By Mike Robbins
Hydrogen -- Star Gas, Everywhere, Yet Unseen. Sunlight is its Child.
(Haiku by Stephen Wetlesen)
February 27, 2015
It’s not news that the ocean
plays a role in climate
change. It absorbs heat,
sequesters carbon, releases
carbon, impacts local
weather patterns, etc. Hell,
the ocean covers about 70
percent of the Earth’s
surface, so it would be kind
of shocking if it didn’t have
a big role to play. But we
are still literally in the
dark about some of the
deepest, darkest parts of
the ocean — they might as
well be in outer space given
how much we know about them.
We still have a long
way to go in the struggle
for climate justice, but I
believe that in 2015 we’ll
see another big leap forward
in the support of frontline
leadership.
Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.)
last week got a taste of
what Israeli Jews and
non-Muslim tourists face
when they visit the Temple
Mount in Jerusalem and are
met by Palestinian activists
shouting “Allahu akbar” and
try to intimidate them to
leave.
Arizona Public Service (APS)
has entered into an
agreement with data center
services company IO to
provide IO's customers with
data center capacity powered
by 100 percent renewable
energy.
What Erdogan, the Prime
Minister of Turkey says is
actually perfect and totally
Islamic because Islam
is Islam. We don’t have
such a thing like — “radical
Islam extremism” — many
things that are said in
Islam like beheading, like
stoning, like flogging —
they are not extremism acts,
those are pure Islam.
California’s largest
utility, Pacific Gas and
Electric Company, PG&E, is
asking state regulators for
permission to build some
25,000 electric vehicle
chargers at sites across its
service area in Northern and
Central California.
Investment in U.S. clean
energy reached $51.8 billion
in 2014, 7 percent above
2013 levels and five times
more than a decade ago,
according to the Business
Council for Sustainable
Energy (BCSE) commissioned
Sustainable Energy in
America Factbook, marking a
clear transformation of the
U.S. energy economy.
A petition drive that
would let Florida voters
expand the market for solar
energy is racking up
signatures.
About month into the
drive, Floridians for Solar
Choice announced they've
gathered 100,000 of the
nearly 700,000 signatures
needed to add their
constitutional amendment to
the 2016 ballot.
At a time when healthier
food is reported to be more
popular than ever, some 56
percent of the North
American consumers who
participated in a recent
Nielsen Global Health and
Wellness Study said they
distrust claims found on
nutritional products.
Why such skepticism? Well,
let’s just consider one of
the latest such claims – the
one being made on bottles of
Coca-Cola’s newly introduced
dairy product called
“Fairlife”...
A natural cooling of the
Pacific Ocean has
contributed to slow global
warming in the past decade
but the pause is unlikely to
last much longer, U.S.
scientists said on Thursday.
The slowdown in the rate
of rising temperatures, from
faster gains in the 1980s
and 1990s, has puzzled
scientists because
heat-trapping greenhouse gas
emissions from factories,
power plants and cars have
hit record highs.
Cleaning up widespread
corruption in the water
supply industry is crucial
to avert looming water
conflicts born of
desperation, warns a new
United Nations report based
on case studies in 10
countries.
A new report from Duke
University , The Solar
Economy: Widespread Benefits
for North Carolina , found
that public policies such as
North Carolina's Renewable
Energy Portfolio Standard
and Investment Tax Credit
have made North Carolina
first in the south and
fourth in the nation for
installed solar investment,
creating jobs and boosting
the economy across the
state. Rhone Resch ,
president and CEO of the
Solar Energy Industries
Association , applauded the
study's findings.
A Democrat on the Federal
Communications Commission
wants to see changes that
could narrow the scope of
new net neutrality rules set
for a vote on Thursday.
Mignon Clyburn, one of
three Democrats on the FCC,
has asked Chairman Tom
Wheeler to roll back some of
his provisions before the
full commission votes on
them, FCC officials said.
The European Commission has
unveiled “A Framework
Strategy for a Resilient
Energy Union with a
Forward-Looking Climate
Change Policy,” which is a
key plank in the development
of its plans for Europe’s
energy sector through 2030.
Excellence...
