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Better climate models are key to understanding how best to protect the environment and food production, but they require massive computing resources. [More] Biofuel for Jumbo Jets: Kiwis Take to the Sky on Jatropha Fuel from the weed jatropha powered an Air New Zealand jet on a two-hour flight today--the world's second flight of a commercial jet on biofuel. One out of the four Rolls Royce engines on an Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400 burned a 50-50 blend of regular jet fuel and a bio-version made from jatropha. [More]

Tags: jet, jatropha, zealand, flight, biofuel

For all the magnificent diversity of on this planet, ranging from tiny bacteria to majestic blue whales, from sunshine-harv­­est­­ing plants to mineral-digesting endoliths miles underground, only one kind of “life as we know it” exists. All these organisms are based on nucleic acids--DNA and RNA--and proteins, working together more or less as described by the so-called central dogma of molecular biology: DNA stores information that is transcribed into RNA, which then serves as a template for producing a protein. The proteins, in turn, serve as important structural elements in tissues and, as enzymes, are the cell’s workhorses. Yet scientists dream of synthesizing life that is utterly alien to this world--both to better understand the minimum components required for life (as part of the quest to uncover the essence of life and how life originated on earth) and, frankly, to see if they can do it. That is, they hope to put together a novel combination of molecules that can self-organize, metabolize (make use of an energy source), grow, reproduce and evolve. [More] Galapagos Invaders Actually Native Species [The following is an exact transcript of this podcast.] Darwin's fabled isles, the Galapagos, are in need of a makeover. And removing invasive species of plants tops the to-do list for the islands’ restoration. But six species that were set to be exterminated have gotten a reprieve. Because a new study finds that they’re actually natives. [More]

Tags: life, protein, species, native, serve

Cities deep underwater, frozen continents, the collapse of global agriculture: so far, much of the discussion about climate change has focused on these distant, catastrophic effects of a superheated world. What's less talked about is how global warming is making itself felt already. Even the modest temperature rise we've already experienced has set in motion fundamental shifts--and the further warming we can expect in the next few decades has the potential to set off dramatic changes. View Slideshow: Top 10 Places Affected by Climate Change [More] Chicago's Plans to Go Green You might assume that Chicago dislikes environmentalists, judging by the response they get along Michigan Avenue. They loiter on its crowded sidewalks, trying to stop people with the brightness of their T-shirts, the authority of their clipboards and the innocence of their question: “Do you have a minute to save the earth?” Almost no passerby has that minute, let alone $20 to donate to the cause. What most people have is a scowl, a dismissive wave of the hand and the accelerating stride of a running back. In a city synonymous with Al Capone, do-gooder appeals are about as practical as a citizen’s arrest. But although 2.8 million residents of Chicago may scoff at the notion that noble intentions can stop climate change, that doesn’t mean they think the problem can’t be solved. The city’s leaders know that to get people to save the earth, you must appeal to their bank accounts, not just their consciences. And those leaders are putting their reputation on the line to prove it. [More]

Tags: change, climate, chicago, people, earth

Cities deep underwater, frozen continents, the collapse of global agriculture: so far, much of the discussion about climate change has focused on these distant, catastrophic effects of a superheated world. What's less talked about is how global warming is making itself felt already. Even the modest temperature rise we've already experienced has set in motion fundamental shifts--and the further warming we can expect in the next few decades has the potential to set off dramatic changes. View Slideshow: Top 10 Places Affected by Climate Change [More] Chicago's Plans to Go Green You might assume that Chicago dislikes environmentalists, judging by the response they get along Michigan Avenue. They loiter on its crowded sidewalks, trying to stop people with the brightness of their T-shirts, the authority of their clipboards and the innocence of their question: “Do you have a minute to save the earth?” Almost no passerby has that minute, let alone $20 to donate to the cause. What most people have is a scowl, a dismissive wave of the hand and the accelerating stride of a running back. In a city synonymous with Al Capone, do-gooder appeals are about as practical as a citizen’s arrest. But although 2.8 million residents of Chicago may scoff at the notion that noble intentions can stop climate change, that doesn’t mean they think the problem can’t be solved. The city’s leaders know that to get people to save the earth, you must appeal to their bank accounts, not just their consciences. And those leaders are putting their reputation on the line to prove it. [More]

