelder: Print this file, your printer will jam

Back to the Garage: How Economic Turmoil Breeds Innovation
Get in-depth tech news coverage from Wired and read about how it is shaping culture, education, entertainment, communications and technology.

Phytocapping To Rehabilitate Landfills, Reduce Greenhouse Emissions : TreeHugger
Image: Former landfill and limestone quarry near Montreal now being mined for its methane (by frigate on Flickr) Though it’s changing, the human species still largely lives in “disposable” societies – with the pinnacle of the life cycle ending up

Basics - In an Age of Robots, One to Clean the House? Still but a Dream - NYTimes.com
Today’s experimental robots bear little physical resemblance to our fantasy androids.

Canada's vast oil sands hide dirty environmental secret
PhysOrg.com: From here in the far north of Canada through a web of transcontinental pipelines down to a network of refineries ringing the Chicago area, a new supply of precious oil has begun flowing into the gas tanks of more Americans, tapped from a source so vast it could one day furnish close to half of U.S. oil needs for 50 years or more.

Michelin Unveils Active Wheel in Affordable Electric Car : TreeHugger
Image: Michelin The Holy Grail of Eco-transportation Could this be the technology that revolutionizes transportation? Will the company that invented the air-pressure tire trump that achievement by making electric cars affordable and practical? Michelin's Active Wheel system is the

Prayer Support Through the Kindness of Strangers Via the Web - NYTimes.com
Prayer has found a home on the Web with sites that allow anyone to request, for free, that strangers pray for them.

Food crunch opens doors to bioengineered crops
PhysOrg.com: (AP) -- Zeng Yawen's outdoor laboratory in the terraced hills of southern China is a trove of genetic potential - rice that thrives in unusually cool temperatures, high altitudes or in dry soil; rice rich in calcium, vitamins or iron.

Acorn Watchers Wonder What Happened to Crop - washingtonpost.com
The idea seemed too crazy to Rod Simmons, a measured, careful field botanist. Naturalists in Arlington County couldn't find any acorns. None. No hickory nuts, either. Then he went out to look for himself. He came up with nothing. Nothing crunched underfoot. Nothing hit him on the head.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Wal-Mart Employee Trampled to Death by Customers - NYTimes.com
A Wal-Mart employee in suburban New York died after being trampled by a crush of shoppers on Friday.

Mile of London Tunnels for Sale, History Included - NYTimes.com
After years of lying unused, a historic tunnel complex built in 1940 can be bought for $7.4 million.

Asian Beetle Spells Death for Maples So Dear - NYTimes.com
A number of maple trees in Worcester, Mass., will be chopped down because of an infestation of Asian long-horned beetles that is plaguing thousands of trees.

Experimental TB drug explodes bacteria from the inside out
PhysOrg.com: An international team of biochemists has discovered how an experimental drug unleashes its destructive force inside the bacteria that cause tuberculosis (TB). The finding could help scientists develop ways to treat dormant TB infections, and suggests a strategy for drug development against other bacteria as well.

Biologists find new environmental threat in North American lakes
PhysOrg.com: A new and insidious environmental threat has been detected in North American lakes by researchers from Queen's and York universities.

In the Garden - Volunteers Feed and Keep Count of Birds This Winter - NYTimes.com
Project FeederWatch enlists volunteers to document declines in bird populations — by keeping a record of the birds who show up to dine at their backyard feeders.

Artifacts From the Future: Wall Street 2013
See the latest multimedia and applications including videos, animations, podcasts, photos, and slideshows on Wired.com

Mumbai under attack - The Big Picture - Boston.com
The Big Picture - News Stories in Photographs from the Boston Globe

Did Neanderthal cells cook as the climate warmed? - life - 27 November 2008 - New Scientist
Neanderthals may have gone extinct because adaptations to an Ice Age climate meant their bodies couldn't cope as temperatures climbed

PHOTOS: Pacific Shipwrecks Potentially Toxic Timebombs
See photos of some 3,700 World War II shipwrecks that lie submerged in the Pacific Ocean. Encased in coral, host to abundant sea life, and popular among scuba-loving tourists, some of these vessels also contain noxious cargo including oil, diesel, gasoline, chemicals and even unexploded ordnance.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Salaryman-turned-activist keeps island nation Tuvalu in the picture | The Japan Times Online
Tanned and relaxed, 42-year-old Shuichi Endo has set himself a monumental task: Photograph 10,000 residents of the tiny Pacific nation of Tuvalu, nearly the entire population.

Mercury Pollution Rising : TreeHugger
Photo by TheJasp The fifty filthiest coal-fired plants are producing more mercury pollution than in 2006, according to a report by the Environmental Integrity Project. Twenty tons of mercury, a neurotoxin that affects brain development in fetuses, were released

Japanese Government Animation Explains Global Food Security : TreeHugger
Food security is a concept that works on micro and macro levels. But, it's something that individuals don't often think about until they are confronted with a situation where they don't have access to adequate food and become food

Advertising - Riding Obama’s Coattails, Making a Buck Along the Way - NYTimes.com
Merchandise commemorating, celebrating and — in some instances — practically canonizing Mr. Obama is being sold by companies large and small.