“If you are going to
achieve excellence in big
things, you develop the
habit in little matters.
Excellence is not an
exception, it is a
prevailing attitude.” ―
Colin Powell
Exelon yesterday introduced
its "Low Carbon Portfolio
Standard" -- legislation
that is receiving opposition
from groups like AARP
Illinois and the BEST
(Better Energy Solutions for
Tomorrow) Coalition who are
urging state lawmakers to
reject this legislation,
saying it would increase
electric bills in order to
"bail out Exelon's nuclear
plants."
Former Federal
Communications Commission
Chairman Michael Powell is
none too impressed with
President Barack Obama's
pressure on the FCC to
guarantee equal treatment of
all Internet traffic —
Internet neutrality.
The drone could be ready to
take its place alongside the
tractor and combine
harvester, as the next
indispensable piece of
farming equipment.
The new generation of
“maker” tools like 3-D
printers and milling
machines promises to let
anyone make virtually
anything—from prosthetic
limbs to firearms—in the
privacy and convenience of
his or her own home. But
first, those tools have to
get to customers’
homes. That’s going to be
difficult for at least one
new machine with the
potential to make homemade
firearms, because FedEx is
refusing to deliver it.
Residents of Poplar
River First Nation in
Manitoba, Canada are being
credited with spearheading a
sovereignty movement that in
effect combats global
warming by preserving their
boreal forest homelands.
The finding comes four years
after a massive earthquake
and tsunami caused meltdowns
at Tokyo Electric Power Co
Inc's Fukushima reactors,
and 1-1/2 years after Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe assured
the International Olympic
Committee that radiation
leaks at the plant were
"under control".
Russian energy company
Gazprom said Tuesday it may
halt natural gas deliveries
to Ukraine within two days
because of late payments.
The German parliament has
voted to extend the Greek
bailout for another four
months...
Greece on Tuesday secured
the four-month extension to
its €240bn bailout after
gruelling negotiations with
creditors.
It averted a potentially
calamitous end of February
deadline that could have
seen Athens face default,
bankruptcy and ultimately an
exit from the euro.
Researchers at the
University of California,
Riverside (UCR) have
developed a silicon anode
for lithium-ion batteries
that outperforms current
materials and gets around
previous issues that would
cause the battery to be
inefficient and quickly
degrade (or even fail
catastrophically) with use.
As the researchers focus on
scaling up production, the
advance could pave the way
for higher-performance
electric vehicles,
electronics and all-around
portable power.
Consumers across the country
are jumping on the trend to
install solar panels on
their homes or at least
considering it. Because
rooftop solar and its
associated technology is
relatively new, the
available information with
which consumers can make
their determination can be
limited. A new guide from
Louisiana State University
AgCenter is making the
decision a little easier.
-
In the most serious
cases of fraud and
misconduct in clinical
research, the FDA can
classify it as “official
action indicated” (OAI)
-
Researchers found 60
clinical trials that had
been classified as OAI,
and these trials had
been used for data in 78
published articles
-
Out of those 78 studies,
only three included
mentions of the
violations found by the
FDA
-
The violations included
fraud, incompetence, and
misconduct
The emails were to and from
Lois Lerner, who used to
head the IRS division that
processes applications for
tax-exempt status. Last
June, the IRS told Congress
it had lost an unknown
number of Lerner's email
when her computer hard drive
crashed in 2011.
A team of scientists lead by
Danish geologist Nicolaj
Krog Larsen have managed to
quantify how the Greenland
Ice Sheet reacted to a warm
period 8,000-5,000 years
ago. Back then temperatures
were 2-4 degrees C warmer
than present. Their results
have just been published in
the scientific journal
Geology, and are important
as we are rapidly closing in
on similar temperatures.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is
demanding to know if the
Department of Homeland
Security is following a
court injunction by delaying
the implementation of
President Barack Obama’s
executive action on
immigration, after DHS and
President Barack Obama
hinted that officials might
still be working on the
program behind the scenes.
China is backing away from
US tech brands for state
purchases as NSA revelations
continue to make headlines
in newspapers all around the
world.