Tags: change, climate, chicago, people, earth

Take Two Pills and Don’t Call Me in the MorningUp to 58 percent of physicians in the U.S. regularly prescribe placebos, according to a survey of 679 rheumatologists and general internists conducted by Jon C. Tilburt of the National Institutes of Health and his colleagues. Even though placebos may contain no active ingredients, many ailments still respond positively to them [see “The Placebo Effect,” by Walter A. Brown; Scientific American, January 1998]. [More] Top 10 Places Already Affected by Climate Change Cities deep underwater, frozen continents, the collapse of global agriculture: so far, much of the discussion about climate change has focused on these distant, catastrophic effects of a superheated world. What's less talked about is how global warming is making itself felt already. Even the modest temperature rise we've already experienced has set in motion fundamental shifts--and the further warming we can expect in the next few decades has the potential to set off dramatic changes. View Slideshow: Top 10 Places Affected by Climate Change [More]

Tags: placebo, change, climate, effect, set

A UK jury has decided that breaking the law and causing large scale criminal is justifiable in the name of climate change alarmism. Here is how The Independent reported it: The threat of global warming is so great that campaigners werejustified in causing more than £35,000 worth of damage to a coal-firedpower station, a jury decided yesterday. In a verdict that will haveshocked ministers and energy companies the jury at Maidstone CrownCourt cleared six Greenpeace activists of criminal damage. Jurorsaccepted defence arguments that the six had a "lawful excuse" to damageproperty at Kingsnorth power station in Kent to prevent even greaterdamage caused by climate change. The defence of "lawful excuse" underthe Criminal Damage Act 1971 allows damage to be caused to property toprevent even greater damage – such as breaking down the door of aburning house to tackle a fire. The not-guilty verdict, deliveredafter two days and greeted with cheers in the courtroom, raises thestakes for the most pressing issue on Britain's green agenda and couldencourage further direct action. Of course, this is only one idiot jury. But it can set a precedent unless the legal authorities determine to overturn it at law. Let us hope EOn has the sense to appeal.  More than that. Let us hope that these Greenepeace anarchists don't find out where we live as, it seems we in the UK who do not subscribe to alarmist GW theory, may be in real danger of seeing our houses and cars vandalised - without legal redress.  For the record . I have written a peace which sets out the opposite case and showing plainly why a coal-fired Kingsnorth should get the go ahead and drawing the analogy with a massive coal-fired plant in Western India given the go aherad because it will drag around 16 million out of abject poverty. Therein lies the bigger human picture. One version is due to appear in the magazine Energy Tribune (fo whom I am a features writer) in October or November. Another is sitting with an editor in a British magazine (so don't hold your breath for that one. ) US Old Farmers Almaanac 2009 Predicts Colder Winter - And Global Cooling Of course, it is not just the popular science and mass media that is hot on prophetic insight (if lousy on facts) but The Old Farmers Almanac -- which at least has a real stake in knowing -- predicts too. And they predict not only a colder 2008-9 winter, but global cooling over the next 50 years. Go here to USA Today for more.