Amanpour to Anchor a Nightly Show on CNN International - NYTimes.com
The foreign correspondent will host a nightly program on CNN International, which is retooling its lineup.

Insurer Offers Option for Surgery in India - NYTimes.com
The health insurer Wellpoint is testing a new program that gives covered patients the option of going to India for elective surgery.

Researchers develop new strategy for broad spectrum anti-viral drugs
PhysOrg.com: Bavituximab, an anti-viral drug developed by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers, shows promise as a new strategy to fight viral diseases, including potential bioterrorism agents.

Amazing nature - All about nature, travel and vacation: Sustainable Agriculture - What Ants Knew 50 Million Years Before We Did

'Wiring' in the brain influences personality
PhysOrg.com: Have you got the new iPhone yet? Do you like changing jobs now and again because you get bored otherwise? Do you go on holiday to different places every year? Then maybe your neural connection between ventral striatum and hippocampus is particularly well developed. Both of them are centres in the brain. The reward system which urges us to take action is located in the striatum, whereas the hippocampus is responsible for specific memory functions.

Hate incidents in U.S. surge -- chicagotribune.com
BOGALUSA, La.—Barely three weeks after Americans elected their first black president amid a wave of interracial good feeling, a spasm of noose hangings, racist graffiti, vandalism and death threats is convulsing dozens of towns across the country as white extremists lash out at the new political order.

Mankind's new best friend? - The Boston Globe
Reviled as vermin through the ages, rats are becoming unlikely soldiers in the struggle against two scourges of the developing world: land mines and tuberculosis.

YouTube - Police dash cam of Meteor over Edmonton, Canada
Police dash cam of Meteor over Edmonton, Canada. Filmed about 5:30pm Thursday November 20th 2008

The “broken windows” theory of crime is correct | Can the can | The Economist
The idea that graffiti-spraying and other forms of low-level delinquency promote further bad behaviour has now been tested experimentally

Books of The Times - Polly Wanna Cracker? Squawk! That’s So Bush League - ‘Alex and Me’ by Irene M. Pepperberg - Review - NYTimes.com
In this volume Irene M. Pepperberg describes her three-decade-long relationship with Alex the African gray parrot and her struggle to win recognition from the scientific establishment.

Scientists discover 21st century plague
PhysOrg.com: Bacteria that can cause serious heart disease in humans are being spread by rat fleas, sparking concern that the infections could become a bigger problem in humans. Research published in the December issue of the Journal of Medical Microbiology suggests that brown rats, the biggest and most common rats in Europe, may now be carrying the bacteria.

Ocean growing more acidic faster than once thought
PhysOrg.com: University of Chicago scientists have documented that the ocean is growing more acidic faster than previously thought. In addition, they have found that the increasing acidity correlates with increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, according to a paper published online by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Nov. 24.

Researchers boost solar cell efficiency
PhysOrg.com: (PhysOrg.com) -- New ways of squeezing out greater efficiency from solar photovoltaic cells are emerging from computer simulations and lab tests conducted by a team of physicists and engineers at MIT.

Generation Faithful - Hezbollah Seeks to Marshal the Piety of the Young - Series - NYTimes.com
Hezbollah is educating a younger generation in Lebanon to continue its struggle against Israel.

Alien-like Squid Filmed at Ultra-Deep Oil-Drilling Site
At an oil field a mile and a half underwater, a remote control submersible's camera has captured an eerie surprise: an alien-like, long-armed, and&#8212;strangest of all&#8212;"elbowed" <i>Magnapinna</i> squid. <i>With video.</i>

In Qatar, an I. M. Pei Museum of Imposing Simplicity - NYTimes.com
There is nothing timid about the ambitions of the new Museum of Islamic Art that opens in Qatar next week.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Consumer Price Decline Prompts Fear of Deflation - NYTimes.com
Consumer prices fell in October by 1 percent, the largest drop in the history of the survey, raising the specter of deflation.

The Dead Tell a Tale China Doesn’t Care to Listen To - NYTimes.com
The Tarim mummies have become protagonists in a political dispute over who should control the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.

Climate change opens new avenue for spread of invasive plants
PhysOrg.com: Plants that range northward because of climate change may be better at defending themselves against local enemies than native plants.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | India 'sinks Somali pirate ship'
An Indian navy warship has destroyed a Somali pirate "mother ship" that fired on it in the Gulf of Aden, officials say.

