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Asia's highest mountains have lost no ice in past 10 years, study shows

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

The Guardian - By Damian Carrington - Feb. 08 (News Report) - The world's greatest snow-capped peaks, which run in a chain from the Himalayas to Tian Shan on the border of China and Kyrgyzstan, have lost no ice over the last decade, new research shows. The discovery has stunned scientists, who had believed that aro

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Gains in DNA Are Speeding Research Into Human Origins

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Alanna Mitchell - Jan. 30 (Special Report) - Remains from a Siberian cave and faster, cheaper technology are helping scientists draw a complex new picture of human origins.

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Forget global warming - it's Cycle 25 we need to worry about (and if NASA scientists are right the Thames will be freezing over again)

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Daily Mail - By David Rose - Jan. 29 (News Analysis) - Figures suggest that we could even be heading for a mini ice age to rival the 70-year temperature drop that saw frost fairs held on the Thames in the 17th Century.

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? Pro-Science Rapper’s Shout Out for Evolution

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Wired - By Ben Paynter - Dec. 28 (Special Report) - Baba Brinkman—dubbed the hip hop Richard Dawkins—is releasing music videos from his Rap Guide to Evolution album in hopes that teachers will punch up their science lectures.

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Science and Censorship: A Duel Lasting Centuries

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By William J. Broad - Dec. 26 (Investigative Report) - When a federal panel asked two journals last week to withhold details on bird flu experiments, it was only the latest example of an ages-old conflict often rooted in issues of war and advanced weaponry.

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News Analysis: Climate Scientists Hampered in Study of 2011 Extremes

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By By JUSTIN GILLIS - Dec. 24 (Special Report) - Facing political hostility and lacking adequate financing, scientists are struggling to report on the causes of a concentrated span of extreme weather in the United States.

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FDA Won’t Act Against Ag Antibiotic Use

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Wired - Dec. 23 (News) - With no notice other than a holiday-eve posting in the Federal Register, the US Food and Drug Administration has reneged on its long-stated intention to

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Brazil’s forest policy could undermine its climate goals

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Juan Forero, Juliet Eilperin - Dec. 18 (Special Report) - .. various loopholes, environmentalists warn, would permit farmers in some states to reduce the amount of land covered by trees.

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Shock as retreat of Arctic sea ice releases deadly greenhouse gas

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

The Independent - By Steve Connor - Dec. 13 (News Report) - Dramatic and unprecedented plumes of methane a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide have been seen bubbling to the surface of the Arctic Ocean by scientists undertaking an extensive survey of the region.

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The Psychology Of Nakedness

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Wired - By Jonah Lehrer - Nov. 30 (Special Report) - The human mind sees minds everywhere. Show us a collection of bouncing balls and we hallucinate agency; a glance at a stuffed animal and we endow it with a mood; I’m convinced Siri doesn’t like me. The point is that we are constantly translating our visual perceptions into a theory of mind, as we attempt to imagine the internal states of teddy bears, microchips and perfect strangers.

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Lynn Margulis, Trailblazing Theorist on Evolution, Dies at 73

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Bruce Weber - Nov. 24 (Special Report) - Dr. Margulis was a biologist whose work on the origin of cells helped transform the study of evolution.

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Is the end of the world really nigh?

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

The Guardian - By Alok Jha - Nov. 20 (Special Report) - All too real are the human-caused threats born of climate change, excess pollution, depletion of natural resources and the madness of nuclear weapons. We tinker with our genes and atoms at our own peril. Nanotechnology, synthetic biology and genetic modification offer much potential in giving us better food to eat, safer drugs and a cleaner world, but they could also go wrong if misapplied or if we charge on without due care.

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The American 'allergy' to global warming: Why?

