In years gone by it seemed that EV manufacturers, EV retailers and recharging network providers were happy to be at loggerheads with each other rather than working together. We saw an array of charging technologies hit the market with different protocols and different companies decided to go in very different directions. Slowly but surely, as…

After a significant drop in the last several years, the annual deforestation rates in Brazil raised 28% for the period August 2012-July 2013, according to INPE, the Brazilian Spatial Institute. The total area deforested in 2012-2013 is 5,843 km2 – a trend led by the states of Mato Grosso, Roraima, Maranhão, and Pará. The area…

Discovered by Charles Darwin in 1834, Rhinoderma darwinii (better known as Darwin’s frogs) have been declared extinct after a killer disease is thought to have wiped out entire populations across Chile and Argentina. According to scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Universidad Andrés Bello (UNAB), Chile, chytridiomycosis is the main reason for…

IKEA is the world’s largest home furnishings retailer, with over 340 stores in 40 countries, including 38 in the U.S. That’s one big reach. IKEA would like its reach to be powered with renewable energy.

A new study finds that radioactive Iodine from Fukushima has caused a significant increase in hypothyroidism among babies in California, 5,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean. The Fukushima catastrophe has been dismissed as a potential cause of health effects even in Japan, let alone as far away as California. A new study of the effects…

Amber has long been appreciated for its ability to preserve a moment in time as it encapsulated plant matter, bugs and other organisms. As a tool for ecosystem reconstruction, scientists have learnt a great deal. But recently researchers led by Ralf Tapper of the University of Innsbruck, have begun using amber and other fossil plant…

Approximately 8 out of every 1,000 newborns have congenial heart defects – abnormalities in the heart’s structure that happen due to incomplete or irregular development of the fetus’ heart during the first stages of the mother’s pregnancy. While some are known to be associated with genetic disorders, the cause of most of these heart defects…

The mighty polar bear has long been the poster child for the effects of global warming in the Arctic, but the microscopic diatom tells an equally powerful story. Diatoms are a type of algae that form the base of the food chain in watery habitats the world over. Disturbances among lake diatoms have exposed the…

Efforts to promote and develop new forms of sustainable energy have pushed wind power to the forefront. However, this type of power comes with a cost – as it often interferes with birds’ and bats’ migration, killing hundreds of thousands of these winged species. According to a new study from the University of Colorado Denver,…

If we take a look at the electric vehicle market today and compare it with that of just 10 years ago the differences are enormous. This is an industry which has come on in leaps and bounds and while great progress has been made there is still more improvement in the pipeline. We have seen…