Phasing Out Water Softeners: A Coming Necessity In Drought? : TreeHugger
Civilizations have collapsed from water becoming too salty: to the point where foods can no longer be grown and where drinking water is either unpalatable or dangerous. Farmland and water salinization risk is greatest where annual natural evaporation and transpiration

Welcome to GHG Photos
GHG is the scientific shorthand for Greenhouse Gases, the gases whose build up in the upper atmosphere is the cause of anthropogenic climate change. GHG Photos is a coalition of science, environmental, nature, and documentary photographers who have spent the last several years focused on the emissions and effects of those Greenhouse Gases emissions, as well as attempts to mitigate their release and adapt to the changing climate.Photographers include Gary Braasch , Ashley Cooper, Benj Drummond , Peter Essick , Steve Kazlowski , Sara Joy Steele and Joshua Wolfe

Trek Embraces Chainless Bikes, Via Carbon Belt Drives : TreeHugger
Belt drives for bicycles are a great thing. Especially for those who don’t want to fuss with maintenance and lubrication. Though we wonder if Associated Press might’ve got a bit too carried away when they stated that, “While some

A New Wind Is Blowing in Chicago - NYTimes.com
With Barack Obama’s election, the city is basking in a moment of triumph that goes well beyond politics.

Observatory - Invasive Plants in Galápagos May Really Be Native - NYTimes.com
Some plants that were thought to be invasive species in the Galapagos Islands predate humans by thousands of years.

Stocks Drop Sharply and Credit Markets Seize Up - NYTimes.com
As a new bout of fear gripped the financial markets on Thursday, stocks fell sharply again, and the credit markets seized up as confidence in the nation’s financial system ebbed.

Common cold virus came from birds
PhysOrg.com: A virus that causes cold-like symptoms in humans originated in birds and may have crossed the species barrier around 200 years ago, according to an article published in the December issue of the Journal of General Virology. Scientists hope their findings will help us understand how potentially deadly viruses emerge in humans.

Sea level rise alters bay's salinity
PhysOrg.com: While global-warming-induced coastal flooding moves populations inland, the changes in sea level will affect the salinity of estuaries, which influences aquatic life, fishing and recreation.

Evidence of vast frozen water reserves on Mars: scientists
PhysOrg.com: Vast Martian glaciers of water ice under protective blankets of rocky debris persist today at much lower latitudes than any ice previously identified on Mars, says new research using ground-penetrating radar on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

How to Save and Purify the World's Water Supply: Experts Weigh In - Popular Mechanics
Four water experts came to the Hearst Tower in New York City to discuss how the country can deal with the water crisis, why global warming will exacerbate the problem and what will happen if we do nothing.

Failing Home Economics - NYTimes.com
As Americans attempt to perform cost-benefit analyses of their needs and behaviors, some are practicing economies that may not deserve the name.

Op-Ed Contributor - Let Detroit Go Bankrupt - NYTimes.com
A managed bankruptcy may be the only path to the fundamental restructuring the auto industry needs.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Ottawa To Investigate Snow-Powered Air Conditioning’s Potential : TreeHugger
photo: David Carroll A couple weeks ago we heard that New Chitose Airport, on the Japanese island of Hokkaido plans on using snow, kept cool throughout the summer under insulating materials, to chill the airport’s cooling system in the

Toronto Zoo wants to turn poo into energy
The Toronto Zoo has hatched a plan to turn animal feces into fuel.

If Detroit Falls, Foreign Makers Could Be Buffer - NYTimes.com
Experts say the foreign carmakers could take control of the industry and its supplier network more quickly than is understood.

A Computing Pioneer Has a New Idea - NYTimes.com
Steven J. Wallach’s newest effort in computing design is intended to tackle one of the principal limitations in the world of supercomputing.

Observatory - Drip Irrigation May Not Be Efficient, Analysis Finds - NYTimes.com
A new analysis suggests that subsidies and other policies that encourage conservation methods like drip irrigation can actually increase water consumption.

For Tasmanian Devils, Hope Against Facial Tumor Disease - NYTimes.com
A deadly cancer has preyed on the Tasmanian devil, causing it to be listed as endangered, scientists have begun an experimental inoculation program.

New bacteria discovered in raw milk
PhysOrg.com: Raw milk is illegal in many countries as it can be contaminated with potentially harmful microbes. Contamination can also spoil the milk, making it taste bitter and turn thick and sticky. Now scientists have discovered new species of bacteria that can grow at low temperatures, spoiling raw milk even when it is refrigerated. According to research published in the November issue of the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, the microbial population of raw milk is much more complex than previously thought.

Micro Fuel Cells Get Closer to Replacing Batteries
PhysOrg.com: (PhysOrg.com) -- Mobile electronics have the potential to offer digital luxuries beyond our imagination, but they will never get there on today’s lithium ion batteries. Power has been the weak spot in the development of more advanced mobile electronics, and the need for power will become even more important as devices feature more energy-sapping applications.

Exploring a Christmas Superstore in Michigan - NYTimes.com
It’s always Christmas in this corner of Michigan.