Tags: damage, jury, strong, coal, global

A UK jury has decided that breaking the law and causing large scale criminal is justifiable in the name of climate change alarmism. Here is how The Independent reported it: The threat of global warming is so great that campaigners werejustified in causing more than £35,000 worth of damage to a coal-firedpower station, a jury decided yesterday. In a verdict that will haveshocked ministers and energy companies the jury at Maidstone CrownCourt cleared six Greenpeace activists of criminal damage. Jurorsaccepted defence arguments that the six had a "lawful excuse" to damageproperty at Kingsnorth power station in Kent to prevent even greaterdamage caused by climate change. The defence of "lawful excuse" underthe Criminal Damage Act 1971 allows damage to be caused to property toprevent even greater damage – such as breaking down the door of aburning house to tackle a fire. The not-guilty verdict, deliveredafter two days and greeted with cheers in the courtroom, raises thestakes for the most pressing issue on Britain's green agenda and couldencourage further direct action. Of course, this is only one idiot jury. But it can set a precedent unless the legal authorities determine to overturn it at law. Let us hope EOn has the sense to appeal.  More than that. Let us hope that these Greenepeace anarchists don't find out where we live as, it seems we in the UK who do not subscribe to alarmist GW theory, may be in real danger of seeing our houses and cars vandalised - without legal redress.  For the record . I have written a peace which sets out the opposite case and showing plainly why a coal-fired Kingsnorth should get the go ahead and drawing the analogy with a massive coal-fired plant in Western India given the go aherad because it will drag around 16 million out of abject poverty. Therein lies the bigger human picture. One version is due to appear in the magazine Energy Tribune (fo whom I am a features writer) in October or November. Another is sitting with an editor in a British magazine (so don't hold your breath for that one. ) US Old Farmers Almaanac 2009 Predicts Colder Winter - And Global Cooling Of course, it is not just the popular science and mass media that is hot on prophetic insight (if lousy on facts) but The Old Farmers Almanac -- which at least has a real stake in knowing -- predicts too. And they predict not only a colder 2008-9 winter, but global cooling over the next 50 years. Go here to USA Today for more.

Tags: damage, jury, strong, coal, global

Take Two Pills and Don’t Call Me in the MorningUp to 58 percent of physicians in the U.S. regularly prescribe placebos, according to a survey of 679 rheumatologists and general internists conducted by Jon C. Tilburt of the National Institutes of Health and his colleagues. Even though placebos may contain no active ingredients, many ailments still respond positively to them [see “The Placebo Effect,” by Walter A. Brown; Scientific American, January 1998]. [More] Top 10 Places Already Affected by Climate Change Cities deep underwater, frozen continents, the collapse of global agriculture: so far, much of the discussion about climate change has focused on these distant, catastrophic effects of a superheated world. What's less talked about is how global warming is making itself felt already. Even the modest temperature rise we've already experienced has set in motion fundamental shifts--and the further warming we can expect in the next few decades has the potential to set off dramatic changes. View Slideshow: Top 10 Places Affected by Climate Change [More]

Tags: placebo, change, climate, effect, set

Take Two Pills and Don’t Call Me in the MorningUp to 58 percent of physicians in the U.S. regularly prescribe placebos, according to a survey of 679 rheumatologists and general internists conducted by Jon C. Tilburt of the National Institutes of Health and his colleagues. Even though placebos may contain no active ingredients, many ailments still respond positively to them [see “The Placebo Effect,” by Walter A. Brown; Scientific American, January 1998]. [More] Top 10 Places Already Affected by Climate Change Cities deep underwater, frozen continents, the collapse of global agriculture: so far, much of the discussion about climate has focused on these distant, catastrophic effects of a superheated world. What's less talked about is how global warming is making itself felt already. Even the modest temperature rise we've already experienced has set in motion fundamental shifts--and the further warming we can expect in the next few decades has the potential to set off dramatic changes. View Slideshow: Top 10 Places Affected by Climate Change [More]

Tags: placebo, change, climate, effect, set

Take Two Pills and Don’t Call Me in the MorningUp to 58 percent of physicians in the U.S. regularly prescribe placebos, according to a survey of 679 rheumatologists and general internists conducted by Jon C. Tilburt of the National Institutes of Health and his colleagues. Even though placebos may contain no active ingredients, many ailments still respond positively to them [see “The Placebo Effect,” by Walter A. Brown; Scientific American, January 1998]. [More] Top 10 Places Already Affected by Climate Change Cities deep underwater, frozen continents, the collapse of global agriculture: so far, much of the discussion about climate has focused on these distant, catastrophic effects of a superheated world. What's less talked about is how global warming is making itself felt already. Even the modest temperature rise we've already experienced has set in motion fundamental shifts--and the further warming we can expect in the next few decades has the potential to set off dramatic changes. View Slideshow: Top 10 Places Affected by Climate Change [More]

