Using Waves To Generate Electricity
Saturday, December 29th, 2007
I like seeing this type of energy production. Hopefully it will gain popularity.
Link: http://www.news.com/…
(via Engadget)
Archive for the 'Environment' Category
Self-contained Micro Nuclear Reactors
Thursday, December 20th, 2007Toshiba is creating micro nuclear reactors that are capable of powering a single building (or a city block). They’re self-contained and totally automatic, and last for about 40 years.
Link: http://www.nextenergynews.com/…
(via engadget)
Biofuels: A Crime Against Humanity?
Saturday, November 3rd, 2007
A United Nations expert says that it’s a “crime against humanity” to create biofuels from food (such as sugar cane or corn). He has a point, but I think he’s abusing the term.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/…
Hybrid Cars Are Too Quiet
Tuesday, October 9th, 2007
When running on electric only, hybrid cars are silent. This turns out to be a safety problem for people (both blind and sighted) who use their ears to identify moving automobiles.
Link: http://ap.google.com/…
Properly Disposing Of A CFL
Saturday, September 29th, 2007
Chad’s News has previously discussed compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs). They last longer and use less energy than regular incandescent bulbs. Turns out, however, that CFLs also contain mercury, so when one finally burns out it’s important that it be properly disposed of. The linked article lists five ways to recycle a CFL.
Link: http://lighterfootstep.com/…
(via digg)
Northwest Passage Now A Reality
Tuesday, September 25th, 2007As a side-effect of global warming, the fabled Northwest Passage has opened up for the first time in recorded history. Wonder if anyone is actually going to use it for commercial shipping?
Link #1: http://www.esa.int/…
(via Slashdot)
Link #2: http://news.bbc.co.uk/…
Creating Oil Instead Of Pumping It
Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007For some time now I have been wondering why we can’t just directly create the stuff that we currently rely on nature to provide: oil, food, etc. These items are basically made from four very plentiful elements—carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen—and I see no reason why we can’t just combine the elements in the right manner to create what we need. A company named LS9 has made a step in the right direction. They have developed bacteria that take corn-based sugars and convert them to oil. (They hope to eventually use switchgrass instead of corn.) One neat thing is that gasoline created from this oil is free of contaminants, such as sulfur, that exist in natural oil.
Link: http://www.technologyreview.com/…
(via Slashdot)
Are Printers Harmful To Your Health?
Tuesday, August 14th, 2007
A recent study has revealed that office printers release a significant amount of toner particulates into the air. Some printers were as bad as cigarettes in the amount of particles released. Printer manufacturer Hewlett-Packard, of course, was very quick to send out a press release denying the claims.
Link: http://arstechnica.com/…
How Ethanol Can Affect The Price Of Milk
Sunday, June 24th, 2007No matter what you do, there always seems to be side effects.
Hybrid Mileage Ratings Go Down
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007The official mileage estimates for hybrid vehicles, long known to be too high, have been reduced. The Toyota Prius, for example, had its city mileage drop from 60 to 48 MPG.
Link: http://www.wired.com/…
(via digg)
Banning Dihydrogen Monoxide
Wednesday, May 9th, 2007Penn and Teller played a joke on some environmentalists, getting them to sign a petition demanding that dihydrogen monoxide be banned. Dihydrogen monoxide is more commonly called water.
Thanks to Burt for this link.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/…
What’s Happening To the Honey Bees?
Tuesday, May 1st, 2007
Billions of honeybees have vanished worldwide. Dubbed “colony collapse disorder,” this has serious implications for farmers who rely on bees to pollinate their crops. An initial but much-discredited report (link #2) suggested that cell phone radiation was responsible, but now scientists are looking at a fungal infection as the likely culprit.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/…
(via digg)
Update: According to the BBC, colony collapse disorder may be nonexistent and the big die-off is normal.
Update (2012-04-04): The cause of colony collapse disorder is still unknown, but researchers are narrowing in on a class of insecticides as being at least partly responsible.
