Scintilla: recommendations to the group We're all going to die

Greenhouse gas emissions shock scientists

2008-09-26T09:07:45-04:00

from alf

posted in L.A. Times - Environment on 26 September, 2008

clip: Carbon dioxide output is rising rather than falling, despite efforts to curb it. 'It's scary,' one researcher says.

Why the world WON'T end on September 10

2008-09-01T12:07:30-04:00

from alf

posted in New Scientist Short Sharp Science Blog on 1 September, 2008

clip: Hurray for the European Court of Human Rights. It has rejected an emergency injunction to block the Large Hadron Collider from turning on on 10 September.

World on the verge of the last great land grab

2008-07-14T16:08:08-04:00

from alf

posted in New Scientist - Latest Headlines on 14 July, 2008

clip: Booming demand for resources as the world's population surges from 6 to 9 billion will put unsustainable demand on the remaining forests

Sturgeon swimming towards 'extinction vortex'

2008-07-14T16:08:05-04:00

from alf

posted in New Scientist - Latest Headlines on 14 July, 2008

clip: Irrational preferences for rare products are likely to drive the few remaining caviar sturgeon in the Caspian Sea to extinction, warn biologists

The Earth Will Not Be Sucked Into A Black Hole. But it may coexist with a large number of tiny black holes until the end of time as we know it

2008-06-24T21:14:09-04:00

from alf

posted in Greg Laden's Blog on 24 June, 2008

clip: An utterly incomprehensible paper has been produced by a team of physicists, designed to make everyone feel better about the possibility that the Large Hadron Collider will produce black holes that will suck the Earth into themselves.

Scientists Surprised to Find Earth's Biosphere Booming

2008-06-09T05:06:58-04:00

from alf

posted in Slashdot: Science on 9 June, 2008

clip: radioweather writes "An article from the Financial Post says that recent studies of biosphere imaging from the NASA SEAWIFS satellite indicate that the Earth's biomass is booming: 'The results surprised Steven Running of the University of Montana and Ramakrishna Nemani of NASA, scientists involved in analyzing the NASA satellite data.

Prototype Nano Assembler

2008-05-01T16:02:43-04:00

from alf

posted in Responsible Nanotechnology on 29 April, 2008

clip: This is not what you'd normally expect to see in a press release from a U.S. government scientist:

Only science can save us from climate catastrophe

2008-01-19T22:00:38-05:00

from alf

posted in Science | guardian.co.uk on 20 January, 2008

clip: John Gray: With an increasing population, the earnest debate over the merit of biofuels and wind farms misses the point - it is the technologies we fear that will be our salvation

Cancer drugs at risk as plant species die off

2008-01-19T22:00:40-05:00

from alf

posted in Science | guardian.co.uk on 19 January, 2008

clip: Medicines for HIV and cancer could be lost because plants used in their preparation are facing extinction, experts have warned

Facing the Serious Questions

2008-01-16T15:00:06-05:00

from alf

posted in The Speculist on 16 January, 2008

clip: I, for one, welcome our new monkey overlords with their thought-controlled robotic henchmen.

Does Active SETI Put Earth in Danger?

2007-12-13T17:09:46-05:00

from alf

posted in Slashdot: Science on 13 December, 2007

clip: Ponca City, We Love You writes "There is an interesting story in Seed Magazine on active SETI — sending out signals to try to contact other civilizations in nearby star systems.

Robots Assimilate Into Cockroach Society

2007-11-16T21:03:46-05:00

from euan: "This is tempting fate."

posted in Slashdot: Science on 17 November, 2007

clip: sufijazz writes "Scientists have gotten tiny robots to not only integrate into cockroach society but also control it. 'This experiment in bug peer pressure combined entomology, robotics and the study of ways that complex and even intelligent patterns can arise from simple behavior.

The Nuclear Power Renaissance

2007-11-15T00:02:57-05:00

from alf

posted in Slashdot: Science on 15 November, 2007

clip: Actual Reality writes "It is ironic to me that much of the same sentiment that thwarted the nuclear power industry back in the 80's is partially responsible for reviving it. Nuclear power is very clean compared to any power source that burns fuel. The US has missed several advancements in nuclear technology.

UK bird flu outbreak confirmed as H5N1

2007-11-13T17:04:24-05:00

from alf

posted in New Scientist - Latest Headlines on 13 November, 2007

clip: The cases of avian flu at a Suffolk turkey farm have been confirmed as the highly pathogenic form of the virus that can be deadly to humans

Arizona Biologist Dies of Plague

2007-11-12T11:03:31-05:00

from euan

posted in Ontogeny on 12 November, 2007

clip:

Bush administration's nuclear plan criticised

2007-11-03T10:09:11-04:00

from alf

posted in New Scientist - Latest Headlines on 3 November, 2007

clip: Plan to encourage worldwide adoption of nuclear power could be "greatest technological debacle in US history" say experts

Like primates? Tough. Kiss 'em goodbye.

2007-10-26T18:08:52-04:00

from alf

posted in Neurotopia (version 2.0) on 26 October, 2007

clip: It's not a good millenium to be a monkey.

After the Warming: a view from 2050 (via 1989)

2007-10-26T10:00:42-04:00

from alf: ""Eighteen years ago British journalist/historian James Burke wrote and starred in a TV documentary on climate change.""

posted in The Island of Doubt on 26 October, 2007

clip:

Geologist: Mass Extinction Event 250 Million Years Ago Not Caused By Meteor

2007-10-25T11:09:57-04:00

from alf

posted in Scientific Blogging on 25 October, 2007

clip: The greatest mass extinction in Earth’s history also may have been one of the slowest, according to a study that casts further doubt on the extinction-by-meteor theory. Creeping environmental stress fueled by volcanic eruptions and global warming was the likely cause of the Great Dying 250 million years ago, said USC doctoral student Catherine Powers.

Absent prions blow hole in BSE theory

2007-10-25T11:08:32-04:00

from alf: ""Abnormal prions might not be the infectious agents that cause BSE after all""

posted in New Scientist - Latest Headlines on 25 October, 2007

clip: Abnormal prions might not be the infectious agents that cause BSE after all, prompting fears that UK testing might be missing some cases