Jordan and Israel signed
an agreement to go ahead
with a World Bank-sponsored
project to build a
desalination plant in the
Gulf of Aqaba and a pipeline
linking the Red Sea with the
Dead Sea.
The plant will be built
in the southern Jordanian
port of Aqaba on the Red Sea
and will desalinate water to
be shared by Israelis and
Palestinians. The brine that
is a byproduct of the
process will be sent north
in a 112-mile (180-km)
pipeline to the Dead Sea.
The skin is the largest
organ in the human body, and
it goes under a lot of
stress daily.
UV radiation is an
environmental factor that
can affect the skin, and can
even cause genetic mutations
that lead to skin cancer,
according to the Skin Cancer
Foundation.
A new German study shows
that an extract from
licorice protects skin from
ultraviolet radiation.
Money can’t buy love. Money
can’t buy happiness. But you
might be able to buy your
way out of sadness. Research
has found that wealthier
individuals feel less
sadness during their daily
activities but,
surprisingly, no more
happiness than their poorer
counterparts.
“Ceres’ bright spot can now
be seen to have a companion
of lesser brightness, but
apparently in the same
basin,”
Nearly all California voters
believe the state's water
shortage is a serious
problem, though they were
split on whether
environmental protection
should be rolled back in
response, according to a
Field Poll released on
Thursday.
With Congress washing its
hands of the matter, the FCC
voted to regulate Internet
Service Providers as
utilities.
More than two dozen
Democrats in the House and
Senate — and one Republican
— want to give the U.S.
attorney general the power
to block the sale of guns
and explosives to known
terrorists, and also to
anyone who is “appropriately
suspected” of being a
terrorist.
As more people get tattooed,
more of those people regret
having done so. The tattoo
removal business is huge,
generating around $75
million in the US alone.
Laser ablation is the most
common removal method, but
now a 27-year-old PhD
student in Canada has come
up with a cream that
promises a gentler, safer
method to get rid of
undesired tattoos.
-
Limitations for
cholesterol will likely
be removed from the 2015
edition of Dietary
Guidelines for
Americans;
overconsumption of
dietary cholesterol is
now cited as being of no
concern
-
A recent review of
studies investigating
the link between dietary
fat and causes of death
concluded that
recommendations to
reduce the amount of fat
we eat every day should
never have been made
-
When fat was removed
from processed foods,
sugar was added in. This
has led to a massive
increase in obesity,
diabetes, and
non-alcoholic fatty
liver disease, even
among children
NYMEX April crude closed
lower Thursday as growing US
crude stockpiles highlighted
the oil market's surplus,
dragging the front-month
contract further below ICE
Brent.
In the last 30
minutes before the market's
close, NYMEX April crude
dropped $3 to $47.99/b,
before settling $2.82 lower
at $48.17/b.
NYMEX April natural gas
futures settled 16.5 cents
lower at $2.697/MMBtu
Thursday on a bearish gas
storage report from the US
Energy Information
Administration.
The National Rifle
Association and other Second
Amendment advocates are
speaking out against the
government’s move to amend
laws regarding certain
ammunition, which could, in
effect, ban “one of the most
popular cartridges for the
most popular rifle in
America, the AR-15.”
“The land is just
being trampled,” said Lori
Goodman, a volunteer with
Diné Citizens Against
Ruining Our Environment
(Diné CARE), a nonprofit
conservation group. “As one
community member said,
‘We’re just being run over,
and BLM is just allowing
this to happen.’ ”
Today, solar energy is
synonymous with solar
electric panels. But there
is also a simpler and much
cheaper way to use the sun’s
energy. Designing the
molecules and electrons in a
roof to capture and control
solar heat can supply
one-sixth of the world’s
energy, as was shown in
field tests by the European
Union.
Summary:
According the Facebook-led
initiative Internet.org,
there are expansive gaps in
connectivity throughout
developing parts of the
world.
For years, parents of babies
who seem likely to develop a
peanut allergy have gone to
extremes to keep them away
from peanut-based foods. Now
a major study suggests that
is exactly the wrong thing
to do.
Researchers in Australia
have found that corals
commonly found on the Great
Barrier Reef will eat
micro-plastic pollution.
