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Can New York City's infrastructure handle climate change's consequences?
Mayor Michael Bloomberg sets up a panel of experts to examine whether NYC can cope with flooded subway tunnels, rising sea levels, intense heat, and other consequences of climate change
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Evidence of acid rain supports meteorite theory of Tunguska catastrophe
There are many theories about the source of the mysterious 1908 explosion in Siberia, an explosion which leveled more than 80 million trees over an area of more than 2,000 square kilometers; presence of acid rain lends support to one of them
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AMEC-led consortium to clean up Sellafield
Treating and cleaning nuclear waste is part and parcel of nuclear power generation; The U.K. government, a proponent of greater reliance on nuclear power, takes steps to deal with legacy waste problems
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GAO strongly criticizes DoE over Hanford clean-up
More than 210 million liters of radioactive and chemical waste are stored in 177 underground tanks at Hanford in Washington State; most are more than fifty years old; GAO says there now “serious questions about the tanks’ long-term viability”
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Cow backpacks trap methane gas
Argentina has more than 55 million cows, making it a leading producer of beef; a standard 550 kg cow produces between 800 to 1,000 liters of emissions, including methane, each day; scientists: “Thirty percent of Argentina’s (total greenhouse) emissions could be generated by cattle”
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Impinj acquires Intel's RFID assets
Intel’s New Business Initiatives (NBI) incubator helped develop the award-winning R1000 RFID reader chip, which integrates onto a single chip 90 percent of the components required for a reader radio; Impinj acquires the R1000 reader chip
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Debate over environmental impact of border fence continues
The San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area is part of the U.S.-Mexico border, and all agree that the area’s ecosystem is particularly delicate; DHS wants to build a fence there, but environmentalists object
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German-Japanese collaboration on carbon dioxide recovery
Mitsubishi, E.ON to test a system which recovers carbon dioxide from flue-gas emissions at a coal-fired power plant in Germany
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Melting ice menaces Russia's critical infrastructure
Russian scientists say that the hard permafrost covering the ground year-round across Russia’s far north will melt by 2030; government officials say that if this happens, critical infrastructure, including key airfields, oil storage facilities, and strategic oil reservoirs, could all be destroyed
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Shape-shifting, self-powered skyscraper
Architect unveils design for a moving, shape-shifting skyscraper; each floor would rotate independently; tower would be self-powered, generating its own electricity, as well as power for other nearby buildings
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Purifying farm-yard waste water
Scottish researchers develop a method for turning farm-yard waster into water fit to bathe in; new method also prevents loss of contaminants to rivers and lakes, where they may be detrimental to animal or human health
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U.S. intelligence agencies: Climate change threatens national security
Climate change could threaten U.S. security in the next twenty years by causing political instability, mass movements of refugees, terrorism, or conflicts over water and other resources in specific countries
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Hybrid trucks could save fuel and the environment
Sales of small- to medium-size hybrid passenger cars are growing fast, but hybrid technology for trucks is about a decade behind; U.S. Congress wants to change that
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Extreme weather events may unleash perfect storm of infectious disease
Climatic conditions can alter normal host-pathogen relationships; diseases that are tolerated individually may converge and cause mass die-offs of livestock or wildlife
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Floridians believe global warming will have dangerous impacts on the state
Florida Residents want government to do more to address climate change; new survey of Floridians finds that most are convinced that global warming is happening now and that more should be done by key leaders to help Florida deal with climate change
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The long view
Despite Recent Water Supply Improvement, More Cuts Expected for Colorado River, Feds Say
After Lake Mead hit an all-time low two years ago, the Colorado River’s water supply is in a much better position this summer, but it hasn’t improved enough to prevent further cuts this year.