Pirates take 'super tanker' towards Somalia - CNN.com
Pirates who hijacked a crude oil tanker off the coast of Kenya are approaching a Somali port, the U.S. Navy said Monday.

Oswald co-worker no longer silent about JFK assassination role | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Latest News
The Dallas Morning News Latest News page contains stories about the Dallas-Fort Worth area and stories of broad interest to Texans.

Searaser device in uphill battle for clean energy - Times Online
A device that harnesses the power of the sea to push water uphill has been
developed to provide cheap renewable electricity.

Bark Beetles Kill Millions of Acres of Trees in West - NYTimes.com
From New Mexico to British Columbia, an infestation of mountain pine beetles is turning a blanket of green forest into a blanket of rust red.

Unsold Foreign Cars Hogging Space at a California Port - NYTimes.com
Unwelcome by dealers and buyers, thousands of cars are being warehoused on crowded port property, creating a vivid picture of a paralyzed auto business.

New filtering technology has environmental, industrial applications
PhysOrg.com: Materials engineers have created a new type of membrane that separates oil from water and, if perfected, might be used for environmental cleanup, water purification and industrial applications.

Mathematica Users Get 100x Performance Boost From NVIDIA CUDA
PhysOrg.com: At SC08, Wolfram Research will demonstrate a new version of Mathematica, the world’s most powerful general computational software, that integrates CUDA, NVIDIA’s parallel GPU computing architecture. This new version is expected to give Mathematica users an unprecedented performance increase of 10-100X in numerical computing, modeling, simulation and visual computations, without the need to learn or write C code.

New Wind Turbine Technology To Be 50% More Efficient | Device Daily

Official Google Blog: LIFE Photo Archive available on Google Image Search

Half of primary-care doctors in survey would leave medicine - CNN.com
Nearly half the respondents in a survey of U.S. primary care physicians said that they would seriously consider getting out of the medical business within the next three years if they had an alternative.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Eco Dishwashing Liquid Works As Well as Cascade : TreeHugger
Earth Friendly Product's 'New Wave High-Performance Auto Dishwasher Gel' held its own against Cascade in an independent study showing that these phosphate-free cleaners can perform just as well as conventional cleaners. Most cleaners give the impression that they add

Vancouver’s Plan for 2010 Winter Games Hits Financial Snag - NYTimes.com
The freeze in credit markets and a collapse of the city’s real estate market have made the financing of the Winter Games a critical issue.

Visual Science - How Termites Live on a Diet of Wood - NYTimes.com
Living on a diet of wood is challenging, not least because wood contains so little nitrogen. So how do termites do it?

Scratch input - Hack a Day

Study Shows Drivers Feel Free to Ignore Speed Limits | Autopia from Wired.com
From the Autopia Unintended Consequences Department comes this dispatch from Tippecanoe County, Indiana, where researchers at Purdue University say the majority of drivers have no problem going 5, 10 or

EPA Coal Decision Levels Playing Field for Wind, Solar | Wired Science from Wired.com
Building an alt-energy power plant is risky and expensive, but thanks to a new ruling by an Environmental Protection Agency panel, building a coal plant may become riskier and more

An Eco-Friendly Billboard for Times Square - NYTimes.com
By generating its own electricity, a new billboard planned for Times Square could save 18 tons of carbon emissions yearly.

Intelligent humans evolved because of big-hipped ancestors - Telegraph
Intelligent humans developed because our female ancestors had wide hips which allowed them to give birth to babies with big brains, according to new research.

Artificial diamonds - now available in extra large - environment - 13 November 2008 - New Scientist
A team in the US has brought the world one step closer to cheap, mass-produced, perfect diamonds - with no theoretical size limit

Engineer has leak proof CO2 storage idea - UPI.com
A U.S. engineer says he's developed a leak-proof carbon sequestration storage method that eliminates the risk of CO2 escaping via buoyancy.

Tropical Dead Zones Set to Expand by 50 Percent Under Climate Change : TreeHugger
Image from Science Dead zones are certainly no stranger to these pages. As Matthew quipped in a recent post, stories about the Gulf of Mexico's (in)famous dead zone have a way of turning up on TreeHugger, as if on

Good Growing Regions Drying Up in Turkey : TreeHugger
Photo via Al Ianni at flickr. As the host of a recent meeting on the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, Turkey touted its expertise on the subject, with the Environment Ministry's Erdoğan Özevren calling Turkey

European Town Heats Up With Closed Coal Mine : TreeHugger
Gen Coel neighborhood of Heerlen, Image credit: France24, Remko Scheepens We recently published a post about a mine heat project just beginning. (See:- Yellowknife To Re-Purpose Gold Mine For Heat Extraction.) Like, wind mills, it turns out, Holland is

Digital Domain - The Forces Driving Women Out of Computer Science - NYTimes.com
Many computer science departments report that women now make up less than 10 percent of the newest undergraduates.

