Photo credit Electric Power Research Institute Robots are becoming a more important tool for keeping our infrastructure working properly. From scurrying through underground water pipes to search for leaks , to now swinging from power lines to inspect their condition. Electric Power Research Institute , a non-profit utility consortium, has come up with a robot that can patrol power lines in remote places like forests and deser… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …The Week in Animal News: Seal Feeds Human Live Penguins, Ants Retire and More (Slideshow)
January 14, 2011 No Comment
Photo: Paul Nicklen Photographer Paul Nicklen took some of the most amazing photographs of his life near Pleneau Island, Antarctica when a leopard seal decided he was clearly helpless and hungry. To offset his apparent lack of hunting skills, the seal began offering him live penguins — captured in a gruesome photomontage. For more one-of-a-kind interactions with the animal world — including news that ants retire, a dying wolf’s miraculous recovery via stem cells, an eye-popping orange alligator, horny seals, and an inside look at the life of iconic Antarctic penguins — check out the Week i… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Images credit Tpresso We have gone on at length about the Nespresso coffee system that is overrunning Europe, where you pay for a machine and then lock yourself forever to Nescafe, which sells you a cup of overpriced convenience that leaves a trail of little plastic turds that they pretend to recycle. I have called this concept design for unsustainability. Like everyone else, they are salivating over the Chinese market, but they don’t drink much co… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Image credit Eden Foods The press release from Eden Foods, touting their new, protective amber glass jars, said “The driving force at Eden Foods for these amber glass jars of tomatoes was the avoidance of bisphenol-A (BPA) in high acid food cans, and failure of the can manufacturers to make BPA free cans for tomatoes.” But what about those metal lids? … Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Images courtesy of NYC the Blog via Facebook As New York continues to get hit by blizzards, city dwellers longing for a picnic without the risk of frostbite can head downtown to the OpenHouse Gallery at 201 Mulberry Street, where a pop-up park opened on January 8. The gallery has been converted into an indoor park, with fake grass, rocks, trees, a pond and bird sounds. While ther… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …I’ll be back in Seoul on January 24th! The first half of the project is done, the second half involves my readers from Seoul! On my return, I’ll do a open casting to fill 12 spots for an ad shoot. I will follow-up with specific details a little closer to the date. I was very impressed by my first visit to Seoul, I can’t wait to get back.
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Photo: Mascoma The first large-scale commercial operation to produce cellulosic ethanol (the kind of ethanol made not from corn or other grown crops, but from organic waste) in the US just got major backing from the oil industry, and will be online in 2013. The New York Times reports: the Mascoma Corporation of Lebanon, N.H., said it had reached an agreement with Valero, the nation’s largest independent oil refiner, under which Valero would take the entire output of a commercial plant that Mascoma is to break ground on this year in Kinross, Mich. It is the first such “offtake” agreement in the industry, Mascoma said.
Continue reading …Just What We Needed Dept. – Genetically Modified Crops That Glow Green When Stressed
January 13, 2011 No Comment
Genetically altered Arabdopsis Thaliana plant, with green fluorescent protein (GFP) inserted near the on/off switches for anoxia and drought genes. Cells expressing those genes glow green under a blue light (as shown). Image and caption credit: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Collection A group of University of Tennessee plant scientists has genetically modified tobacco plants so that the plants will give off a phosphorescent green “glow” when plant immune systems are under stress – as might be caused by plan… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Image: Guardian The presidential oil spill panel released its full report this week, and it included a slew of recommendations for reforming how the government oversees the oil i… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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