Miscellaneous
Corporate leaders issue strongest call yet to governments to decarbonize the economy
Business leaders gathered in the French capital for Climate Week Paris made their stance known in no uncertain terms yesterday: "We want a global climate deal that achieves net zero emissions — make it happen," they said in a statement directed at almost 200 governments six months ahead of a Read More...
Human Charger uses light to sync humans with the sun, reduces jet lag symptoms
Finnish company Valkee knows a thing or two about seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Its latest device, called the Human Charger, aims to improve jet lag by sending UV-free, blue-enriched white light through earbuds to keep the user in sync with the cycle of the sun. Light as preventive Read More...
Japan’s zoos and aquariums cut ties with cruel dolphin hunt
In mid-2009, the tiny Japanese fishing village of Taiji found itself at the center of an international controversy over dolphin hunting when it was featured in the celebrated documentary The Cove. Yesterday, Japan's association of zoos and aquariums announced that it will stop buying dolphins Read More...
Organic farming beneficial to biodiversity, study finds
The need to meet the food demand of a growing global population runs into one major self-defeating cycle: intensive conventional agriculture damages biodiversity—what with chemicals and monocrops destroying plants diversity and wildlife habitats. Eventually, reduced biodiversity jeopardizes Read More...
Animal behavior and conservation class helps inmates develop compassion
Relating with nature helps people connect to what makes them human. Even when behind bars. Marc Bekoff, professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado, has been teaching "Animal Behavior and Conservation" to male prisoners for over a decade. In this Read More...
Renewable energy deployment creates twice as many jobs as fossil fuel development
Some 7.7 million people are now employed across the global renewable energy value chain, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). That’s up 18 percent from 6.5 million in 2014. In other words, renewable energy job creation continues to far outpace that for economies Read More...
Brewing beer from the Chilean desert’s fog
The Atrapaneblina (fog catcher) brewery is an irresistible case of the human inventive spirit thumbing its nose at adversity. In Chile’s Atacama Desert, its crew is able to retrieve enough water from the fog to produce 6,300 gallons of beer per year. The process starts with special nets designed Read More...
Limestone-producing bacteria is key to self-repairing living concrete
Cracked concrete is unsightly. It can also severely compromise structures if water is allowed to seep through it. After several years of development, a Dutch research team at Delft University of Technology has come up with a solution inspired by nature: a living concrete infused with the ability Read More...
Caterpillar is new weapon for war on drugs
Colombia, one of the world’s top producers of cocaine, plans to resort to an organic agriculture trick to destroy its most problematic crop — coca. The chemical herbicide glyphosate, which the government has been routinely using to spray the illegal plants, was recently declared carcinogen by Read More...
Aid programs for poor families yield sustainable positive outcome, study shows
The impact of programs designed to lift families out of extreme poverty has typically been guess work at best. This may be about to change thanks to the very first science-based study conducted for five years in six countries. In clinical-study fashion, it assessed and compared the evolution of Read More...