Suspect in Office Deaths Described as Family Man - NYTimes.com
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) -- Those who know Jing Hua Wu said the 47-year-old engineer was a smart, unassuming family man whose three young boys played among neighborhood children on a quiet street in this Silicon Valley city.

On the Farm - A Seafood Snob Ponders the Future of Fish - NYTimes.com
With wild fish harder to catch, what is served up at your local market is often little better than swimming tofu.

Architecture - Buffalo, a City Filled With Architectural History, Looks to the Future - NYTimes.com
For all its historic value, Buffalo’s architecture has for decades seemed strangely frozen in time.

Heat Wheel Could Cut Data Center Cooling Bills « Data Center Knowledge
A relatively new approach to data center cooling known as a heat wheel is gaining momentum, and likely to gain a higher profile from an upcoming demonstration of the technology.

Friday, November 14, 2008

LED Lamp Runs on Mud : TreeHugger
Dutch designer Marieke Staps has built a lamp with the LEDs powered by soil. She writes: 'Free and environmentally friendly energy forever and ever. The lamp runs on mud. The metabolism of biological life produces enough electricity to keep an

Don’t Call it a Wind Farm, It’s an EcoPower Centre: Canada’s Largest Wind Project (200 MW) Opens : TreeHugger
photo: Canadian Hydro Though in the scheme of the world it’s solidly in the middle ranks of wind power project capacity, but given that the newly finished Melancthon EcoPower Centre, developed by Canadian Hydro, is Canada’s largest wind farm

Short on Cash, Businesses Rediscover Bartering - NYTimes.com
Drawing on the reach of the Internet, many exchanges include participants from around the world.

3 Flat-Screen Makers Plead Guilty to Trying to Keep Prices High - NYTimes.com
LG, Sharp and Chunghwa Picture Tubes agreed to cooperate in an antitrust investigation being run by the Justice Department.

Physicists steer electrons with laser pulses: Method could be used to create custom-made chemical compounds
PhysOrg.com: Theoretical physicist Uwe Thumm and his colleagues Feng He and Andreas Becker not only work with some of the smallest molecules in the universe, but they now have found a way to control the motion of the molecules' building blocks, electrons and nuclei.

Mysterious Microbe Plays Important Role in Ocean Ecology
PhysOrg.com: (PhysOrg.com) -- An unusual microorganism discovered in the open ocean may force scientists to rethink their understanding of how carbon and nitrogen cycle through ocean ecosystems. A paper describing the new findings appears in the November 14 issue of the journal Science.

Bike Gadget Turns Red Lights Green | Autopia from Wired.com
Getting stuck at a red light that won't change sucks. It's even worse when you're on a bicycle because you'll never see green until a car rolls up and trips

10 Fascinating Last Pictures Taken - The List Universe
This list consists of 10 last time stamps in history taken of and by some fascinating individuals.

20081112_d-0077-5-515h.jpg (JPEG Image, 514x331 pixels)

Posterity Post
Report Sees New Pollution Threat - NYTimes.com
“Brown clouds,” noxious cocktails of toxic chemicals, are blotting out the sun in large parts of Asia, according to a report by the United Nations.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

From the Forums: Natural Contraceptives? : TreeHugger
Ian Gordon asks: I recently came across some material which obliquely referenced various native American herbs and plants which could be used as contraceptives. Apparently male anthropologists asked the men about population control and got nothing but shrugs in

carpool.jpg (JPEG Image, 450x306 pixels)

cheapoil.jpg (JPEG Image, 324x450 pixels)

With Microbial Fuel Cells, Energy Project Taps Africa’s Dirt - NYTimes.com
Start-up companies are looking at Africa -- where 74 percent of the population lives without electricity -- as a test market for new, off-the-grid lighting technologies.

Wiring Disaster Areas to the Outside World - NYTimes.com
A lightweight, solar-powered Internet hookup created by a collaboration of nonprofit organizations provides communication in even the most remote areas.

Flabber | Weblog: Crayon Physics deluxe
Elke dag een paar bijzondere, interessante, sexy of humoristische posts.

Google Uses Web Searches to Track Flu’s Spread - NYTimes.com
Google is tracking the ebb and flow of Web queries like “flu symptoms” or “muscle aches” in an effort to identify outbreaks.

Scientists identify first mammal for which disease led to extinction
PhysOrg.com: In 1899, an English ship stopped at Christmas Island, near Australia. Within nine years, the island's entire native rat population had gone extinct, and scientists have wondered ever since what exactly happened.

4,300-year-old pyramid discovered in Egypt
PhysOrg.com: (AP) -- Egypt's chief archaeologist has announced the discovery of a 4,300-year-old pyramid in Saqqara, the sprawling necropolis and burial site of the rulers of ancient Memphis.