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press - Sep. 25 (Special Report) - The Associated PressThe American 'allergy' to global warming: Why?CBS NewsIn this July 15, 2011 photo, atop roughly two miles of ice, technician Marie McLane launches a data-transmitting weather balloon at Summit Station, a remote research site operated by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), and situated 10500 feet ...The American `allergy' to global warming: Why?MiamiHerald.comThe American 'allergy' to global warming: Why?The Associated PressThe American 'allergy' to global warming: Why?Atlanta Journal ConstitutionSan Francisco Chronicleall 206 news articles »

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Peace of Mind: Near-Death Experiences Now Found to Have Scientific Explanations

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Scientific American - By Charles Q. Choi - Sep. 12 (News Report) - Near-death experiences are often thought of as mystical phenomena, but research is now revealing scientific explanations for virtually all of their common features. The details of what happens in near-death experiences are now known widely--a sense of being dead, a feeling that one's "soul" has left the body, a voyage toward a bright light, and a departure to another reality where love and bliss are all-encompassing. Approximately 3 percent of the U.S. population says they have had a near-death experience, according to a Gallup poll. Near-death experiences are reported across cultures, with written records of them dating back to ancient Greece. Not all of these experiences actually coincide with brushes with death-- one study of 58 patients who recounted near-death experiences found 30 were not actually in danger of dying, although most of them thought they were. ...

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NASA: Space Station May Be Evacuated

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Radio Free Europe - Aug. 30 (News) - Russia and the United States gave conflicting signals about the way forward with the International Space Station now that the only remaining transport there -- the Soyuz -- has been temporarily grounded after an accident. Russia said it was determined to keep the ISS manned despite the recent failure of the only booster rocket capable of bringing replacement astronauts aloft. "We will do everything possible not to leave the station without a crew," Aleksei Krasnov, head of Russia's piloted space vehicle program, told Interfax. "We are going to have a manned mission [to the ISS] by the end of December." But the U.S. space program said that if the problems are not identified and solved by mid-November, all of the six ISS astronauts would be brought back to Earth. NASA's space station program manager, Mike Suffredini, said several options are being studied, but that crew safety comes first. He said controllers on the ground could keep a deserted space station functioning, but explained that without a crew any problem could not be fixed. His comments come just weeks after NASA's final space shuttle flight.

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Oceans left out of climate debate

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Sydney Morning Herald - Aug. 08 (News Report) - Oceans have been left out of climate change debate in Australia, the founder of Earthwatch says. Brian Rosborough said the role of oceans and coasts should be given more attention. "Coastal vegetation and oceans which account for 55 per cent of all the c

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Global warming is a litmus test for US Republicans

