Petite Canadian lionized in Brit press for thrashing UK soldiers
Canadian Ashley Wolfe said Thursday she’s proud of her performance in a bloody melee with burly British

Technology Review: A Better Bug for Biofuels

Scientists are optimizing a lipid-producing microbe to make biofuels.

 

As Detroit Mayor, Bing Does Not Sugarcoat the Issues - NYTimes.com
Dave Bing, the former basketball star, delivers grim news daily, even as he seeks election to a full term in a city that has endured great upheaval and misery.

 

Scrubbing the Atmosphere - TierneyLab Blog - NYTimes.com

Governments are doing practically nothing to study the removal of carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere, but this technology could be a much cheaper form of climate protection than photovoltaic cells and other approaches getting lavish support, according to an article published today in <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/sciencexpress/recent.dtl">Science.</a>

 

In Surprise, Moon Shows Signs of Water - NYTimes.com

For decades, the Moon has been regarded as a completely dry place, but new data indicate otherwise.

 

From nature, robots

(PhysOrg.com) -- To a robot designer like Sangbae Kim, the animal kingdom is full of inspiration. 'I always look at animals and ask why they are the way they are,' says Kim, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at MIT. 'As an engineer, looking at them and speculating is fascinating.'

 

The sum of knowledge -- online and accessible, no less
(PhysOrg.com) -- European researchers are creating new technology that could, ultimately, make accessible the sum of humankind's knowledge. Hundreds of organisations and millions of documents are already linked to this 'United Nations of knowledge'.

 

New ways to predict violent behavior?

In the future, diagnosing severe personality disorders, evaluating the childhood environment, assessing alcohol consumption and the analysis of the MAOA genotype may provide more accurate means for assessing risk among violent offenders, according to the Finnish research carried out jointly at the University ...

 

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Smuggling Europe’s Waste to Poorer Countries - NYTimes.com

Exporting waste illegally to poor countries is now a vast business, as companies try to reduce the costs of environmental laws.

 

Economic View - Making It Easier to Register as an Organ Donor - NYTimes.com

If choosing to be an organ donor were easier, would more people donate? It’s a question for behavioral economics.

 

The Last Days of Jim Carroll - NYTimes.com

At the end of his life, Mr. Carroll wrestled with a novel he hoped to make his greatest reinvention.

 

YouTube - Jim Carroll Band- People Who Died
live

 

Nearly 70 percent of Argentine forests lost in a century

Argentina has lost nearly 70 percent of its forests in a century, the Environmental Secretariat said at a UN conference on desertification.

 

New Light on the Plight of Winter Babies - WSJ.com

Researchers at the University of Notre Dame have stumbled upon an alternative explanation for the lifelong challenges faced by children born in colder months.

 

Scientists Discover How To Send Insects Off The Scent Of Crops

Scientists have discovered molecules that could confuse insects' ability to detect plants by interfering with their sense of smell. This could reduce damage to crops by insect pests and contribute to food security.

 

Waterproof Nanotech Sand Could Change Deserts into Farms | Singularity Hub

Nanotechnology may conjure up images of tiny robots, or machines in our blood stream, but what about really cool dirt? DIME, a company based in the

 

The call on America Inc.: A can’t-do nation

The United States does not seem like a good long-term bet to get back to where it was just 10 years

 

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Superior Islands: Ontario's Largest Conservation Project Will Protect 4,700 acres : TreeHugger

Credit: TNC/John Andersen The Wilson Island group spans 4,700 acres in Lake Superior. It's a place where peregrine falcons and bald eagles nest in high cliffs, and rare plants like Mountain Fir-moss and Northern Woodsia fern are supported by

 

Transformations Seating: Designed for Deconstruction and Repair : TreeHugger

If you really want to talk sustainability, you have to look at not only how something is made and what it is made of, but is it easily repairable? Will it last? Transformations builds furniture for the hospitality and

 

Technology Review: A Simpler, Gentler Robotic Grip

A new artificial hand shows promise for home robots and prosthetics.

 

In Liquid and Air, Scientists Find Order Among the Chaos - NYTimes.com

Scientists have made strides in making images of the underlying mechanics of flowing air and water.