Search Engine With Roots in Genomics Unlocks Deep Web | Epicenter from Wired.com
digg_url =

cartoons_01.jpg (JPEG Image, 611x404 pixels)

American Friends of Tel Aviv University: A Perfect Bond

BBC NEWS | Technology | Obama takes lead in virtual world
A video game starring US president elect Obama underlines the technology divide between the US political parties.

Algae Biofuel Facility to be Built in Durango, Colorado by Solix Biofuels : TreeHugger
image: Solix Biofuels
 Here’s another algae biofuel company to watch: Solix Biofuels, based in Fort Collins, Colorado has announced that it has raised $10.5 million in a first round of funding, and has reached an agreement with investors for

The Chair That Has Seated Millions : TreeHugger
We often talk about the importance of good design in building a sustainable society, and have fewer better examples than the Thonet Chair. It is just six pieces of wood-two circles, two sticks and a couple of arches -

Battery Life Breakthrough Could Increase Capacity by 800% : TreeHugger
Photo of Professor Cho Jaephil via Hanyang University Could this man be responsible for extending laptop battery life to 16 or 32 hours? A team of researchers at South Korea's Hanyung University led by professor Cho Jaephil (pictured), has

Scenes from Antarctica - The Big Picture - Boston.com
The Big Picture - News Stories in Photographs from the Boston Globe

Exploring Old Rome Without Air (or Time) Travel - NYTimes.com
Google Earth has embraced a frontier dating back 17 centuries: ancient Rome under Constantine the Great.

reportonbusiness.com: Why gold is likely heading down: Blame it on the 'China Price'
The most authoritative news in Canada featuring articles from The Globe and Mail, breaking news coverage, national news, international news, sports, weather, Report on Business.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Cities at Night: An Astronaut’s View | Space Exploration | Air & Space Magazine

Paul Stamets at TED: How Mushrooms Can Help Save The World : TreeHugger
Six Ways that Mushrooms Can Help Save the World Yesterday I posted about MushroomExpert.com, and in the process of researching that post I came across the above video of Paul Stamets speaking at TED which, for some reason, we

FT.com / World - Climate change drives Maldives to buy land
Asian Pacific and world news headlines from the Financial Times, providers of the latest economic and political news from the Asian Pacific region and around the world on FT.com.

Dean Kamen’s Stirling engine car - Hack a Day

Best of What's New 2008 | Popular Science
Select ratingPoorOkayGoodGreatAwesome &nbsp; BOWN Article Type:&nbsp;Front PageNeed Dek hereBest Of What&#039;s New 2008Best Of What's New 2008 main: For decades, we've fantasized about watching paper-thin TVs, soaring hundreds of feet with

Video Game Review - Fallout 3 - Washington Is a Ruin in Bethesda’s Fallout 3 - NYTimes.com
Washington is a ruin in Fallout 3 from Bethesda Softworks, one of the most ambitious single-player role-playing games in recent years.

Drilling Down - Skipped Ads May Leave an Impression - NYTimes.com
Viewers watching commercials fast-forwarded with DVRs are still able to recall commercials that contained many frames featuring the brand’s name or logo in the center of the screen.

Now - The Rest of the Genome - NYTimes.com
Only 1 percent of the genome is made up of classic genes. Scientists are exploring the other 99 percent and uncovering new secrets and new questions.

Thailand confirms fresh bird flu outbreak
PhysOrg.com: Thailand's agriculture ministry said Monday that it had confirmed an outbreak of bird flu on a backyard farm in the north, six months after the kingdom was declared free of the deadly virus.

Mini Nuclear Power Plants Could Power 20,000 Homes
PhysOrg.com: (PhysOrg.com) -- Underground nuclear power plants no bigger than a hot tub may soon provide electricity for communities around the world. Measuring about 1.5 meters across, the mini reactors can each power about 20,000 homes.

Fast Food: Just Another Name for Corn | Wired Science from Wired.com
That the $100-billion fast food industry rests on a foundation of corn has been known more through inference and observation than hard scientific fact — until now. Chemical analysis from

Small Fasteners Cause Big Problems for Boeing | Autopia from Wired.com
Boeing has sold more than 900 787 Dreamliner commercial jets without ever having flown one, but with delays stacking up like holiday traffic over O'Hare you have to wonder if

BBC NEWS | Europe | Mystery of lost US nuclear bomb
The mystery of a lost US nuclear bomb in Greenland in 1968 still haunts the Pentagon and local residents, writes the BBC's Gordon Corera.

3D Display Offers Glimpse of Future Media
PhysOrg.com: (PhysOrg.com) -- The 3D objects in the display box may at first look like a product of smoke-and-mirrors trickery. That impression would be about half right, as a rapidly spinning mirror is one important component of the display.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

60 Minutes Reporter Attacked in Chinese E-Waste Pit : TreeHugger
E-waste in China is a huge problem. It is extraordinarily dangerous
for the health of the planet and for the people who work in e-waste
pits. And yet, to the people who are making money off it, it is

Tolerance Over Race Can Spread, Studies Find - NYTimes.com
Mutual trust between members of different races can catch on just as
quickly, and spread just as fast, as suspicion.

