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A Turtle Success Story in the Philipines

admin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:19:31 +0000

In 2011, green sea turtles laid a staggering 1.44 million eggs on just one island in the Philippines thanks to conservation efforts, breaking all previous records. The graceful and enigmatic green turtle faces a variety of threats globally, and as a result is classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Yet there is some good news for this marine reptile, as Conservation International (CI) announces that the species has laid a record number of eggs on a small island in the Philippines.

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A Turtle Success Story in the Philipines

Chicago-Based Eco-Friendly Dentist Doubles Down on Green

admin — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:57:30 +0000

Almost exactly five years ago, I took at look at Transcendentist, a Berkeley based green dentistry office that combined environmental responsibility with a very different approach to patient care. Rather than the typical clinical approach, the founders of Transcendentist created a spa-like atmosphere complete with foot massages. Even then, the idea was taking off: nothing like a little calm to take the edge off of that fear of the dentist thing.

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Chicago-Based Eco-Friendly Dentist Doubles Down on Green

Donna Resevoir and Canal

admin — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:57:29 +0000

During the week of February 6-12, 2012, representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) will be in the area of South Alamo, Texas, to speak with residents about the contamination in the Donna Reservoir and Canal. This effort is being made to provide local residents with information about the health risks of consuming fish taken from the Donna Reservoir and Canal. The possession of contaminated fish taken from the reservoir is prohibited by the TDSHS and has been since 1993.

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Donna Resevoir and Canal

Arrested for Excessive Sweetness

admin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:46:07 +0000

Put your hands up and step away from the sugar! No, not really. But one day, sugar may be a regulated substance, on par with alcohol and tobacco. The notion seems draconian at first, but once you look at the reasoning behind it, it begins to make a lot of sense. Researchers from the University of California (UC) San Francisco stipulate that excessive consumption of sugar is behind the global obesity pandemic. Sugar contributes to over 35 million deaths per year from diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and other diseases. Their desire is to see a healthier world with fewer health-related costs through the restriction and regulation of sugar.

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Arrested for Excessive Sweetness

Nano Improved Transformer Oil

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:55:54 +0000

Rice University scientists have created a nano-infused oil that could greatly enhance the ability of devices as large as electrical transformers and as small as microelectronic components to shed excess heat. Research in the lab of Rice materials scientist Pulickel Ajayan, which appears in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Nano, could raise the efficiency of such transformer oils by as much as 80 percent in a way that is both cost-effective and environmentally friendly. The Rice team focused their efforts on transformers for energy systems. Transformers are filled with mineral oils that cool and insulate the windings inside, which must remain separated from each other to keep voltage from leaking or shorting.

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Nano Improved Transformer Oil

ARKive celebrates World Wetlands Day

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:02:04 +0000

World Wetlands Day (WWD) is an annual celebration held on the 2nd February in order to raise worldwide awareness of the importance of wetlands. The date is particularly significant, marking the anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands, also known as the Ramsar Convention, which is an international treaty that represents the commitment of its members to the preservation of their wetlands.

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ARKive celebrates World Wetlands Day

Kick-Starting the Bio-Based Economy

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:45:08 +0000

Massive, varied, and intricately woven into the fabric of modern industrial society, the global chemical industry was valued at over $4 trillion in 2011, according to Pike Research’s Green Chemistry report. The non-pharmaceutical chemicals industry in the United States is valued at around $700 billion per year. The rise of bio-chemicals promises to transform that industry. Bio-based chemicals and plastics – often referred to as bio-based products – are commercial or industrial products (other than food or feed) that are derived from biological products or biomass. They serve as direct replacements for the building blocks used in petrochemical production.

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Kick-Starting the Bio-Based Economy

Satellite Study Reveals Critical Habitat and Corridors for World’s Rarest Gorilla

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:45:02 +0000

Conservationists working in Central Africa to save the world’s rarest gorilla have good news: the Cross River gorilla has more suitable habitat than previously thought, including vital corridors that, if protected, can help the great apes move between sites in search of mates, according to the North Carolina Zoo, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and other groups.

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Satellite Study Reveals Critical Habitat and Corridors for World’s Rarest Gorilla

Strong Work Ethics Stem from Early Childhood Development

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:30:28 +0000

A new study recently published suggests that attentiveness in kindergarten can accurately predict the child’s work-oriented behavior throughout the rest of their school years and throughout their entire lives. This conclusion came after years of analysis and observation from elementary school homeroom teachers. For a young child, the classroom is the work place, so skills obtained there are translated directly to their adult workplaces. This study places even more focus on the importance of early education in shaping a more productive, work-oriented society.

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Strong Work Ethics Stem from Early Childhood Development

AT&T Orders 1,200 CNG-Powered Chevrolet Express Vans from General Motors

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:30:26 +0000

AT&T plans to take delivery of 1,200 Chevrolet Express compressed natural gas (CNG) dedicated cargo vans to be deployed to AT&T service centers nationwide. It is the largest-ever order of CNG vehicles from General Motors. AT&T, which has announced its intention to invest up to $565 million to deploy approximately 15,000 alternative fuel vehicles over a 10-year period through 2018, will use the vans to provide and maintain communications, high-speed Internet and television services for AT&T customers.

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AT&T Orders 1,200 CNG-Powered Chevrolet Express Vans from General Motors

NASA Confirms Man’s role in Global Warming

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:30:26 +0000

A new NASA study confirms the fact that greenhouse gases generated by human activity – not changes in solar activity – are the primary force driving global warming. The study offers an updated calculation of the Earth’s energy imbalance, the difference between the amount of solar energy absorbed by Earth’s surface and the amount returned to space as heat. The researchers’ calculations show that, despite unusually low solar activity between 2005 and 2010, the planet continued to absorb more energy than it returned to space. James Hansen, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York City, led the research. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics recently published the study.

