ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS PICKS

2008 July 8

FISHERIES: Lobsters, crabs, squid, and other invertebrates are becoming more common while populations of bottom-feeding fish are plummeting, according to a long-term trawling study of Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay

FOOD: Ugly veggies to ease food crisis?, Taking bite out of banana mess

FUEL ECONOMY: Even modest increases in MPG can equal big gas savings

FUEL PRICES: NYC taxi drivers demand $1 fuel surcharge: Bloomberg Administration opposes idea; union threatens its own unspecified opposition

G8 SUMMIT: Environmentalists unhappy with G8 emissions goal, Environmentalists dismiss G-8 emissions target, Summit that’s hard to swallow – world leaders enjoy 18-course banquet as they discuss how to solve global food crisis

GLOBAL WARMING: Penguin chicks frozen by global warming?, Blocking sun not feasible warming solution

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS: NYC to spend billions to cut greenhouse gases

HEALTH: Mississippi is the fattest state in the Union

INVASIVE SPECIES: Penguins strangled by invasive grass

MADAGASCAR: Madagascar hopes tourism saves ‘Noah’s Ark’

SCIENCE: Extreme rain grows mountains, Ancient ice sheets fell like dominoes

SOLAR: NanoMarkets predicts thin-film solar cell industry will produce more than 26 gigawatts by 2015, Meet the steel-melting solar mirror

WATER POLLUTION: Olympic sailors facing polluted waters

WILDFIRES: California grid urges conservation amid heat and fires, With resources tight, Californians take on wildfires themselves

WIND POWER: Oil billionaire Pickens puts his money on wind power

WTF?:: Restaurant: Man who died had ordered crab meat: No criminal charges will be filed, but investigators have suggested a mistake occurred

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is enjoying the sun @ the beach w/ friends for Fourth of July. Happy Independence Day! 1 day ago

Shrinking Sheep: http://tinyurl.com/mtho7b "Shorter, warmer winters, caused by climate change, are tampering with normal sheep evolution." 2 days ago

@loveofscience we saw a HUGE black bear too! 3 days ago

Recommends the Shenandoah Valley (http://tinyurl.com/m9jdc3) via Skyline Drive (http://tinyurl.com/n62fh) Beautiful 3 days ago

Minnesota Supreme Court unanimously rules that Al Franken won: http://tinyurl.com/mteahz 5 days ago

Remember the hullabaloo about this under Bush II: EPA gives California emissions waiver, automakers drop lawsuits: http://tinyurl.com/lb24x8 5 days ago

Study shows why "long-lived bats...live significantly longer than other mammals of comparable size, such as mice." http://tinyurl.com/metqg3 5 days ago

Madoff victims to "die of stress before Madoff does." http://tinyurl.com/kmljvt 5 days ago

RT @overyonder: WSJ article on the success of the Cape Ann Fresh Catch community supported fishery http://tr.im/qjOW 5 days ago

@NASA Amazing image of crescent Earth rising above the lunar horizon http://tinyurl.com/lhrzj8 5 days ago

Biomimicry News And Research

Nanotechnology may increase longevity of dental fillings

Tooth-colored fillings may be more attractive than silver ones, but the bonds between the white filling and the tooth quickly age and degrade. A Medical College of Georgia researcher hopes a new nanotechnology technique will extend the fillings' longevity.

Stirred, not shaken: Bio-inspired cilia mix medical reagents at small scales

Engineers used a novel underwater manufacturing technique to successfully build biomimetic cilia. The hairlike appendages mix tiny volumes of liquid to speed up biomedical reactions.

Crustacean shell with polyester creates mixed-fiber material for nerve repair

Weaving chitosan, found in the shells of crabs and shrimp, with an industrial polyester creates a promising new material for biomedical applications, including the tiny tubes that support repair of a severed nerve.

Beetle shell inspires brilliant white paper

An obscure species of beetle has shown how brilliant white paper could be produced in a completely new way. A team from Imerys Minerals Ltd. and the University of Exeter has taken inspiration from the shell of the Cyphochilus beetle to understand how to produce a new kind of white coating for paper.

New radio chip mimics human ear

Could enable wireless devices capable of receiving cell phone, Internet, radio and television signals

Navy grant to fund probe of squid and octopus camouflage

Octopuses and squid are big brained species that use much of their mental powers to adjust their own appearances. This remarkable ability to camouflage on the fly has inspired the US Office of Naval Research to award $7.5 million to Duke University and two collaborating institutions to learn more about how the animals do it.

Getting a grip: 'Velcro'-like structure helps bees stick to flowers

When bees collect nectar, how do they hold onto the flower? Cambridge University scientists have shown that it is down to small cone-shaped cells on the petals that act like Velcro on the bees' feet.