Bullies may enjoy seeing others in pain
PhysOrg.com: Unusually aggressive youth may actually enjoy
inflicting pain on others, research using brain scans at the
University of Chicago shows.

Scientists Turn Tequila into Diamonds
PhysOrg.com: (PhysOrg.com) -- Whoever thought that science was a dry
subject might change their mind after learning about a new discovery
in which tequila is turned into diamonds. A team of Mexican
scientists found that the heated vapor from 80-proof (40% alcohol)
tequila blanco, when deposited on a silicon or stainless steel
substrate, can form diamond films.

Postapocalypse Now! 8 Devastating Coming Attractions
Read about the latest Entertainment News on Wired.com, including
art, technology, films, animation, music, web video, tv, podcasts,
and blogs.

globeandmail.com: Researchers raise alarm after chemical leak found in common plastic
The most authoritative news in Canada featuring articles from The
Globe and Mail, breaking news coverage, national news, international
news, sports, weather, Report on Business.

A Doctor, a Mutation and a Potential Cure for AIDS - WSJ.com
The case of an AIDS patient who underwent a bone marrow transplant
is stirring new hope that gene-therapy strategies might someday cure
the disease.

The £6million squatters: Artist gang flies the black flag of anarchy over Mayfair mansion | Mail Online
In its day it must have ranked among the most elegant residences in
London. But a £6.25million Mayfair mansion was revealed as the
latest address that a group of squatters calls home.

How to Drive from Paris to New York : TreeHugger
Jeeps Race Climate Change to Set Bering Strait Record Adventurer
Matthias Jeschke intends to drive from Paris to New York. Of course,
since the Atlantic presents a serious obstacle to wheeled
transportation, Jeschke has plotted a route inspired by

Flexible charge pump: New small-scale generator produces alternating current by
stretching zinc oxide wires

PhysOrg.com: Researchers have developed a new type of small-scale
electric power generator able to produce alternating current through
the cyclical stretching and releasing of zinc oxide wires
encapsulated in a flexible plastic substrate with two ends bonded.

Fears grow for Barack Obama's security - Telegraph
When Barack Obama gave his acceptance speech behind a thick screen
of bulletproof glass it was a sign of the huge security operation
which will surround the new President Elect.

China tells rich polluting nations to change lifestyle | Environment |
Reuters

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said rich nations
must abandon their unsustainable lifestyle to fight climate change
and expand help to poor nations bearing the brunt of worsening
droughts

Earth Can't Cope, New Planets Needed | LiveScience
Sci-fi writers have solutions to our woes.

UK Professor Hopes Modified Bee Genes Can Prevent Colony Collapse
Disorder : Planetsave


Just What This Downturn Demands - A Consumption Tax - NYTimes.com
With the country sliding into a protracted economic downturn, it is
imperative to increase spending over the short run, regardless of
how we pay for it.

Posterity post

YouTube - MIT sketching
MIT sketching

Editorial Observer - Studs Terkel’s Legacy - A Vivid Window on the Great
Depression - NYTimes.com

I found myself re-reading “Hard Times” because of the
confluence of two unhappy events: the economic downturn and the
death of the author, Studs Terkel.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Amazon.ca: 1000 Events That Shaped the World: Jared Diamond, National Geographic: Books
Amazon.ca: 1000 Events That Shaped the World: Jared Diamond, National Geographic: Books

Real Time (2008)
Directed by Randall Cole. With Randy Quaid, Jay Baruchel. Visit IMDb for Photos, Showtimes, Cast, Crew, Reviews, Plot Summary, Comments, Discussions, Taglines, Trailers, Posters, Fan Sites

Quote of the Day: Arthur Manuel on How Indigenous Peoples Subsidize Canadian Forest Industry : TreeHugger
[The Indigenous Network of Environment and Trade] argued that Canada’s policy of not recognizing aboriginal treaty rights [in the Canadian-US softwood lumber dispute]…was a form of a cash subsidy, a real cash subsidy, because the only thing that the World

Obama promises new era of scientific innovation - opinion - 05 November 2008 - New Scientist
The president-elect has pledged a sea change in US policy on the biggest issues of our time – so what will this mean for science?

Federal money supports 19 new green technologies
A federal agency is giving $48 million in grants to projects that range from a self-erecting wind-turbine tower to a biosensor that can test water for as many as 100 pathogens in less than 30 minutes.

When Chocolate Is a Way of Life - NYTimes.com
A group of cacao farmers in Ecuador have become the world’s most unusual chocolate entrepreneurs by making and marketing their own chocolate.

