by Agence France-Presse. WASHINGTON — U.S. authorities announced new safety rules Thursday for offshore oil and gas drilling, a move aimed at preventing a recurrence of the disastrous Deepwater Horizon accident earlier this year. The Interior Department said two new rules will toughen requirements... 

Droves of migrating birds strike a remarkable sight as they swirl above head in flocks of some 5,000 birds at a time over the Judean Desert. There are about seven hundred million birds flying over Israel twice every year during migration season, 600,000 of them white storks, explains Noam Attias. Attias,... 

Blood is obviously important for the body well being. Blood flow through the brain is essential for the delivery of nutrients such as glucose and oxygen that are needed for nerve cells to function. During the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease patients can suffer from high blood pressure and blood... 

Boeing is one of the most recognizable names in the aviation industry, so when they come up with a new design it generates a great deal of attention and fanfare. In this case the new design is of a solar powered plane. Others have proposed similar in the past. Perhaps Boeing will generate enough interest... 

Bats are more than creepy Halloween props and B-movie villains. Check out these fascinating facts about bats, which are mammals just like us. (Well, maybe not just like us.) Also learn about the 10 bats most at risk from white nose syndrome . See more here: 7 Surprising Facts About Bats  Read More →

Even a bat as common as the little brown bat – yes, that’s it’s name – is at risk of extinction, threatening to upend ecosystems across the continent. The end result could be the virtual elimination of more than half the bat species found in the U.S., including bats that eat... 

by Jonathan Hiskes. Astronomers have discovered a potentially habitable planet in orbit around a nearby star, the internet reports . The Guardian has details : The planet is in the “Goldilocks zone” of space around a star where surface temperatures are neither too hot nor too cold for liquid... 

Ultra-thin solar cells can absorb sunlight more efficiently than the thicker, more expensive-to-make silicon cells used today, because light behaves differently at scales around a nanometer (a billionth of a meter), say Stanford engineers. They calculate that by properly configuring the thicknesses of... 

Campaigners warn legislation to protect seals is “no where near tight enough” as industry initiative attempts to find alternatives to shooting Major retailers and animal welfare groups, including Sainsburys and the RSPCA, are to attempt to end the killing of seals by the salmon industry.... 

Slug is not an appetizing term but they are part of the world ecology and can be quite colorful, Strange new species are also not just found in exotic and isolated locales. In this case a new species of sea slug is claimed to have been found in a California tidal pool. Here is the original post: New... 

New York City wants to catch and store rainwater temporarily in new roof systems to stop heavy storms sending sewage spilling into city waterways. The catchment systems would consist of “blue” roofs that have a series of drainage pools and “green” or grass- or ivy-covered roofs,... 

by Agence France-Presse. LONDON — New BP chief executive Bob Dudley on Wednesday launched a major shake-up in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster, creating a powerful safety division and overhauling the group’s structure. Dudley, who officially starts his job in two days, described... 

Scotland should produce enough renewable electricity to meet all its power demand by 2025, First Minister Alex Salmond said Tuesday. “Scotland has unrivalled green energy resources and our new national target to generate 80 percent of electricity needs from renewables by 2020 will be exceeded by... 

by Agence France-Presse. WASHINGTON — The number of Gulf Coast residents who say they suffer from depression rose by more than 25 percent following the catastrophic BP oil spill that sullied their shorelines and devastated their livelihoods, a Gallup poll showed Tuesday. Pollsters said inhabitants... 

Do you remember the story of the tortoise and the hare? The tortoise won the race because he ran the whole race, taking the long view, seeing the big picture, unlike the rabbit who, given his speed, didn’t see the need. While China seems to be roaring ahead right now with unchecked economic expansion,... 

The world’s aquifers are being used faster than they can be replenished and, in some cases, at rates that have more than doubled since the 1960s. It is mostly agricultural irrigation that is driving the increase, because it accounts for 70 to 80 percent of global groundwater usage. View post: Disappearing... 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently announced its voluntary Audit Program to help companies with Flexible Permits obtain air quality permits that meet state and federal requirements and the protections of the Clean Air Act (CAA). The Texas Flexible Permits program was never approved... 

by Grist. WASHINGTON—Climate scientist James Hansen was among more than 100 people arrested on Monday at the Appalachia Rising protest against mountaintop-removal coal mining . The biggest mountaintop-removal protest to date brought together Appalachian residents, retired coal miners, faith leaders,... 

Alberta is forming an independent panel of scientists to study data on water pollution near the Canadian province’s oil sands after a report by a noted ecologist concluded the industry’s operations were contaminating a northern river system. The move, announced by Alberta Environment Minister... 

Tropical Depression Matthew churned over Guatemala on Saturday, soaking already waterlogged sugar and coffee farms, and the government warned that mudslides could occur in the coming days. Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom told people to stay home and urged communities in mountains and near rivers to...