Environment

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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Ocean changes may trigger U.S. megadrought
From AD 800 to 1250 the North American continent suffered from an exceedingly dry period; experts build climate model which shows that the warming of the oceans may lead to another long parched period — what they call “megadrought”
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World's oil reserves may be twice as large as currently estimated
U.K. expert blames flawed statistical tools used by oil companies in estimating the size of oil reserves for creating an impression of oil scarcity
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Australian budget tackles environment concerns
New government budget show government’s intent to tackle Australia’s growing water problems; critics charge that the government has not gone far enough to save the Murray-Darling Basin; the huge river system is drying up under the pressure of Australia’s epic drought and excessive water extraction for irrigation
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San Francisco aggressively to promote use of electric vehicles
The City on the Bay to help build charging infrastructure throughout the city and the suburbs to make use of electrical vehicles viable
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Scientists debate link between climate change and storm ferocity
Cyclone Nargis, just before it smashed into Myanmar, suddenly changed gear from a Category One to a Category Four cyclone just before it made landfall; similar changes were noted in other recent tropical storms; are changes linked to global warming?
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Senate Democrats criticize political involvement in toxic chemical decisions
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) says extensive involvement by EPA managers, White House budget officials, and other agencies has eroded the independence of EPA scientists charged with determining the health risks posed by chemicals
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Partnership to produce sugarcane-based diesel
High corn prices have driven California-based biofuel specialist Amyris to join with a Brazilian company to produce sugarcane-based diesel
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Technological breakthrough in the fight to cut greenhouse gases
New, efficient method found to convert waste carbon dioxide (CO2) into chemical compounds known as cyclic carbonates; researchers estimate that the technology has the potential to use up to 48 million tons of waste CO2 per year, reducing the U.K. emissions by about four percent
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NTR invests in SES
Irish renewable energy company buys controlling interest in SES; SES is developing two of the world’s largest solar generating projects in the Imperial Valley and Mojave Desert
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