 

Aircraft emissions could influence climate change through cloud formation

(PhysOrg.com) -- Aircraft emissions can affect the properties of cirrus clouds, contributing to climate change. This was a key finding from PNNL scientist Dr. Xiaohong Liu and his colleagues from a recent study. The team concluded that black carbon and/or metallic material from airplane exhaust could ...

 

Daily Kos: State of the Nation

Study: Life and death during the Great Depression

The Great Depression had a silver lining: During that hard time, U.S. life expectancy actually increased by 6.2 years, according to a University of Michigan study published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

 

Hyenas cooperate, problem-solve better than primates

(PhysOrg.com) -- Spotted hyenas may not be smarter than chimpanzees, but a new study shows that they outperform the primates on cooperative problem-solving tests.

 

Wretched Excess Department: SoleiraSun : TreeHugger

So you go on vacation and there is no sun; no problem if the resort has SoleiraSun. Each of these little light fixtures pumps out 12,000 watts, the equivalent of 800 Compact Fluorescent bulbs, perhaps the electrical consumption of

 

Technology Review: Cleaning Up on Dirty Coal

A novel gasification process for low-quality coal heads to China.

 

Should You Give to Harvard? - The Moral of the Story Blog - NYTimes.com

If you are an Ivy alum, this might seem a good moment to donate to your alma mater, to help rebuild its battered portfolio. But if you wish to promote education as a force for social justice, there are better and worse ways to do it.

 

Chinese Pride, at the Touch of a Cellphone Button - NYTimes.com
China’s mobile phone service company has changed customers’ ring-back tones to a patriotic song ahead of the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic.

 

Ball catching bot - Hack a Day

Jet powered hijinks - Hack a Day

Sugar + weed killer = potential clean energy source

A spoonful of herbicide helps the sugar break down in a most delightful way.

 

McTriage: Hospitals use drive-thrus for swine flu

(AP) -- Fast-food places have them. Banks and pharmacies do, too. Now hospitals are opening drive-thrus and drive-up tent clinics to screen and treat a swelling tide of swine flu patients.

 

Sept. 29, 1898: Stalin’s Scientist Sees First Light | This Day In Tech | Wired.com
1898: Trofim Denisovich Lysenko is born in Karlovka, Ukraine. As dictator Joseph Stalin's lapdog and top scientist, his influence will almost

 

Nero's rotating banquet hall unveiled in Rome

(AP) -- Archaeologists on Tuesday unveiled what they think are the remains of Roman emperor Nero's extravagant banquet hall, a circular space that rotated day and night to imitate the Earth's movement and impress his guests.

 

Slimy-skinned ships to slip smoothly through the seas - tech - 26 September 2009 - New Scientist

Designing ships to exude slime from their hulls could cut their fuel consumption by preventing the growth of plants and barnacles

 

@BBVBOX: recent guest-tweeted web video picks (boingboingvideo.com) - Boing Boing

Michael Moore leaves the free market standing

After two hours locked in a VIP screening room at a Toronto
theatre to view Michael Moore's latest film,

 

US Green Building Council Wants Structures Labeled for Air Quality & Energy Efficiency : TreeHugger
Nutrition Labels as Universal Home Labels. Image credit:Jetson Green Measuring a building's environmental performance is sensible, assuming all stakeholders, including tenants and owners, can agree on metrics and measurement protocols. Among the many obstacles: there are multiple building types,

 

HealthyStuff Tests for Toxins : TreeHugger

Easy Info Source for Products You Buy for Your Kids, Your Pets and Yourself The Ecology Center, a nonprofit environmental research organization, has announced the results of product testing and the creation of a website HealthyStuff.org to help consumers

 

Patent Auctions Offer Protections to Inventors - NYTimes.com

Instead of spending millions in protracted legal battles, some inventors are turning to firms that will auction their rights to the highest bidders.

 

Tuna Town in Japan Sees Falloff of Its Fish - NYTimes.com

The dark red flesh of the Pacific bluefin tuna is called “black gold” by fishermen in Oma, Japan, but the catches are steadily dwindling.

 

Film - ‘The Informant!’ Is Another Soderbergh Puzzle! - NYTimes.com

Whether a caper flick or a two-part biopic, each of Steven Soderbergh’s films is a hypothesis being put to the test.

