Month: July 2012

  • The Wonder of the Eidetic Memory

    Some people in this world such as The Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon Cooper possess a memory with such extreme precision that they can recall events in detail from years or even decades in the past. They refer to this amazing skill as an eidetic memory. It turns out that individuals with this ability actually have…

  • Vertical Wind Turbines Go Offshore

    Wind turbines tend to look like windmills or giant propellers, and the design does in fact borrow from that. But that isn’t the only design that’s ever been tried. At Sandia National Laboratories wind energy experts are looking at vertical axis wind turbines, (called VAWTs). VAWTs have a couple of advantages over traditional horizontal-axis designs,…

  • Humpback Whales alter migration pattern, stay in Antarctic waters longer

    Large numbers of humpback whales are remaining in bays along the Western Antarctic Peninsula to feast on krill late into the austral autumn, long after their annual migrations to distant breeding grounds were believed to begin, according to a new Duke University study. The study, published July 30 in the journal Endangered Species Research, provides…

  • Iapteus Landslides

    Iapetus is the third largest moon of Saturn, and eleventh-largest in the Solar System. it is an odd one due to its steep topography. Giant ice avalanches on Iapetus provide clues to similar extreme slippage elsewhere in the solar system. “We see landslides everywhere in the solar system,” says Kelsi Singer, graduate student in earth…

  • Pacific Coral Triangle ‘at risk of collapse’

    The Coral Triangle, a roughly triangular marine zone in the Indo-Pacific region that is considered to have the world’s richest concentration of marine biodiversity, is facing potential ecological collapse due to heavy pressure inflicted by human activities, according to a new report. The warning appears in a collaborative study, ‘Reefs at Risk Revisited in the…

  • Sediment Plume and Ecosystems

    When dams go up, there is an effect on downstream water and sediment Quality. The same goes for when dams go down. Scuba-diver scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, with support teams from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, and Washington Sea Grant, are returning to the mouth of Washington’s Elwha…

  • London’s Eco-Friendly Olympic Games

    The whole world has gathered in London for the Summer Olympic Games. It is the third time this city has hosted the games, and the nation is aiming to make it unique as the first “sustainable” Olympics. In fact, while they were bidding to host their games, part of London’s pitch was to make it…

  • Mineral Rush in Greenland; Independence May be Around the Corner

    Greenland is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Danish government had ruled over it until 1979 when the island was granted home rule. However, the Danes still control Greenland’s foreign affairs, defense, police, justice system, and financial policy. Recently, however, Greenland has been courted by multinational companies and foreign leaders looking to…

  • Algeria Solicits Bids for Wind and Solar Plants

    Finally poised to embrace renewable energy generation, little-known Algeria is accepting tender bids from solar and wind energy producers. Along with Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia, which are either in the process of or are planning to build solar plants in their home countries, Algeria supports the Desertec Foundation vision to line the Sahara with solar…

  • Dozens of elephants massacred in Chad

    Poachers killed at least 30 elephants in southwestern Chad during the early hours of Tuesday, July 24. During the night, Stephanie Vergniault, president of the organization SOS Elephants, described on her Facebook page how a group of armed horsemen chased a herd of elephants with war weapons near the SOS Elephants camp in the Chari…