Tags: placebo, change, climate, effect, set

Technology policy lies at the core of the climate change challenge. Even with a cutback in wasteful energy spending, our current technologies cannot support both a decline in carbon dioxide emissions and an expanding global economy. If we try to restrain emissions without a fundamentally new set of technologies, we will end up stifling economic growth, including the development prospects for billions of people. The key is new low-carbon technology, not simply energy efficiency. [More] Green Buildings May Be Cheapest Way to Slow Global Warming North American homes, offices and other buildings contribute an estimated 2.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere every year--more than one third of the continent's greenhouse gas pollution output. Simply constructing more energy-efficient buildings--and upgrading the insulation and windows in the existing ones--could save a whopping 1.7 billion tons annually, says a new report from the Montreal-based Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), an international organization established by Canada, Mexico and the U.S. under the North American Free Trade Agreement to address continent-wide environmental issues. [More]

Tags: carbon, energy, buildings, billion, environmental

The past year has been both tempestuous and exciting--from pet food, E. coli and toy poisoning scares to political fireworks over embryonic stem cell research to forest fires ravaging California. A controversial Nobel scientist (James Watson) went down in a blaze of infamy, tumbling from grace after putting his foot in his mouth one time too many, whereas a former vice president and defeated presidential candidate (Al Gore) rose from the ashes to become a Nobel Peace prize (and Oscar) winner for raising awareness on the urgency of global warming. The honor came on the heels of official worldwide recognition that climate change is not only a pressing problem, but one that was almost completely caused by humans--and one, too, that humans must fix. On a related note, we discovered that the North Pole is melting, beloved freshwater dolphins are practically extinct and nuclear power--feared since the 1979 near-meltdown of the Three Mile Island nuke plant in Middletown, Pa.--has become the clean-energy alternative du jour that even has the backing of some enviros. For the first time, too, we enjoyed (depending on how you look at it) an extra month of daylight saving time, thanks to Congress, which made the move to save energy and, lawmakers said, to cut down on traffic accidents--and, perhaps most important, to make Halloween more special and safe. [More]

Tags: time, nobel, energy, humans, nuclear

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a ubiquitous compound in plastics. First synthesized in 1891, the chemical has become a key building block of plastics from polycarbonate to polyester; in the U.S. alone more than 2.3 billion pounds (1.04 million metric tons) of the stuff is manufactured annually. Since at least 1936 it has been known that BPA mimics estrogens, binding to the same receptors throughout the human body as natural female hormones. And tests have shown that the chemical can promote human breast cancer cell growth as well as decrease sperm count in rats, among other effects. These findings have raised questions about the potential health risks of BPA, especially in the wake of hosts of studies showing that it leaches from plastics and resins when they are exposed to hard use or high temperatures (as in microwaves or dishwashers). -not-fantastic-with-bisphenol-a>[More] Letters Lifestyle Link?“Playing Defense against Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” by Patrick Aebischer and Ann C. Kato, was an excellent and hopeful summary of current research on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). But the last paragraph, which suggests that lifestyle may play a role in the development of ALS (and which mentions that regular exercise offers some protection against neurodegenerative diseases), seems to have little to do with the research described in the article. [More]

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Welcome to Science Talk, the weekly podcast of Scientific American, for the seven days back dated to February 20th, 2008, because I actually filed on the evening of the February 21st, well, I'm Steve Mirsky by the way. If you have been breathlessly waiting for this ’s podcast I apologize, I was out of town at a couple of conferences and this week's episode features some highlights from one of them and that's the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the AAAS, which took place last week in the beginning of this current week in Boston. The other conference was inside baseball, was about the future of science journalism, which is going to be good, thankfully. So, this week on the podcast we'll hear from Nobel laureate David Baltimore about HIV research. We also have an interview with the director of the jet propulsion laboratory, Charles Elachi, and in a real coup, we actually managed to get Scientific American editor Mark Fischetti to come on board and make an appearance. First up, David Baltimore, he is the president of the AAAS and professor of biology at Caltech. He shared the 1975 Nobel Prize for the discovery of the reverse transcriptase. I attended his presidential address to the conference and he spent a few minutes reviewing the effort to create an HIV vaccine. Here's what he said. [More] Dark Side of Solar Cells Brightens It takes power to make power--even with a solar grand plan. From the mining of quartz sand to the coating with ethylene-vinyl acetate, manufacturing a photovoltaic (PV) solar cell requires energy--most often derived from the burning of fossil fuels. But a new analysis finds that even accounting for all the energy and waste involved, PV power would cut air pollution--including the greenhouse gases that cause climate change--by nearly 90 percent if it replaced fossil fuels. [More]