“Corals are non-selective
feeders and our results show
that they can consume
microplastics when the
plastics are present in
seawater,”...
Potential...
“Continuous effort - not
strength or intelligence -
is the key to unlocking our
potential.” ― Winston
Churchill
Power...
“All things are subject to
interpretation. Whichever
interpretation prevails at a
given time is a function of
power and not truth.” ―
Friedrich Nietzsche
With their sleek shells
providing both protection
from the elements and an
aerodynamic advantage over
bicycles, human-powered
velomobiles do offer an
intriguing alternative to
cars. Unfortunately, though,
they can't go as fast as
automobiles, meaning that
they often still have to be
ridden along the side of the
road. Minneapolis-based
inventor Rich Kronfield
wants to change that, with
his Raht Racer. It's an
electric-assist velomobile
that amplifies the rider's
pedaling power, reportedly
allowing them to move as
fast as the cars around
them.
-
Anxiety increases your
risk of aging-related
conditions due to
accelerated aging at the
cellular level
-
Relaxation strategies
may help you avoid this
accelerated aging
-
People who practice
relaxation methods have
more disease-fighting
genes switched “on,”
including those that
protect against pain,
infertility, high blood
pressure, and rheumatoid
arthritis
A new study carried out by
Professor Michael Rampino of
New York University suggests
that dark matter may have
had a part to play in the
periodic mass extinction
events that are known to
have taken place throughout
Earth's history. It takes
our planet roughly 250
million years to circle the
Milky Way, and around every
30 million years the Sun's
orbit takes us through what
is known as the galactic
disk. The galactic disk is
where the majority of the
mass in our galaxy resides,
and alongside it a thin disk
of dark matter.
A large Australian study of
more than 200,000 people has
provided independent
confirmation that up to two
in every three smokers will
die from their habit if they
continue to smoke.
Federal Reserve Chair Janet
Yellen's Senate testimony
Tuesday confirmed that the
Fed will take a go-slow
approach to raising interest
rates, notes CNBC
commentator Ron Insana.
And
that is "right where the
Federal Reserve should be,"
he writes on CNBC.com.
A noted Chinese theorist on
modern warfare, Chang
Mengxiong, compared China's
form of fighting to "a
Chinese boxer with a keen
knowledge of vital body
points who can bring an
opponent to his knees with a
minimum of movements". It is
like key acupuncture points
in ancient Chinese medicine.
Puncture one vital point and
the whole anatomy is
affected. If America ever
goes to war with China, say,
over Taiwan, then America
should be prepared for the
following "acupuncture
points" in its anatomy to be
"punctured". Each of the
vital points can bring
America to its knees with a
minimum of effort.
The Investment Tax Credit
(ITC) is arguably America's
most important solar policy.
This 30 percent tax credit
spurred 1,600 percent annual
growth since implementation
began in 2007 and turned
solar into an economic
engine.
But the ITC is only
authorized at 30 percent
through 2016 before falling
to 10 percent thereafter
(for non-residential
systems), and federal
gridlock leaves its
extension in doubt. ..
As the Federal
Communications Commission is
set to approve new Internet
rules, a new report shows
that George Soros and the
Ford Foundation have donated
$196 million to groups that
support the cause.
Researchers from Cambridge
University and Israel’s
Weizmann Institute of
Science are claiming a stem
cell research breakthrough
that would allow a baby to
be created from the skin
cells from two adults, no
matter their gender. This
potentially allows for
infertile couples to have
their own children without
resorting to sperm or egg
donors, and may provide the
means for same sex couples
to produce their own babies.
-
Added sugars,
particularly fructose,
in the US diet may be
more strongly related to
high blood pressure than
salt
-
Cutting processed foods
from your diet may
benefit high blood
pressure not only
because it reduces salt,
but more likely because
it reduces sugar
-
Excess sugar in your
diet increases blood
pressure and heart rate
and contributes to
inflammation, insulin
resistance and metabolic
dysfunction
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said
Tuesday that Senate GOP
leaders were making a major
error by agreeing to pass a
“clean” Department of
Homeland Security bill that
doesn’t defund President
Barack Obama’s immigration
plans
The same lithium-ion battery
technology that powers
Tesla’s electric vehicles
will be used to develop a
battery for the home,
according to a statement by
CEO Elon Musk during a
recent conference call with
analysts. The batteries
would be used by homes and
businesses to store excess
energy generated from solar
panels during the day, and
drawn from at night when
panels sit idle.
