Science & Technology

(The Canadian Press) WASHINGTON — The U.S. government is listing polar bears as a threatened species but won’t address the thorny issue of global warming that’s causing the decline of their Arctic habitats.

No protection for the climate
The new designation obliges the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to devise a protection plan for the bears, but limits on greenhouse gas emissions or constraints on oil and gas projects won’t be part of it. Global warming is the major factor threatening polar bears, said Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, but the Endangered Species Act is an “inappropriate” tool for setting U.S. climate policy.

“This listing will not stop global climate change or prevent sea ice from melting,” he told a news conference. “It’s not something that one continent can do by itself. We need to have the major economies of the world have these discussions.”

Kempthorne acknowledged the decision won’t be popular among environmentalists but said he can’t make a direct link between the species and carbon dioxide emissions.

Continue reading…

OSLO (Reuters) – Greenhouse gases are at higher levels in the atmosphere than at any time in at least 800,000 years, according to a study of Antarctic ice on Wednesday that extends evidence that mankind is disrupting the climate.

Carbon dioxide and methane trapped in tiny bubbles of air in ancient ice down to 3,200 meters (10,500 ft) below the surface of Antarctica add 150,000 years of data to climate records stretching back 650,000 years from shallower ice drilling.

“We can firmly say that today’s concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane are 28 and 124 percent higher respectively than at any time during the last 800,000 years,” said Thomas Stocker, an author of the report at the University of Berne.

Continue reading…

When 17-year-old Matt Willner fueled up his 1999 Volkswagen Beetle, purchased from eBay, he quickly realized that peeling potatoes, not rubber, was the way of his future.

“The engine starts on diesel fuel, heats up the veggie fuel for about 10 minutes until I hit a switch, and it starts running off straight vegetable oil,” Willner explains of his car, which operates on a Greasecar Vegetable Fuel Systems conversion kit designed for diesel engines. Willner purchased his car with the kit already in place, but these $800 to $1,100 systems can be installed at home, or by a Greasecar-certified mechanic listed by area at www.greasecar.com/resources.cfm. Depending on the mechanic, installations will run from $500 to $850 for cars and $850 to $1,200 for trucks.

Continue reading…

This is probably the safest skateboard/roller-blade/scooter/unicycle ever invented. That’s what I think because the wheel is much like a bicycle wheel so you won’t be troubled by small rocks or concrete edges. It’s such a good invention for people who don’t have to travel very far and don’t have a place to park their bikes or just because you want to go faster than walking. Just watch the video and you’ll see that it looks very easy to ride.

CHICAGO (Reuters) – On days when there is a lot of dust and other large-particle pollutants in the air, slightly more elderly people go to hospital emergency rooms with heart problems, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

There was also an increase in hospital visits by elderly patients complaining of respiratory illnesses when “coarse,” or large, particle pollution was plentiful, although the rise was not significant, the researchers said.

“Though the evidence is mixed at this point, we did find an association between cardiovascular admissions and coarse particulate matter,” Roger Peng of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, who led the study, said in a telephone interview.

Continue reading…

The U.S Department of Energy (DOE) today released a first-of-its kind report that examines the technical feasibility of harnessing wind power to provide up to 20 percent of the nation’s total electricity needs by 2030. Entitled “20 Percent Wind Energy by 2030”, the report identifies requirements to achieve this goal including reducing the cost of wind technologies, citing new transmission infrastructure, and enhancing domestic manufacturing capability.

Continue reading…

Green Vehicles. What are they? Well they can be hybrid vehicles or full electric vehicles. But can they be horse powered? Well this one can. An Iranian engineer based in Dubai has come up with something truly different. Abdolhadi Mirhejazi has built the Naturmobil (previously, the Naturcar). The Naturmobil is 1 HP. That is the truth. It’s literally powered by one horse. The Naturmobil is a six wheeled, polycarbonate framed buggy with a top speed of 50mph although typical cruising velocity is closer to 12mph.

Continue reading…

NRC researchers are busy engineering the production of hydrogen from organic wastes and crop residues. Their goal: turn low-grade waste into affordable, clean energy without producing greenhouse gases.

Today, most hydrogen is produced from natural gas, with the balance produced primarily from heavy oils, naphtha, and coal. Not only do these methods consume a lot of energy, they also produce greenhouse gases.

Continue reading…