Tags: week, science, conference, solar, american

The 19th-century creators of neoclassical economics--the theory that now serves as the basis for coordinating activities in the global market system--are credited with transforming their field into a scientific discipline. But what is not widely known is that these now legendary economists--William Stanley Jevons, Léon Walras, Maria Edgeworth and Vilfredo Pareto--developed their theories by adapting equations from 19th-century physics that eventually became obsolete. Unfortunately, it is clear that neoclassical economics has also become outdated. The theory is based on unscientific assumptions that are hindering the implementation of viable economic solutions for global warming and other menacing environmental problems. The physical theory that the creators of neoclassical economics used as a template was conceived in response to the inability of Newtonian physics to account for the phenomena of heat, light and electricity. In 1847 German physicist Hermann von Helmholtz formulated the conservation of energy principle and postulated the existence of a field of conserved energy that fills all space and unifies these phenomena. Later in the century James Maxwell, Ludwig Boltzmann and other physicists devised better explanations for electromagnetism and thermodynamics, but in the meantime, the economists had borrowed and altered Helmholtz’s equations. [More] Rainforest Climate Change Sensor Station Goes Wi-Fi For more than half a century, the La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica has provided researchers with the data needed to study everything from local amphibian and reptile populations to global warming. To meet a growing demand for La Selva's treasure trove of biological and environmental data, the main facilities are getting a $785,000 high-tech makeover that includes wireless access to measurement systems that collect and transmit data and provide a dynamic 3-D analysis of the rainforest canopy. [More]

Tags: economic, century, global, economist, theory

Ornithologist and conservation biologist Jeffrey Wells talks about birds and their roles as markers for environmental health. He also discusses the Boreal Forest, the Boreal Birdsong Initiative, the eBird research project (that you can assist) and his new book, The Birder's Conservation Handbook. We also have a brief tribute to the late Arthur C. Clarke. Plus we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.ebird.org; www.borealbirds.org Podcast Transcript: [More] Technological Keys to Climate Protection Technology policy lies at the core of the climate change challenge. Even with a cutback in wasteful energy spending, our current technologies cannot support both a decline in carbon dioxide emissions and an expanding global economy. If we try to restrain emissions without a fundamentally new set of technologies, we will end up stifling economic growth, including the development prospects for billions of people. Economists often talk as though putting a price on carbon emissions--through tradable permits or a carbon tax--will be enough to deliver the needed reductions in those emissions. This is not true. Europe’s carbon-trading system has not shown much capacity to generate large-scale research nor to develop, demonstrate and deploy breakthrough technologies. A trading system might marginally influence the choices between coal and gas plants or provoke a bit more adoption of solar and wind power, but it will not lead to the necessary fundamental overhaul of energy systems. [More]

Tags: carbon, emissions, system, birds, technologies

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a ubiquitous compound in plastics. First synthesized in 1891, the chemical has become a key building block of plastics from polycarbonate to polyester; in the U.S. alone more than 2.3 billion pounds (1.04 million metric tons) of the stuff is manufactured annually. Since at least 1936 it has been known that BPA mimics estrogens, binding to the same receptors throughout the human body as natural female hormones. And tests have shown that the chemical can promote human breast cancer cell growth as well as decrease sperm count in rats, among other effects. These findings have raised questions about the potential health risks of BPA, especially in the wake of hosts of studies showing that it leaches from plastics and resins when they are exposed to hard use or high temperatures (as in microwaves or dishwashers). -not-fantastic-with-bisphenol-a>[More] Letters Lifestyle Link?“Playing Defense against Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” by Patrick Aebischer and Ann C. Kato, was an excellent and hopeful summary of current research on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). But the last paragraph, which suggests that lifestyle may play a role in the development of ALS (and which mentions that regular exercise offers some protection against neurodegenerative diseases), seems to have little to do with the research described in the article. [More]

