The Lumpen Proletarian

WAP will re-open with 2 shifts, Laporte says

WINDSOR, Ont. -- Chrysler's Windsor Assembly Plant will re-open June 29 as a two-shift operation, CAW

U.S. Navy tracks N. Korean ship

The United States is monitoring a North Korean ship for weapons and has deployed anti-missile assets

Food, Inc.: Plenty to swallow

Film Review: Food, Inc. (3 stars): The film, in a nutshell (and a corn husk, and a cowhide), is an examination

Gallery | Photos | Multimedia | National Post

Establishing a Food Forest DVD "Promo"

Learn how to establish your own Food Forest with International Permaculture teacher Geoff Lawton as he takes you through the essential stages of designing and b ...

Crackdown in Iran as anger rages over vote - The Globe and Mail

When we stopped, an officer grabbed me, pinned my arm behind my back and led me into the bowels of the Interior Ministry headquarters - where so many Iranian dissidents 'disappear' Mistaken for a protester in Tehran, Globe freelancer George McLeod was captured and beaten by riot police. This is his story.

BBC - Earth News - The plant that pretends to be ill

A plant that feigns sickness to stop it being attacked by insect pests has been found growing in the rainforests of Ecuador.

Jalopnik - TARDEC Opposed Piston Opposed Cylinder 2-Cycle Diesel Engine - 2-Cycle

Talk about a gee-whiz motor, TARDEC is showing off its Opposed Piston Opposed Cylinder Engine (OPOC) here at the 2008 SAE World Congress and we were impressed enough to take a couple of minutes to find out more. The engine is the result of a DARPA initiative to shrink the overall powertrain package in ground vehicle military applications. The horizontally opposed, twin bore four piston engine is an evolution of the shared bored opposed crank concept developed by the Nazis and swiped by the Russians for tank applications. This particular unit, while far from production ready, is capable of 320 HP, redlines around 3800 RPM. and tips the scales at only 380 lbs.

Are Labor Unions 'Greenmailing' Solar Power Companies? : TreeHugger

Photo via Sustainable NY Call it the seedy underbelly of green business--reports have been surfacing that solar power companies who start projects without agreeing to hire unionized labor are finding themselves in a suspicious bit of trouble. They're suddenly

Technology Review: Wikipedia Gets Ready for a Video Upgrade
The online encyclopedia is poised to let users find, edit, and embed clips.

Art Review - 'Pen and Parchment' - At the Met, Proof That Medieval Monks Could Draw - NYTimes.com

A show at the Metropolitan Museum reveals medieval drawing to be vital, evolving, remarkably diverse and essential to the medium’s Renaissance blossoming.

Observatory - Getting Mosquitoes to Poison Their Own Larvae - NYTimes.com

With so many potential breeding sites, spreading pesticide can be a painstaking, door-to-door activity, so why not let the mosquitoes do the work?

Canada proposes six chemicals ban in toys, new lead limits

Canada's Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq on Friday proposed banning six commonly-used chemicals in soft vinyl toys and child-care articles, as well as new strict limits for lead in products.

'Milking' microscopic algae could yield massive amounts of oil

Scientists in Canada and India are proposing a surprising new solution to the global energy crisis —“milking” oil from the tiny, single-cell algae known as diatoms, renowned for their intricate, beautifully sculpted shells that resemble fine lacework. Their report appears online in the current issue ...

Old People May Be Immune to Swine Flu | Wired Science | Wired.com

Just having been alive for a while could protect you from getting the novel swine flu circling the planet. In 1977, a type of H1N1 virus, commonly known

In hard-hit Windsor, city workers strike rubs salt into the wounds - The Globe and Mail
With high unemployment rates and a shrinking economy, municipal employees fighting to preserve benefits at a time when many residents face a future with no benefits at all

USF dean Abdul Rao to resign over stolen bicycle flap - St. Petersburg Times [via claudio]

Abdul Rao plans to leave his $384,280 job after he's accused of stealing a bike. TAMPA — The University of South Florida administrator accused of taking a graduate student's $100 mountain bike announced Tuesday that he will resign.

War-Time Fungus Joins Elephant Dung to Make Biofuels (Update1) - Bloomberg.com

When the U.S. Army fought in the
Pacific during World War II, it discovered a fungus eating
soldiers’ cotton tents. Six decades later, scientists have
genetically engineered the organism to make cheaper biofuels.

Louisiana to See Biggest Levee-Busting Operation in North America : TreeHugger

Photo via University of Maryland And that's a good thing, believe it or not. Mentioning levee-busting and Louisiana in the same breath may seem like a faux pas, even vulgar, with repercussions of the Hurricane Katrina tragedy still afflicting

Recycled Tire Logs Say to Pressure Treated Lumber, “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better...” : TreeHugger

Photo via: www.EricCastro.biz “I Can Do Anything Better than You!” RTP Re-Tread Products is in the testing phase of a series of recycled rubber tire products designed to one day take the place of some of the applications where

Gallery: Antique Windmills Go About Their Daily Snuff Grind | Underwire | Wired.com

<< previous image | next image >> ROTTERDAM, Netherlands — Most windmills today are used to generate

Toxic molecule may help birds 'see' north and south
Researchers at the University of Illinois report that a toxic molecule known to damage cells and cause disease may also play a pivotal role in bird migration. The molecule, superoxide, is proposed as a key player in the mysterious process that allows birds to 'see' Earth's magnetic field.

Competition may be reason for bigger brain

For the past 2 million years, the size of the human brain has tripled, growing much faster than other mammals. Examining the reasons for human brain expansion, University of Missouri researchers studied three common hypotheses for brain growth: climate change, ecological demands and social competition. ...

Extreme Life Thrives Where the Livin’ Ain’t Easy | Wired Science | Wired.com

<< previous image | next image >> Once upon a time, scientists routinely found life in places where

How Botulism Paralyzes Nerve Cells: New Details Revealed

(PhysOrg.com) -- New structures of a botulism toxin interacting with a mimic of the nerve-cell protein it destroys suggest new ways to block this often-fatal interaction. Indeed, the mimic molecules have such high affinity for the toxin and bind to it so tightly that they themselves could possibly serve ...

Ananova - Student wakes up in 150ft crane cab

An Austrian student woke up in the cab of a 150-foot-high crane after a night boozing with friends.

A troubled week in Iran - The Big Picture - Boston.com
The Big Picture - News Stories in Photographs from the Boston Globe