 

Scientists make paralyzed rats walk again after spinal-cord injury

UCLA researchers have discovered that a combination of drugs, electrical stimulation and regular exercise can enable paralyzed rats to walk and even run again while supporting their full weight on a treadmill.

 

Classroom behavior: Why it's hard to be good
Being seen as either well behaved or naughty at school is never entirely in the hands of the individual child, this study funded by the Economic and Social Research Council shows.

 

Researcher thinks 'inside the box' to create self-contained wastewater system for soldiers, small towns

(PhysOrg.com) -- Cheaper. Better. Faster. Most people will say you can't have all three. But don't tell that to Dr. Jianmin Wang, a professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology.

 

YouTube - Lemon Jelly - Nice weather for Ducks

Drugs are bad...

 

Gimme A Thermal Break: Get Rid of Radiator Fin Balconies : TreeHugger

Image via archtechnik Writing this morning about Studio Gang's Aqua Building, I was reminded of my discussion with Alexander Krenczik, who is trying to introduce thermal break systems that would eliminate the heat loss through balconies. He complained that

 

Technology Review: Laser-Triggered Chemical Reactions

Microcapsules in a mixture burst and release reactants on demand.

 

Two Monkeys Get the Gift of Color - NYTimes.com

Scientists introduced a missing red pigment into the cone cells of the retinas of two male squirrel monkeys.

 

'Rosetta Stone' of supervolcanoes discovered in Italian Alps
Scientists have found the 'Rosetta Stone' of supervolcanoes, those giant pockmarks in the Earth's surface produced by rare and massive explosive eruptions that rank among nature's most violent events. The eruptions produce devastation on a regional scale -- and possibly trigger climatic and environmental ...

 

Springs built from nanotubes could provide big power storage potential

(PhysOrg.com) -- New research by MIT scientists suggests that carbon nanotubes -- tube-shaped molecules of pure carbon -- could be formed into tiny springs capable of storing as much energy, pound for pound, as state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries, and potentially more durably and reliably.

 

Hummer owners claim moral high ground to excuse overconsumption

Hummer drivers believe they are defending America's frontier lifestyle against anti-American critics, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

 

The story of the Gömböc

Plus Maths Magazine: Feature Article

 

BREAKING NEWS: BAT LOOSE IN CONGRESS | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Congress is deadlocked on the best way to get a bat out of their committee chamber.

 

Kitty Wigs! the wigs!

Satellites show ozone depletion levelling off
The depletion of the ozone layer has leveled off, and the amount of the UV-filtering gas has slightly increased over the last decade, European scientists say.

 

At the American Museum of Natural History, Gossamer Silk From Spiders - NYTimes.com

The first recorded example of a hand-woven brocaded textile made entirely from the silk of spiders will go on display for six months at the Museum of Natural History beginning on Thursday.

 

G.M. Is Calling Back 2,400 Factory Workers - NYTimes.com

Most of the recalled autoworkers will need to move from other states as the carmaker consolidates its plants.

 

Dutch help California's Bay Area plan for sea level rise

How to plan for sea level rise, a still-abstract concept for many Californians, drew serious consideration from engineers, designers and urban planners from Holland and the U.S. at a symposium held on Monday.

 

Robot Floor Tiles Move Beneath Your Feet

(PhysOrg.com) -- In a stroke of odd creativity, Japanese researchers have created robotic blocks that automatically detect where you're walking and position themselves in front of you before you take your next step. As a system, the blocks create an infinite walking surface, acting somewhat like moving ...

 

Oude armen pesten de nieuwe armen | Flabber

De crisis brengt hele volksstammen nieuwe mensen zonder geld met zich mee. Dat is natuurlijk niet fijn als je al jaren arm bent en nu ineens je

 

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from FOD Team, Will Ferrell, Jon Hamm, Olivia Wilde, Thomas Lennon, Donald Faison, Linda Cardellini, Masi Oka, Ben Garant, Jordana Spiro, lauren, Drew, and chad_carter - Video
Hollywood speaks out to help insurance companies ... Watch videos about Will Ferrell, Jon Hamm, Olivia Wilde, Thomas Lennon, Robert Ben Garant, Masi Oka, Jordana Spiro, Linda Cardellini, Donald Faison, PSA, insurance, health care, obama, bill, coverage, executives, money, democrats, republicans, congress on FunnyOrDie.com

 

Inside the Apocalyptic Soviet Doomsday Machine

Get in-depth politics and legal news coverage including online privacy, Internet security, government regulations, censorship and free speech from Wired.com.

