Daily Archives: December 7, 2008

photo by PlanMyGreen

A study out of Colorado University finds that biodiversity is good for toad legs. Two species of amphibians, the American toad and the gray tree frog, seem to have a symbiotic relationship. When there are no gray tree frogs in an ecosystem, American toads are more likely to have malformed legs.

photo by nathan russell

We all know that methamphetamines are bad for our health. Meth makes teeth fall out. It damages the workings of the brain and causes a slew of psychotic conditions that can last long after a person has stopped using. The consequences of methamphetamines go far beyond health and human tragedy. It can ruin farmland, make houses unlivable and destroy forests.

On Sunday, a few days before collecting his 10 million kronor (US$1.4 million) Nobel Memorial Prize in economics (on international trade patterns), Professor Paul Krugman told reporters he felt the American auto industry will likely disappear.

“It will do so because of the geographical forces that me and my colleagues have discussed, it is no longer sustained by the current economy,” he said.

Commenting on the possibility of a bail-out for the so-called Big Three car makers, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, (who are asking taxpayers for $34 billion USD) Paul Kr

photo by Markhillary

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. recently launched a program that assists governments and companies in the detection of melamine in food products imported from China. In September of 2008, 53,000 Chinese infants fell ill due to melamine contamination in their milk and formula. Because of this, the FDA set forth new regulations in October

St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, has long attracted students to natural sciences and math with the quality of programs and excellent faculty. The campus was never shabby either, but now St. Olaf has outdone itself with a new science and math building complex expected to achieve LEED Platinum certification. Regents Hall will be the largest university science center in the United States to achieve this coveted green building standard. What are the features that make Regents Hall exceptional?

photo by billaday

Researchers at the University of Arkansas are working to develop a new way of storing thermal energy in concrete. They were given an award from the U.S. Department of Energy in the sum of $770, 000 dollars as part of the federal government‘s program to create inexpensive solar energy storage.

Eyes On The Road, AutomobileSport, Ron Denis,Grand Prix Driver

The title of this post exemplifies the many negative media voices we “greens” will be hearing from over the next few months. Echoing the false choice of environment versus economy, warning the incoming Obama administration and Congress to not do anything risky (like race to save the earth), skipping their botox treatments, even, to convince us of how serious they are about economics, they are content with preaching what not to do. Which leads to wha

Image from NASA

It’s hard sometimes to make heads or tail of all these gloomy predictions — what with the projected year always changing (just scan through our previous posts on the subject to see what I mean) — but, for what it’s worth, some scientists are now pegging it at 2015. That, according to David Barber of the University of Manitoba, will be the year when all of the region’s sea ice will be gone for the first time. There will still be ice during the winter, of course, but, as Barber <a href=”http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=1039

Image Credit: Saad Khalaf / Los Angeles Times

Commuter Rail Returns to Baghdad
As a result of the significantly improved security situation in Iraq, the Ministration of Transportation has been able to provide a commuter rail service in Baghdad for the last month. According to the LA Times, “the Ministry of Transportation wanted to relieve Iraqis of the chaos of Baghdad’s streets, where checkpoints, speeding convoys and almost daily bombings cause massive traffic tie-ups.” However, ridership on the train–which ” weaves about 15 miles through west and south Baghdad o