NewsTrust - Sci/Tech - Most Recent Stories: News (Independent)

Extremes back climate experts' warnings

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

theaustralian.com.au - By Jared Owens, Lanai Vasek - Nov. 23 (News) - IT was a weekend of extremes. Melbourne copped a month's worth of rain in just 17 hours, NSW grappled with "catastrophic" bushfire conditions and record November temperatures -- and Climate Change Minister Penny Wong linked the unpredictable weather patterns to the effects of global warming.

NewsTrust Rating: 2.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

New report asserts R.I. CO2 emissions soared 24 percent

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

projo.com - Nov. 23 (News Report) - A new report from a group called Environment Rhode Island asserts that Rhode Island’s carbon dioxide emissions have soared 24 percent between 1990 and 2007, which is going in the wrong direction for a state trying to reduce its impacts on climate change.

NewsTrust Rating: 2.6 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Road to Copenhagen Part: US Climate Legislation & Lobbyists

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy - By Jeff Smith - Nov. 22 (News Analysis) - Called the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, the Waxman-Markey bill was fought hard by the energy industry. According to a report by the Center for Public Integrity, “More than 460 new businesses and interest groups jumped into lobbying Congress on global warming in the weeks before the House neared its historic vote on climate change legislation.” You can see from the chart above that there was a spike in the amount of lobbying just prior to the bill’s passing.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.7 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Bats: The New Canary In The Coal Mine?

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Kerry Trueman - Nov. 19 (News Analysis) - At least 1 million bats in the past three years have been wiped out by a puzzling, widespread disease dubbed "white-nose syndrome" in what preeminent US scientists are calling the most precipitous decline of North American wildlife in human history. If it isn't slowed or stopped, they believe bats will continue disappearing from the landscape in huge numbers and that entire species could become extinct within a decade.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.2 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The Dirt on Worms

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

agweb.com - By Pam Smith - Nov. 18 (News Report) - The earthworm has long been considered the farmer’s friend. Their burrowing has always been thought to aerate the soil while their droppings provide fertilizer. No-till farmers count on these tireless workers to improve soil tilth. And on their worst day, earthworms sacrifice everything to land us a lunch from our favorite fishing hole

NewsTrust Rating: 3.0 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

ISS - Nuclear companies face reactor design problems, ethics questions

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

southernstudies.org - By Sue Sturgis - Nov. 16 (News Analysis) - Back in 2007, the Project on Government Oversight reported that Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner Jeffrey S. Merrifield "vigorously championed several major policy initiatives that directly benefited his future employer"...who he went to work for 12 days after leaving the NRC... that effectively eased environmental restrictions.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Cultural Borders and Mental Barriers: The Relationship Between Living Abroad and Creativity

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

apa.org - By William W. Maddux - Nov. 16 (Investigative Report) - Despite abundant anecdotal evidence that creativity is associated with living in foreign countries, there is currently little empirical evidence for this relationship. Five studies employing a multimethod approach systematically explored the link between living abroad and creativity. Using both individual and dyadic creativity tasks, Studies 1 and 2 provided initial demonstrations that time spent living abroad (but not time spent traveling abroad) showed a positive relationship with creativity. Study 3 demonstrated that priming foreign living experiences temporarily enhanced creative tendencies for participants who had previously lived abroad. In Study 4, the degree to which individuals had adapted to different cultures while living abroad mediated the link between foreign living experience and creativity. Study 5 found that priming the experience of adapting to a foreign culture temporarily enhanced creativity for participants who had previously lived abroad. The relationship between living abroad and creativity was consistent across a number of creativity measures (including those measuring insight, association, and generation), as well as with masters of business administration and undergraduate samples, both in the United States and Europe, demonstrating the robustness of this phenomenon.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.1 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Missing the Gain But Joining the Pain

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Miller-McCune - By Sam Kornell - Nov. 15 (News Analysis) - Since the industrial revolution, profits from the exploitation of fossil energy — coal, oil and natural gas — have not been equally distributed. America, Europe and Japan got rich off of oil and coal; now China, India and much of the rest of the developing world are attempting to do the same thing. If they succeed, climate scientists say, it will mean environmental catastrophe. This progression has created a situation in which any solution to climate change is, to a greater or lesser extent, going to be unfair — a fact many negotiators openly acknowledge. The Danish environmental minister hosting the Copenhagen conference, Connie Hedegaard, has reportedly been "extraordinarily blunt" in insisting that China, India and the rest of the developing world shoulder a large share of the climate load.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.6 average - 5 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Phthalate exposure linked to less-masculine play by boys

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Science Daily - Nov. 15 (News Report) - A study of 145 preschool children reports, for the first time, that when the concentrations of two common phthalates in mothers' prenatal urine are elevated their sons are less likely to play with male-typical toys and games, such as trucks and play fighting.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Reducing Greenhouse Gases May Not Be Enough To Slow Climate Change

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

ScienceDaily - Nov. 14 (News Report) - Georgia Tech City and Regional Planning Professor Brian Stone is publishing a paper in the December edition of Environmental Science and Technology that suggests policymakers need to address the influence of global deforestation and urbanization on climate change, in addition to greenhouse gas emissions.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

I’d Like the Same Plan Better If It Was Bill Clinton’s

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Miller-McCune - By Tom Jacobs - Nov. 13 (Special Report) - Even among the most extreme opponents of President Obama's push for health care reform — those who equate his proposals to Nazi death camps or Soviet gulags — there's little overtly expressed racism. Aside from the occasional slip by Republican officials in South Carolina,...But implicit racism — prejudice unacknowledged in public and, in many cases, hidden from conscious awareness — is a factor in opposition to Obama's health policies

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average - 4 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Virginia Tech Study Contains Lessons for Fort Hood