 

Nadir Of Western Civilization To Be Reached This Friday At 3:32 P.M. | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

WASHINGTON—This horrible but inevitable day has been a long time coming, said one Anthropologist, before picking up a black marker and, seemingly without thought or intent, drawing a long, thick phallus on his chart.

 

Technology Review: GE Grabs Gearless Wind Turbines

New direct-drive turbines promise to lower the cost of offshore wind energy.

 

Technology Review: Intel's Plan to Replace Copper Wires

A new kind of optical cable will provide ultrafast connections between electronic devices. 

 

Smoke on the water -- and in the microphone?

(AP) -- What do you get if you combine a smoke machine, some tubing, a laser pointer, a fan and a piece of toilet paper? Answer: a microphone unlike any other.

 

Expert: Lift taboo on Earth engineering
(PhysOrg.com) -- The effects of climate change are so uncertain and potentially long-lasting that policymakers should begin examining options that include geoengineering, an area that has so far been off-limits, according to a former Harvard researcher who is now a professor at the University of Calgary, ...

 

Lotus Plant-Inspired Dust-Busting Shield to Protect Space Gear

(PhysOrg.com) -- A NASA team is developing a transparent coating that mimics the self-cleaning properties of the lotus plant to prevent dirt from sticking to the surfaces of spaceflight gear and bacteria from growing inside astronaut living quarters.

 

Reader Photo Gallery: Crazy Dust Storm Turns Sydney Red | Wired Science | Wired.com

Dust storms swept over Sydney Wednesday morning, turning the city sky so red, some residents thought they'd left the blue planet. It was like waking up

 

This Land - In Alabama, Stimulus Money Helps Battle Against a Weed - Series - NYTimes.com

In Alabama, stimulus funds are ammo in the battle against a pest on the scale of kudzu.

 

Sweden launches manhunt after helicopter heist | World news | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

Merkx+Girod Architects: Bookstore Selexyz Dominicanen in Netherlands - design top news

9 Environmental Boundaries We Don’t Want to Cross | Wired Science | Wired.com

Climate change threatens to turn the planet into a stormy, overheated mess: That much we know. But according to 28 leading scientists, greenhouse gas

 

The Danger of Livestock Waste - Video Library - The New York Times

As Idaho dairies have grown, so has the environmental problem of coping with all the fecal waste. Much of it is spread over fields, where it can seep into local aquifers that supply people's wells.

 

Full Frame: Worshipping Saint Death | GlobalPost

A photographer visits Mexico's most notorious barrios, where death is the only truth in life.

 

The people living in drains below Las Vegas | The Sun |Features

We meet the people living in dark, dirty drain tunnels below famous glitzy Las Vegas strip

 

Technology Review: Blogs: TR Editors' blog: Carbon Nanotubes Are Super Fertilizer

From MIT. Information on Emerging Technologies & impact on business & society

 

NASA Satellite Laser Images Reveal Extreme Polar Melting : TreeHugger
After analyzing 50 million laser measurements from a NASA satellite, British scientists at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have painted a frightening picture for Greenland and Antarctica, with ice sheets melting at extreme rates. While the fact that polar

 

William Kamkwamba Moves on From DIY Windmills to DIY Water Well Drills : TreeHugger

William Kamkwamba has been a source of inspiration for us ever since he created his own working wind turbine from scratch in 2007. With zero money, zero new parts, and zero experience, he managed to devise a wind turbine

 

Mao’s Grandson Rises in Chinese Military - NYTimes.com

Mao Xinyu, Mao Zedong’s grandson and only surviving male heir, has become the youngest major-general in the People’s Liberation Army.

 

A world first: Vaccine helps prevent HIV infection

(AP) -- For the first time, an experimental vaccine has prevented infection with the AIDS virus, a watershed event in the deadly epidemic and a surprising result. Recent failures led many scientists to think such a vaccine might never be possible.