'Gecko vision': Key to the multifocal contact lens of the future?

Nocturnal geckos are among the very few living creatures able to see colors at night, and scientists' discovery of series of distinct concentric zones may lead to insight into better cameras and contact lenses.

Research gives clues for self-cleaning materials, water-striding robots

Humans have marveled for millennia at how water beads up and rolls off flowers, caterpillars and some insects, and how insects like water striders are able to walk effortlessly on water. University of Nebraska and RIKEN research into super hydrophobic properties provide hints to researchers to develop these abilities in things like micro-robots, self-cleani […]

Unifying the animate and the inanimate designs of nature

Living beings and inanimate phenomena may have more in common than previously thought.

Environmental Capital – WSJ.com

Green Ink: Off for the July 4th Weekend

Green Ink and Environmental Capital will be off until Monday.

Drill Bits: Rig Count Picks Up Again. Why?

U.S. oil drilling is picking up and natural gas drilling is flattening off. With oil and gas prices so weak, why is this happening?

Renewable Energy Financing Rebounds, in Europe, if not U.S.

Renewable energy projects -- wind farms, solar parks, etc. -- are getting funding again after a long freeze in the markets. But the pace of financing in Europe is well ahead of the U.S.

Oil Prices: A Year After a Record $145, Gloom Prevails

Oil prices fell on Thursday due to bad U.S. employment news and word that OPEC discipline may be wavering. One year after $145-a-barrel oil and it doesn't appear those prices are returning anytime soon.

Keep on Driving: The Greening of Texas’ Tollways

You can no longer stop to pay cash on a Dallas-area tollway. And that may make it greener.

Green Buildings Get Boost in Cap-and-Trade Bill

The Waxman-Markey climate bill that passed the House of Representatives last week would set a national standard for both residential and commercial building energy efficiency.

With Iraq Oil Bidding In Shambles, How Long Does Oil Minister Last?

Iraq opened its oil and gas fields to foreign companies for the first time since 1972, but the response was underwhelming. Can Iraq's oil minister, Hussain al-Shahristani, survive?

No Nukes: Of Exelon and Rising Government Influence

Exelon pulls the plug on a proposed nuclear reactor in Texas, underscoring the growing influence of the federal government in energy policy.

Baghdad Bidding: Oil Companies Mostly Balk at Iraqi Oil Terms

Iraq's first opening of its oil fields to Western companies since 1972 was not particularly successful. Only one of eight fields were successfully bid.

Running on Empty: Hypermiling leads to NASCAR victory

Nineteen-year-old Joey Logan coasted, literally, to victory race this weekend in a major NASCAR race in an improbable triumph for hypermiling.

USGS Newsroom

July Science Picks -- Leads, Feeds and Story Seeds

Do you want the most current climate change projections and recommendations for future actions? If so, then check out USGS Science Picks! You can also gain insight on the Arctic’s energy assets, how a tribal canoe journey is helping improve water resources in the Salish Sea, efforts to weed out alien invaders, and the need to save declining coral ecosy […]

Pinpointing Drought Coast to Coast

Take vast quantities of satellite remote sensing data. Season with time. Mix generously with information about climate, soils, and recent rainfall. These are the ingredients for the Vegetation Drought Response Index. Known to specialists as VegDRI, this computer modeling and monitoring method provides continuous drought information over large regions and sup […]

Beach Health: Safe to Swim?

When a local beach closes for health reasons, people start wondering, “Is it safe to swim?” U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) science can help local beach managers understand the sources of contamination and the kinds of contaminants that may affect human health. In the Great Lakes region, the USGS has already developed state-of-the-art methods and p […]

Nutrient Delivery to the Gulf of Mexico Among Highest Measured

Spring nutrient delivery to the northern Gulf of Mexico is among the highest measured by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in thirty years. Too many nutrients, which are essential for plant growth, are not necessarily a good thing. Excessive nutrients can be harmful by decreasing the amount of oxygen in the water, also known as hypoxia. This can result in an […]

June Science Picks -- Leads, Feeds and Story Seeds

USGS: Your Resource During Hurricane Season

One Step Closer to Understanding Fish Health in Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers

Significant Gas Resource Discovered in U.S. Gulf of Mexico

Jeepers Creepers! Climate Change Threatens Endangered Honeycreepers

Authority on Wildlife Health Named New Director of USGS Wildlife Health Center

Dr. Jonathan Sleeman, pictured here, is the new center director of the USGS National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis. Dr. Jonathan Sleeman, a recognized authority on wildlife health issues, will join the USGS National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, WI, as its new director this week. As director, Sleeman will lead scientists and staff who […]

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In wildness is the preservation of the world. – Henry David Thoreau

ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS PICKS

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