Tags: plastic, bpa, chemical, research, human

Plastic imbued with clay nanoparticles helps make Miller Brewing Co. beer bottles less likely to break as well as improves how long the brew lasts in storage. Simply H's Toddler Health nutritional drink mix includes 300-nanometer (300 billionths of a meter) iron particles. And a wide range of cooking and cleaning items now employ nanosize silver particles to kill microbes. [More] News Bytes of the Week--Flooding the Grand Canyon to Save a Fish Man-made deluge scours Grand Canyon in the name of endangered fishTo survive, the humpback chub--an endangered with a prominent hump of flesh immediately behind its long-snouted head--needs sandbars in the Colorado River. These silt deposits create calm waters where the fish can spawn and also cloud the river creating conditions in which the chub can thrive. But the building of the Glen Canyon Dam in the 1960s ended the natural ebb and flow of the river that courses through the Grand Canyon, which severely altered the natural conditions in which the chub evolved, pushing the silvery-green fish onto the path of extinction. This week, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne personally supervised the release of 41,500 cubic feet (1,175 cubic meters) of water per second over a 60-hour period to mimic a natural flood that will enlarge existing sandbars. The bars themselves, however, won't survive very long--they'll be quickly eroded when river levels are shifted to maximize electricity generation. And there are no plans to repeat the inundation, which is itself a repeat of similar efforts in 1996 and 2004 that didn't succeed in helping the fish. One environmental advocate told The New York Times that the well-publicized event was a "charade." (USGS, The Economist, The New York Times)  [More]

Tags: fish, canyon, river, grand, natural

Plastic imbued with clay nanoparticles helps make Miller Brewing Co. beer bottles less likely to break as well as improves how long the brew lasts in storage. Simply H's Toddler Health nutritional drink mix includes 300-nanometer (300 billionths of a meter) iron particles. And a wide range of cooking and cleaning items now employ nanosize silver particles to kill microbes. [More] News Bytes of the Week--Flooding the Grand Canyon to Save a Fish Man-made deluge scours Grand Canyon in the name of endangered fishTo survive, the humpback chub--an endangered with a prominent hump of flesh immediately behind its long-snouted head--needs sandbars in the Colorado River. These silt deposits create calm waters where the fish can spawn and also cloud the river creating conditions in which the chub can thrive. But the building of the Glen Canyon Dam in the 1960s ended the natural ebb and flow of the river that courses through the Grand Canyon, which severely altered the natural conditions in which the chub evolved, pushing the silvery-green fish onto the path of extinction. This week, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne personally supervised the release of 41,500 cubic feet (1,175 cubic meters) of water per second over a 60-hour period to mimic a natural flood that will enlarge existing sandbars. The bars themselves, however, won't survive very long--they'll be quickly eroded when river levels are shifted to maximize electricity generation. And there are no plans to repeat the inundation, which is itself a repeat of similar efforts in 1996 and 2004 that didn't succeed in helping the fish. One environmental advocate told The New York Times that the well-publicized event was a "charade." (USGS, The Economist, The New York Times)  [More]

Tags: fish, canyon, river, grand, natural

Like many of her neighbors, Maria Recchia-O'Neill has a sport utility vehicle sitting in her driveway in Rye Brook, just north of New York City. She drives it to work and around town to run errands. But although her vehicle looks like any other SUV, her Chevrolet Equinox gets excellent gas mileage--and it doesn't emit any pollutants or climate change–promoting carbon dioxide. That is because it is a hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle--one of 40 such automobiles that U.S. carmaker General Motors provided for motorists to road test. [More] Brother, Can You Spare Me a Planet? (Extended version) The causes of the environmental crisis may be hugely complex, but the most effective way to deal with it in economic terms seems rather obvious. We must use our best scientific understanding of how environmental problems can be resolved as the basis for implementing scientifically viable economic policies and solutions. If this could be accomplished within the framework of the economic theory that we now use to coordinate economic activities in the global market system--neoclassical economics--there would be no cause for concern. But as this discussion will demonstrate, there is a large problem here that should be cause for great concern: Neoclassical economic theory is predicated on unscientific assumptions that massively frustrate or effectively undermine efforts to implement scientifically viable economic policies and solutions. [More]

Tags: economic, vehicle, scientifically, neoclassical, concern