 

Brain Scans Reveal What You’ve Seen | Wired Science | Wired.com

Scientists are one step closer to knowing what you've seen by reading your mind. digg_url

 

Microchip in the Eye Seeks to Restore Vision | Gadget Lab | Wired.com

A chip inside the eye that can help blind people see again is moving closer to reality as researchers at MIT work on a retinal implant that can bypass damaged

The DO Lectures | Gerald Cooper

Held on 4th - 8th September 2008, The DO lectures will be about getting a handful of speakers down here in the hope that they may inspire you to do something. To give you the tools and the desire to change the things you care about.

 

BBC NEWS | Europe | I was in Hitler's suicide bunker

Rochus Misch, the last survivor of Hitler's bunker, talks to the BBC's Steven Rosenberg about the day the Fuehrer took his own life.

 

Jevons Paradox and Energy Efficiency : TreeHugger
William Stanley Jevons noted in 1885 that when coal burning got more efficient, people burned more coal. 'If the quantity of coal used in a blast-furnace, for instance, be diminished in comparison with the yield, the profits of the

 

Technology Review: More Efficient, and Cheaper, Solar Cells

New manufacturing techniques could cut solar power costs by 20 percent.

 

Material World - Many Faces and Phases of Steel in Cars - NYTimes.com

Steelmakers are trying to keep up with changes in the car industry by producing a lighter product without sacrificing strength.

 

Bathing, but Not Alone - NYTimes.com

A deluge of bacteria hit your face and flow deep into your lungs in the morning shower.

 

The Curious Life » Blog Archive » “Dear Charles Manson, “

Italy finds wreck of toxic waste ship sunk by mafia | Green Business | Reuters

ROME (Reuters) - Italian authorities have found the wreck of a ship sunk by the mafia with 180 barrels of toxic waste on board, one of more than 30 such vessels believed to lie off Italy's southern coast,

 

Technology Review: A Salt and Paper Battery
The simple, non-polluting battery could be used in compact devices.

 

Studying ancient man to learn to prevent disease

Health care as we know it didn't exist 3,000 years ago. But along the Georgia coast, the Pacific Northwest, and coastal Brazil, people grew tall and strong and lived relatively free of disease. They ate game, fish, shellfish and wild plants.

 

Researchers study insecticide-free method for control of soybean aphids

(PhysOrg.com) -- Two Iowa State University researchers are examining a new method of controlling soybean aphids without the use of chemical pesticides.
Bryony Bonning, professor of entomology, and Allen Miller, professor of plant pathology and director of the Center for Plant Responses to Environmental ...

 

Revealed: The ghost fleet of the recession | Mail Online

The biggest and most secretive gathering of ships in maritime history lies at anchor east of Singapore. It is is why your Christmas stocking may be on the light side this year.

 

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Low-tech Magazine: Water powered cable trains

Cable trains (or funiculars) are one of the most energy-efficient modes of transport out there. A large portion of the power required to pull up the ascending car is delivered by the counterweight of the descending car. Many historical systems...

 

Television Review - 'Community' - A Wink at Colleges and a Nod to Clichés on NBC - NYTimes.com
“Community” is a mercilessly snarky and also bracingly funny NBC comedy that purports to send up community college, but mostly skewers many of the clichés of movies and television.

 

The spies who love us

Canada's spy-catchers suspect Soviet hockey legend Vladislav Tretiak was a "talent scout" who helped

 

Below, Manhattan’s A-List Dines at J. G. Melon. Upstairs, Spartan Living. - NYTimes.com

The four floors above J.G. Melon, the Upper East Side restaurant with the rarefied air, are a different remnant of old New York: single-room occupancy residences.

 

Rare infection may have caused death of Chicago scientist | The University of Chicago

The University of Chicago News Office has details on campus events, news releases, alumni events, The Chronicle, and press citations.

 

Review: The Age of Stupid Gets Smart on Enviropocalypse | Underwire | Wired.com

Blurring the boundary between sci-fi and documentary, Franny Armstrong's The Age of Stupid peers back in time from a climate crisis-wracked 2055 to lament

 

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Meeting India's tree planting guru

Pakistan sets a new world record by planting more than half a million trees in one day, snatching the title from India.

 

Mysterious ruins may help explain Mayan collapse - USATODAY.com
Ringing two abandoned pyramids are nine palaces frozen in time that may help unravel the mystery of the ancient Maya, reports an archaeological team.

 

Underwater gardens: Award winning planted aquariums - latimes.com