Month: August 2013

  • EV Tax incentives can’t last forever

    At this moment in time there seems to be no stopping the electric vehicle industry which is going from strength to strength. Sales are increasing, more automobile manufacturers are joining the party and motorists seem more at ease with electric vehicles there than they ever have been. While one of the reasons the industry has…

  • New Advancements in Fog-Harvesting

    Fog-harvesting, an idea that has been around for several years and already in existence in 17 countries, is a technique that captures potable water from fog. Researchers at MIT, working in collaboration with scientists in Chile, have found a way to improve this technology, making potable water more easily attainable in arid countries.

  • Seabirds are Indicator Species for Climate Change

    It has been said that seabirds are key indicators of the impact of climate change on the world’s oceans. How exactly? In Antarctica, for example, seabirds depend on ice: Seabirds eat fish, which eat krill. The krill eat algae, and the algae grow underneath sea ice. With warming oceans, and less ice, there will major…

  • Climate change mitigation essential for even the most common species

    Anna Taylor takes a closer look at the worrying findings of a recently published study which, unusually, chose to assess potential climate change mitigation scenarios on the more widespread and common species found on our planet…

  • Salt consumption is regulated by the body

    Many people are trying to reduce their salt consumption in an effort to reduce elevated blood pressure, or because they think that too much salt consumption is bad in some way for them. A new study shows that the body is pretty good at regulating its salt intake, and efforts to reduce the level of…

  • Hidden Mega-Canyon Discovered in Greenland

    With Google’s street-view technology, one would think the entire Earth has been mapped. However, scientists from Bristol’s School of Geographical Sciences have recently discovered a mega-canyon hidden deep beneath Greenland’s ice sheet.

  • Stink Bug Populations Could Harm Late-Season Harvests

    Halyomorpha halys, better known as the stink bug, was accidentally introduced into the United States in 1998. Being known as an invasive species in recent years, this bug has infested homes from the East Coast to the Midwest, causing significant damage as an agricultural pest. Surveys in Oregon have also reported the presence of the…

  • Why eating insects is good for the environment

    As a growing number of chefs put bugs on the menu, Ben Whitford samples his first ‘entomophagic’ meal and talks to the edible-insect entrepreneurs hoping to convert the rest of us to the environmental and nutritional benefits of eating insects…. The other day, at a busy restaurant in the middle of Washington, D.C, I had…

  • Hydrogen Fuel May Have a Bright Future, According to BMW

    Electric vehicles are showing strong progress throughout the world. These vehicles have been winning support from governments and consumers alike, with consumers favoring these vehicles because of the fuel savings they represent. Many of the world’s most prominent automakers that are interested in clean transpiration have devoted their efforts to developing conventional battery-electric vehicles. Germany…

  • Deadly effects of air pollution detailed in MIT study

    We know that pollution is bad for us, don’t we? And we guess that living in areas with high levels of pollution is probably not good for our health, but we need to live near our job, and populated areas offer more employment opportunity, recreational and cultural opportunities and other advantages. But at what cost?…