The Chicago police
department operates an
off-the-books interrogation
compound, rendering
Americans unable to be found
by family or attorneys while
locked inside what lawyers
say is the domestic
equivalent of a CIA black
site.
Since the last recession,
the Fed has injected more
than $4 trillion into the
banking system with its
quantitative easing programs
(QE) and, at the same time,
held interest rates to
historic all time low levels
for more than six years now.
That was the easy part.
Creating swarms of soft,
robotic hands that can
safely dissolve within a
living body once they've
performed surgical
procedures or delivered
drugs just got a step closer
thanks to work done by John
Hopkins University
scientists. They've created
minute biodegradable
microgrippers by adding
stiff polymers containing
magnetic nanoparticles to
soft hydrogels, allowing
them be magnetically guided
to any location in the body.
Russia’s expansive arctic
permafrost make it an ideal
place to find the preserved
remains of long extinct
animals. Recently added to
the list of discoveries is
the relatively intact
carcass of a baby woolly
rhino from the Pleistocene
epoch.
Ukrainian troops towed
artillery away from the
front line in the east on
Thursday, a move that
amounted to recognizing that
a ceasefire meant to take
effect on Feb. 15 was
holding at last.
The Hindu American
Foundation, in partnership
with the Bhumi Project,
based at Oxford University,
is hosting Hindu Environment
Week, an international event
to honor Matru Bhumi or
Mother Earth.
Lewis Reynolds didn't
understand what had been
done to him when he was 13.
Years later, after
getting married, the
Lynchburg man discovered he
couldn't father children.
The reason: He had been
sterilized by the state.
Ongoing research and
development in the wave and
tidal sector has brought the
industry into the beginnings
of commercial development.
However, it will be years
before we start seeing a
device to harness the power
of the tides and waves off
every coast.
Solar energy plants will
soon deliver the most
inexpensive power available
in many parts of the world
within a decade, according
to a new analysis of the
levelized cost of
electricity (LCOE).
Just days after advocates
came out fighting against a
net metering bill that was
passed by the West Virginia
House and Senate, Governor
Earl Ray Tamblin has vetoed
the bill.
House Bill (HB) 2201
provided a definition for
net metering, but advocates
said the real reason for it
was to eliminate solar
leasing in the state --
making solar more difficult
for those with lower incomes
to obtain.
Think about it. Over your
lifetime, on average, you’ll
likely spend about 26 years
sleeping in your bed. And
that doesn’t include any of
the other time you may spend
there.
For the reasons you’re
about to see, the mattress
you’re sleeping on may be
one of the most neglected –
and overlooked – aspects of
your health, in ways you
might not even realize.
February 24, 2015
The American Energy
Innovation Council (AEIC) is
urging Congress and
President Obama to expand
energy research in the
United States. The group,
consisting of six executives
including Bill Gates and
General Electric's Jeffrey
R. Immelt, explained that
the United States has fallen
behind numerous other
countries -- including
China, Japan, France and
South Korea -- in terms of
energy research.
American fighters, including
former soldiers, are joining
forces behind the scenes
with the Kurdish peshmerga
in the battle against the
Islamic State, saying they
want to destroy ISIS and its
caliphate before the
militants' threat spreads
further.
One is a businesswoman
and an MBA graduate.
Another is a corporate
vice president. The
third is a registered
nurse.
These three mothers -
all of them educated,
middle-class
professionals - are
among the vaccine
skeptics who have been
widely ridiculed since
more than 100 people
fell ill in a measles
outbreak traced to
Disneyland...
The former NSA contractor
turned whistleblower said
during a Reddit
question-and-answer session
that the leaks have also
improved security and
encryption in Silicon
Valley.
Apple announced a new plan
to build and operating two
data centers in Europe --
each of which will be
powered by 100 percent
renewable energy.
