Archive for the ‘Scientific American’ Category
Monday, December 8th, 2008
Just beyond the defunct Koloa Sugar Mill on the Hawaiian island of Kauai's south shore are acres of cornfields that have sprouted over the past decade in a state made famous by its pineapples, bananas and sugarcane crops. Slightly out of place in the Aloha State, they otherwise look quite ...
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Monday, December 8th, 2008
The empty highway stretches straight out to the horizon, so I take a moment to peek at the electronic display down in the car’s center console. I read out the numbers on the screen swiftly and glance back to the windshield, when I see ... nothing. A dense fog has ...
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Monday, December 8th, 2008
Energy security is the greatest challenge and the greatest opportunity of our time. But lack of action has put the U.S. at risk. America needs a bold plan that ignites our collective imagination, sparks innovation, and creates economic and national security. The starting point? A call to action from our ...
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Monday, December 8th, 2008
Aggressive optimism. Those two words capture the spirit of Earth 3.0 and, we hope, the spirit that Washington, D.C., will bring to urgent energy, environment and sustainability issues. Right now a new president is calculating his administration’s first steps. If he is serious about ending U.S. dependence on oil, stopping ...
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Friday, December 5th, 2008
More than 50 years ago, aerospace engineers spent over $1 billion--in 1950s money--designing atomic-powered airplanes in the hope that such superfast jets could remain aloft for 15,000 miles (21,150 kilometers) at a time. They expected one pound (half a kilogram) of nuclear material would eliminate the need for refueling stops. ...
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Thursday, December 4th, 2008
Dear EarthTalk: How can I determine if it is more eco-friendly to fly or drive somewhere? ...
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Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008
This holiday season all kinds of products are coming equipped with GPS receivers to tell consumers exactly where on earth they are. The choices include dashboard navigators for cars, pocket navigators for humans, “golf buddies” that reveal the distance between a golfer and greens and sand traps, and, most prominently, ...
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Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008
Dear EarthTalk: Can you recommend some sources for toys and other holiday gifts that are both safe and not harmful to the environment? ...
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Monday, December 1st, 2008
For all the magnificent diversity of life on this planet, ranging from tiny bacteria to majestic blue whales, from sunshine-harvesting plants to mineral-digesting endoliths miles underground, only one kind of “life as we know it” exists. All these organisms are based on nucleic acids--DNA and RNA--and proteins, working together more ...
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Tuesday, November 25th, 2008
As scientists and engineers puzzle over how to inexpensively deliver thin-film photovoltaic solar cells, wave and tidal powered turbines, hydrogen-fueled cars, and other advanced technologies to reduce world dependence on fossil fuels, a team of college engineering students is working on a decidedly lower-tech, though no less difficult, project they ...
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Friday, November 21st, 2008
This summer, Ronald Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, sent a memo to staffers warning them to limit their cell phone use and to use hands-free sets in the wake of "growing evidence that we should reduce exposure" to cell phone radiation. Among the possible consequences: an ...
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Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week fined electronics recycler Jet Ocean Technology of Chino, Calif., just over $10,000 for illegally exporting cathode-ray tubes from old television sets to China. Jet Ocean is only the second electronics recycler to be penalized for shipping and deliberately mislabeling the tubes, which ...
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Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
The noise in the Pacific off the southern California coast has become 10 times louder over the past five decades because of the rumbling of commercial shipping vessels, the clicking of oceanographic research equipment, and the din of Navy operations and sonar systems--all of which are threatening whales that use ...
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Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
The noise in the Pacific off the southern California coast has become 10 times louder over the past five decades because of the rumbling of commercial shipping vessels, the clicking of oceanographic research equipment, and the din of Navy operations and sonar systems--all of which are threatening whales that use ...
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Monday, November 17th, 2008
Looking for the perfect present for that techno geek in your life? This year's guide has plenty to choose from, including a bunch for the socially conscious in search of green tech that helps curb energy usage, cut down on paper pollution and clean up--sans toxic chemicals. The guide also ...
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