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NASA Confirms Man’s role in Global Warming

Ford To Use Kenaf Plant Materials In New Escape

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:30:24 +0000

Following Ford’s recent announcement that they will use recycled plastic bottles for seat fabrics in the upcoming Focus Electric, the company’s efforts to increase the use of sustainable materials continues with the news that they will use kenaf plant fiber material for interior door bolsters for the new Escape.

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Ford To Use Kenaf Plant Materials In New Escape

Dam About to Bust on Clean Hydrokinetic Energy

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:07:10 +0000

A company called Verdant Power has won the first ever commercial license for a hydrokinetic tidal power facility in the U.S., and that could be just the first drop in a torrent of more than 100 new hydrokinetic projects that are still in the initial stages of permitting around the country. Verdant’s project, called RITE for Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy, will tap the powerful currents of New York City’s East River to generate clean electricity.

Cooling Lagoons aim to reduce thermal discharges to marine ecosystems, improve efficiency

admin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:41:35 +0000

Gulf countries that lack freshwater resources rely deeply on seawater desalination to meet their daily needs and cool down thermal generation plants. According to Gulf News, the United Arab Emirates alone uses four trillion litres of Gulf seawater each year to cool down its power plants, foundries and desalination plants. The byproduct of these operations produces a hot briny fluid that is then pumped back into the Gulf, seriously compromising coral reefs and the overall marine ecosystem. But Crystal Lagoons – the same people who were behind the worlds largest artificial lagoon planned for the Red Sea, is marketing a new closed-loop cooling system that would ensure that no more water would have to be extracted from the Gulf to cool down industrial plants! Thermal power plants require water for cooling, but disposing of that water back into the Gulf is not only harmful to the marine ecosystem, according to Crystal Lagoons, it is also a waste of thermal energy.

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Cooling Lagoons aim to reduce thermal discharges to marine ecosystems, improve efficiency

The World is Still Consuming Dolphins and Other Marine Mammals

admin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 02:02:17 +0000

Not too long ago, a big problem with the fishing industry was that dolphins were being captured in the large nets used to harvest tuna. They would get mixed in and their meat would be ground up and served with the tuna in the tuna can. When people caught on, they were outraged. Now tuna fish providers offer their tuna cans with labels which say dolphin free. But not everything is so peachy for the dolphin in other parts of the world. According to a new study from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Okapi Wildlife Associates (Okapi), dolphins and other marine mammals are still being eaten. In fact, since 1990, 114 countries claim to consume one or more of at least 87 species of marine mammals.

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The World is Still Consuming Dolphins and Other Marine Mammals

Fructose Effects

admin — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:50:15 +0000

Fructose, or fruit sugar, is a simple monosaccharide found in many plants. It is one of the three dietary monosaccharides, along with glucose and galactose, that are absorbed directly into the bloodstream during digestion. Fructose is generally regarded as being 1.73 times as sweet as sucrose. Fructose is a common sweetener used in many products such as soda as a result. There is now some new research evidence of cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk is present in the blood of adolescents who consume a lot of fructose, a scenario that worsens in the face of excess belly fat.

ARKive Celebrates Australia Day

admin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:16:36 +0000

Australia Day is an annual celebration to mark the first arrival of ships in Sydney Cove from Great Britain in 1788. Held on the 26th January every year, Australia Day began as an anniversary dinner for the original colonists, to celebrate the love of the land they lived in. The name ‘Australia Day’ was not used until 1935, but today the anniversary still celebrates everything that’s great about Australia. Here at ARKive, we thought we’d get into the spirit by celebrating some of Australia’s more unusually named critters…

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ARKive Celebrates Australia Day

X-Ray Laser Fires Most Powerful Beam Ever

admin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:16:35 +0000

Lasers fire beams of light that can cut through steel or etch microchip patterns, depending on the power and wavelength. Now one team of scientists at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park, Calif., led by Nina Rohringer, has created an X-ray laser that fires more energy, with a more precise wavelength, than any previous model. The results are being published in the journal Nature.

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X-Ray Laser Fires Most Powerful Beam Ever

Nanotechnology Safety Strategies Need Improvement

admin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:16:33 +0000

According to a report released by the National Research Council (NRC), human and environmental safeties of nanomaterials remain uncertain despite the spending of billions of dollars in nanotechnology research and development over the past ten years.

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Nanotechnology Safety Strategies Need Improvement

The Era Of Cheap Water Is Over: Deloitte

admin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:16:30 +0000

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL) today launched the Water Tight 2012 report, which explores the future of the global water sector in the year ahead. The report examines how major global trends such as population growth, increasing economic development, and urbanization, coupled with the changes in climate patterns, underscore the importance of effective public policy and private sector water stewardship in managing this finite and shared resource. The growing demand for water is making conservation and efficient use central issues, particularly as governments, utilities, and the private sector come under increasing pressure to be stewards of this precious and shared resource. The report states that a clearer water pricing will play an important role in how customers better manage their water usage. “There is a compelling case for utilities either to increase water prices or create a better pricing system that addresses scarcity issues, allows them to invest in the replacement of ageing infrastructure, and provides them with a satisfactory financial return,” says James Leigh, Global Leader for Water, DTTL. “Increasing water prices, however, is a difficult political decision, as domestic water usage is considered a basic human right. As such, raising awareness of water related issues and educating the public about the necessity of more effective water pricing is crucial.”

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The Era Of Cheap Water Is Over: Deloitte