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Raymond S. Bradley - Aug. 03 (News Analysis) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney crossed a dangerous party line when he stated his belief in anthropogenic climate changeMitt Romney, arguably the leading Republican candidate for president of the United States in the 2012 election, recently significantly diminished his prospects for obtaining the support he needs from the right wing of his party. How did he do this? He simply declared that he believes the Earth is warming, and that human activities are responsible. To most scientists, such a statement would be considered fairly innocuous, and an accurate assessment of current understanding. But to a large fraction of the US Republican party, this is a completely unacceptable position - ranking alongside gay marriage, gun control and abortion rights. Anthropogenic climate change has become a litmus test for Republicans in the United States.If you want to appeal to the hard core of the party - those whom you need in order to obtain the party's nomination - you simply can not acknowledge what almost every national science academy and scientific organisation has accepted for many years. In fact, many other prominent Republicans, sensing the winds of retribution, have already back-tracked on whatever previous statements they might have made, if they contained even a whiff of climate reality. Given the importance of getting the United States on board to obtain a comprehensive international agreement on controlling greenhouse gases, this dismissal of scientific evidence about global warming is both sad and alarming.Climate scientists on the frontlines of this battle have suffered badly from the poisonous political atmosphere. Rightwing blogs and talk radio demagogues have promoted the idea that climate science is a worthless charade, where data are simply manipulated to obtain a politically motivated result. Scientists have been abused on blogs and via emails and some have even been physically threatened. Government officials have misused their positions to intimidate and harass prominent scientists, following a strategy of attacking the messenger when they don't like hearing the message. A leading Republican senator asked the Justice Department to investigate 17 climate scientists (myself included) for committing fraud and other crimes. How have we arrived at this sorry state?In order to understand the current state of play, one has to recognise that the issue of global warming is being completely manipulated by a group of individuals, businesses and organisations that have entrenched financial interests in making sure that the United States does not enact any legislation to control greenhouse gas emissions. At the extreme, these groups believe in complete market fundamentalism - that free markets, stripped of all constraints, will take care of any and all problems that we may face. To bolster this fundamentalist strategy, they provide major financial support to organisations that promote nonsensical ideas, such as global warming is a hoax and the IPCC reports are full of errors.They also flood the electoral system with money, to ensure that like-minded rightwing politicians are elected to Congress. These politicians then dutifully hold hearings, inviting hand-picked scientists (often with minimal qualifications in climate science) to provide testimony which sows the seeds of doubt about the reality of global warming. The political objectives of these hearings are rarely discussed by the media. The general public just hears that more scientists disagree about an issue they find hard to deal with (which it is) and so they conclude that if scientists can't agree, why should they support legislation to control emissions? In this way, the cynical but very effective strategy of the rightwing runs its course, and the US sits on its hands while atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations approach levels not seen on Earth for more than 2.5 million years.If climate scientists were indeed all working together to manipulate data and create a fictitious scenario of the future, that would require a truly remarkable feat of coordination, and a sense of common purpose. What could the motivation of this cohort be? The answer was given to me by Congressman James Sensenbrenner (remarkably, now vice-chairman of the US House committee on science, space and technology). This high-ranking Republican carefully explained that the Kyoto protocol was a conspiracy by developing nations to cripple the US economy. Since these developing countries (apparently) could not compete on a level playing field with the US, they had devised the Kyoto treaty to tilt things in their direction, and climate scientists were complicit in this strategy. To those who subscribe to Sensenbrenner's bizarre idea, it is only a small step further to frame the argument in patriotic terms. If you support Kyoto (or its goals) you must be anti-American, or at the very least a socialist. Which brings me back to Mitt Romney.The Republican party in the United States is now in thrall to the extreme right wing, which is in turn financed and coached by those with the financial muscle to promote their narrow ideological agendas. To obtain the backing of these groups, you have to toe the line, and speak the words their dogma requires: global warming is not happening, perhaps even a hoax; whatever warming has occurred is just a natural oscillation; even if humans had something to do with it, it's not a big deal and we can adapt to it. And besides, we can't afford to control greenhouse gases, as such action will result in massive job losses. For a politician seeking the party's nomination for president, it is a dangerous strategy to cross the line on this topic.To the idealogues who have invested millions to support their political factotums in the US Congress, their money has been well spent, as meaningful legislation to control greenhouse gases has virtually disappeared from the congressional agenda. But not content with that success, they have now drawn a line in the sand for those seeking political office; global warming is off limits entirely. It is not something they want to be discussed at all.Meanwhile, the rest of the world has recognised the reality of global warming and acknowledged the real dangers that it poses for the future. Although taking steps to address the matter is difficult, many countries have embraced the opportunity to reduce energy consumption, implement conservation strategies and promote new technologies that involve energy production from non-carbon based fuels. Politicians who embrace these strategies represent the future. Those who don't will simply become footnotes in history. Romney made the right decision - on this topic, at least.• Raymond S Bradley is director of the Climate System Research Center at the University of Massachusetts AmherstClimate change scepticismClimate changeClimate changeRepublicansUnited StatesUS politicsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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EPA in 1987 found fracking fouled well water in W.Va

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - By Don Hopey - Aug. 03 (News Report) - A 1987 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finding, which the agency has ignored for years, concluded that hydraulic fracturing of a deep natural gas well in Jackson County, W.Va., contaminated groundwater and private wells. Although the gas drilling industry has repeatedly claimed that such "fracking" operations in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale natural gas fields pose no threat to rural underground aquifers, groundwater and drinking water wells, EPA investigators concluded a gas well drilled and fracked by the Kaiser Gas Co. in 1982 did contaminate groundwater.