The girl who appeared no
more than 10 years old got
out of a tricycle taxi in
front of the cellphone
market and detonated her
explosives on Potiskum’s
main market day, according
to survivor Anazumi Saleh,
who suffered injuries to his
head.
-
Overall, 34 percent of
US adults used a
complementary health
approach in 2012
-
Non-vitamin, non-mineral
dietary supplements was
the most common
alternative approach
used, with fish oil
ranking top on this list
-
Other commonly used
approaches include
deep-breathing
exercises, yoga, tai chi
and qi gong, and
chiropractic or
osteopathic manipulation
If you've ever bought a
Windows PC or Android
smartphone or tablet from
one of the big name vendors
then chances are that you
are familiar - perhaps even
intimately familiar if
you've ever tried removing
it - with crapware.
Senate Democrats blocked
legislation to fund the
Department of Homeland
Security for the fifth time
on Monday, leaving just four
days before DHS funding
expires, and with no
apparent way forward to
break the deadlock.
Republicans have insisted
that the Senate should take
up the House-passed bill for
weeks, but Democrats have
refused because they oppose
language that would defund
President Barack Obama’s
executive action on
immigration.
-
New film shows how the
US government, in
collusion with big
business, is
progressively whittling
away your freedom of
choice
-
No longer do we have a
representative form of
government; most
regulations benefit only
a select few with the
most money and power
-
The demonization of raw
milk has nothing to do
with safety but
everything to do with
eliminating the
competition for the
pasteurized milk
industry
The design and
implementation of the U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power
Plan, which is intended to
reduce the U.S. electric
system’s CO2 emissions by 30
percent from 2005 levels by
2030, will not jeopardize or
compromise the reliability
of the U.S. power system,
according to a study by
Analysis Group energy
experts. The report,
“Electric System Reliability
and EPA’s Clean Power Plan:
Tools and Practices,”
addresses the impact of
ongoing changes in the
energy industry for
stakeholders and offers
recommendations to ensure
reliability.
"Long ago, when animals
were gente..."
Those words, uttered
countless times by
indigenous Amazonian
storytellers, blur the
boundary between humans and
other creatures in the
forests and rivers,
revealing a different view
of the way human and
non-human worlds intertwine.
Nobody is holding out hope
that 21 Egyptian Coptic
Christians who were
filmed being
beheaded by what appeared to
be seven-feet-tall Islamic
State militants are still
alive, but experts are
saying that the footage that
was released was most likely
faked.
-
Many flame retardant
PBDEs were replaced by
organophosphate flame
retardants, which have
been linked to many of
the same health problems
as PBDEs, including
endocrine disruption and
cancer
-
Nail polish is currently
being investigated as a
possible source of the
exposure to the flame
retardant TPHP
-
Assessments of toxic
chemicals by the
Environmental Protection
Agency have come to a
standstill, courtesy of
political wrangling that
keeps delaying damning
findings
German day-ahead power
prices remained at their
lowest level this month
Monday as wind power output
above 10 GW boosted supply
ahead of a dip in wind
mid-week, sources said.
It has been a good month
for wolves, at least some
varieties of them—at least
what passes for good news
for a dwindling species.
In Wyoming and the Great
Lakes states, the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service once
again accorded gray wolves
endangered species
protection. This means that
in Minnesota, Wisconsin,
Michigan and surrounding
states, wolves cannot be
hunted or trapped.
When you consider that blood
is made up of 92% water,
muscles are 75% water , our
brain is 75% water and our
bones surprisingly are 22%
water you can see why water,
or lack of it, affects our
entire body.
F. Scott Fitzgerald might
have been talking about
American Indians when he
wrote, “The test of a
first-rate intelligence is
the ability to hold two
opposed ideas in mind at the
same time and still retain
the ability to function.”
Indians are in that position
from the day they become
self-aware of the
predicament to which they
were born. They either learn
to deal with radical
contradictions or curl up in
a fetal position and be
pummeled.
President Obama’s oped in
the Los Angeles Times
this week made clear why his
administration is hopelessly
losing ground to radical
Islamists.