Anti-Reflective Solar Panel Coating Absorbs 96% of Sunlight, Called Photovoltaic ‘Game Changer’ by Developer : TreeHugger
image: Rensselaer/Shawn Lin This is why Shawn-Yu Lin of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute thinks he can change the solar power game: To get maximum efficiency when converting solar power into electricity, you want a solar panel that can absorb nearly

Cyclists Fight Back with Exploding Bike Lock : TreeHugger
Industrial designer Michael Lambourn has an idea that might help reduce bicycle theft: integrate a dye pack, like the kinds built into some fire alarm pulls and clothing tags, that that explodes and covers the bicycle and thief in

The Return of the Root Cellar - NYTimes.com
For economic and health reasons, a number of Americans are making the seemingly anachronistic choice to turn their basement into a root cellar.

Social interactions can alter gene expression in the brain, and vice versa
PhysOrg.com: Our DNA determines a lot about who we are and how we play with others, but recent studies of social animals (birds and bees, among others) show that the interaction between genes and behavior is more of a two-way street than most of us realize.

Following the leader can be a drag, research shows
PhysOrg.com: (PhysOrg.com) -- From the Tour de France to NASCAR, competitors and fans know that speed is only part of the equation. Strategy -- and the ability to use elements like aerodynamic drafting, which makes it easier to follow closely behind a leader than to be out in front -- is also critical.

I'll spend the money on drugs instead
I do not have any money so am sending you this drawing I did of a spider instead...

Calif. voters approve high-speed rail system - 11/05/08 - Los Angeles-Southern California-LA Breaking News, Weather, Traffic, Sports - abc7.com
Voters narrowly approved a long-delayed plan to build a bullet train system throughout California.

Motor City Needs A Good Ol' Fashion Shotgun Wedding | Autopia from Wired.com
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and no one in Detroit is more desperate than General Motors -- which explains why the General is lookin' to marry cross-town rival Chrysler.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Canadian Tar Sands Look Like Tolkein’s Mordor Says UN Water Advisor : TreeHugger
photo: WWF-UK, from the report Unconventional Oil: Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel? Environmental Defense has called Alberta’s tar sands ‘the most destructive project on earth’, but perhaps the UN’s senior advisor on water, Maude Barlow, says it best.

Anniversary of Killer Smog Event That Sparked US Clean Air Movement Commemorated in Pennsylvania Museum : TreeHugger
British air pollution advice video from 1947 Just as a reminder that the type of persistent and deadly air pollution that currently plagues many places in China once happened elsewhere as well (one which I hope most TreeHugger readers

UK Beekeepers Demonstrate to Demand Government Action on Colony Collapse Disorder : TreeHugger
Image source: Lela Dowling/Bee Culture magazine Wednesday, November 5, beekeepers from all over Britain will don their pitchforks, er, smokers, and placards and head to 10 Downing Street to demand action on the current bee crisis. Though, this demonstration

What Happens To E-Waste Generated By The Shift To High Definition Television? : TreeHugger
A recent Business Week article points out that 'Next year the volume of e-waste will probably surge. In February, U.S. consumers must switch from analog to digital television service, a move that is expected to result in the mass

Trees Are Nature's Climate Air Conditioners, Study Finds : TreeHugger
Image from twoblueday If you're reading this, I probably don't need to waste my time trying to convince you that trees are great. They absorb carbon dioxide, they can be used to power small remote sensors and they're pretty

Hints of Comeback for Nation’s First Superhighway - NYTimes.com
After decades of decline, commercial shipping has returned to the Erie Canal as high fuel prices have made barges an attractive alternative to trucks.

Square Feet - Detroit Seeks a Revival in Book Cadillac Hotel - NYTimes.com
The completion of a $200 million renovation of the Book Cadillac hotel in downtown Detroit is another sign for residents that the city is working to regain some polish and prestige.

Findings - Study Shows Conservatives May Enjoy Humor More - NYTimes.com
Do conservatives have more fun? Should liberals start describing themselves as humor-challenged? Scientists try to find out.

Asymmetric gear heart sculpture - Hack a Day

The War on Dengue Fever - NYTimes.com
In Bangkok, researchers hunt for a vaccine to protect U.S. troops, and millions of third-world civilians, from dengue fever.

Rainforest Fungus Naturally Synthesizes Diesel | Wired Science from Wired.com
A fungus that lives inside trees in the Patagonian rain forest naturally makes a mix of hydrocarbons that bears a striking resemblance to diesel, biologists announced today. And the fungus

Did The Planet's Tectonics Trigger Human Evolution?
The Daily Galaxy -News from Planet Earth & Beyond, is an eclectic text and video presentation of fascinating news and original insights on science, space exploration, technology, and their reflections in popular culture (film, books, events).

Posterity Post

Editorial - So Little Time, So Much Damage - NYTimes.com
Most presidents put on a last-minute policy stamp, but in President George W. Bush’s case it is more like a wrecking ball.