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Every Bug, Every Gas, Right Now: Air Force Wants Instant WMD Detector

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Wired - By Lena Groeger - Aug. 03 (News) - Spurred by the anthrax hysteria of 2001, the U.S. government has thrown billions of dollars into developing new equipment and technologies to detect chemical and biological warfare agents. Now the Air Force has a plan that, if it actually works, would render all those billions obsolete.

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Archaeopteryx Knocked From Roost as Original Bird

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Wired - By Danielle Venton - Jul. 28 (News) - Archaeopteryx’s status as the forerunner of modern birds is crumbling in the face of a new, closely-related fossil. The new discovery, a feathered, chicken-sized dinosaur named Xiaotingia, has prompted a fresh look at the dinosaur family tree, casting Archaeopteryx as a bird-like dinosaur rather than dinosaur-like bird.

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A New Study Shows That Global Warming Is Leading to Extinctions

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Time - By Tara Thean - Jul. 12 (Special Report) - With all the climate conversation currently littering the Internet, and the myriad ways that extreme weather is linked to global warming, it's hard not to get confused about climate change sometimes – and given the sheer volume of muddled information out there, you might even be forgiven for being unconvinced by the arguments thus far. But University of Exeter scientists have brought us some simple proof that climate change seems to be as bad for our planet as we've been led to believe. Their study shows that the loss of animal and plant species that have already happened match previous predictions in terms of the relative risk to different species around the world. And based on that information, the scientists have made a frightening forecast: one in 10 species will be extinct by 2100 if climate change continues affecting the world the way it is now.

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Atlantis docks at space station on last mission

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Reuters - By Irene Klotz - Jul. 10 (News Report) - U.S. space shuttle Atlantis arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday to deliver a last batch of supplies to the orbiting outpost on the final flight of the U.S. shuttle program. Commander Chris Ferguson gently eased Atlantis into its parking slip on the station's Harmony node at 11:07 a.m. EDT as the spacecraft soared 230 miles over the Pacific Ocean. "Welcome to the International Space Station for the last time," station flight engineer Ron Garan radioed to the crew. Crews opened Atlantis' hatch less than two hours later and the shuttle's 4-member crew floated through the airlock into the recently completed $100 billion orbital outpost.

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Space shuttle Atlantis lifts off

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

CNN - Jul. 08 (News) - The space shuttle Atlantis lifted off Friday morning on the final mission of America's 30-year space-shuttle program. The four-member crew blasted off on a 12-day mission just before 11:30 a.m. The four -- all shuttle veterans -- are on their way to deliver supplies to the International Space Station.

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The space shuttle: Into the sunset

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Economist - Jul. 03 (Special Report) - If the weather holds and there are no unforeseen complications, then early in the morning on July 8th a woman and three men will ascend the launch tower at Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre, strap themselves into Atlantis, the last operational space shuttle, and, as the engines ignite, wait for the countdown to reach zero. Burning thousands of litres of rocket fuel every second and blasting superheated gas into the water-filled trench beneath the pad, the engines will kick up the vast gouts of steam and smoke that characterise a rocket launch.

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Name That Firework

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

PBS - Jul. 03 (Special Report) - Every year, A Capitol Fourth strives to bring you the best fireworks of any July 4th celebration. But did you know there are more than a dozen types of firework effects? Here are a few of the styles that you may see at the A Capitol Fourth celebration. Peony The most common type of firework, the peony shell type is a spherical break of colored stars that burn without a tail effect.

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