“Efforts to counter
violent extremism,” the
President asserted, “will
only succeed if citizens can
address legitimate
grievances through the
democratic process and
express themselves through
strong civil societies.
Those efforts must be
matched by economic,
educational and
entrepreneurial development
so people have hope for a
life of dignity.”
Libya's crippled oil sector
received two boosts on
Monday after state-owned
National Oil Corp said its
Agoco unit had restarted
production at the Sarir
field in the east of the
country and loadings from
the idled port of Zueitina
resumed.
An NOC
spokesman said Monday
"limited quantities" of
Sarir crude had begun
flowing to the port of Marsa
el-Hariga over the weekend.
-
Vitamin D deficiency in
childhood may double
your risk of hardening
of the arteries in
middle-age
-
People who have low
vitamin D status are far
more likely to suffer
more severe strokes, and
they also have poorer
outcomes after suffering
a stroke compared to
those with more adequate
vitamin D levels
-
Patients diagnosed with
metastatic colorectal
cancer who have higher
levels of vitamin D have
a far greater
progression-free
survival rate than those
who are deficient
A nearly 1,000-year-old
statue of Buddha is getting
attention, not because of
its artistic detail but
because of what was found on
the inside.
Inside the statue are the
mummified remains of
Buddhist master Liuquan, a
news release about the
discovery stated.
Summary:
New technologies are moving
us away from easy-to-guess
passwords, but we still need
to be careful about how we
use fingerprints and other
biometrics.
Back in October 2013, two
NASA probes were in the
perfect position to observe
a solar wave as it hit
Earth’s magnetic field,
gathering data on the event.
That data has now been
analyzed by teams of
scientists at MIT’s Haystack
Observatory and the
University of Colorado,
revealing the process by
which harmful, high-speed
particles are generated in
Earth’s radiation belts.
Accusations that the
state of California failed
to consider clean energy
options in replacing power
once supplied by the San
Onofre Nuclear Generating
Station are falling on deaf
ears, as utility regulators
and the state’s top court
rejects appeals from local
and national environmental
groups.
The complaints are
centered around power
supplies to the San Diego
area, which once relied on
San Onofre for 20 percent of
its electricity, and two
gas-fired power plants that
have been embraced as early
substitutes.
Some of America’s most
classic guilty pleasures —
like the Baby Ruth and the
Butterfinger — are about to
be a little less
guilt-inducing.
Nestle USA announced on
Tuesday that it is removing
artificial flavors and
FDA-certified colorings from
all of its chocolate candy
products by the end of 2015.
Did you ever wonder how much
it costs a drug company for
the active ingredient in
prescription medications?
Some people think it must
cost a lot, since many drugs
sell for more than $2.00 per
tablet. We did a search of
offshore chemical
synthesizers that supply the
active ingredients found in
drugs approved by the FDA.
Oregon Senator Ron Wyden is
touting the success of the
biomass programs in Oregon,
and is asking federal
government to replicate that
success within the state.
According to KTVZ, the
senator believes the federal
government should use the
same renewable energy
tactics when it builds or
leases federal facilities in
Oregon.
Last year, the APS-operated
Palo Verde Nuclear
Generating Station achieved
its 23 rd consecutive year
as the nation’s largest
power producer and, for the
tenth time, exceeded its own
record for power generation
– producing 32.3 million
megawatt-hours (MWh). The
previous best was 31.9
million MWh in 2012.
Bone-chilling cold in the
U.S. Midwest shattered
records in Chicago on
Thursday, closing schools
and starting its trudge
eastward to an already
frozen Boston and New York.
Energy legislation,
especially renewable energy,
has not always lived and
died on party-line votes.
Bills related to
renewable energy have joined
guns and illegal immigrant
driver's licenses as
partisan talking points in
the Colorado General
Assembly, said John
Straayer, a political
science professor at
Colorado State University.
C1 event observed.
Solar Activity Forecast:
Solar activity is expected
to be very low with a chance
for a C-class flares on days
one, two, and three (24 Feb,
25 Feb, 26 Feb). The
geomagnetic field is
expected to be at quiet to
unsettled levels on days
one, two, and three (24 Feb,
25 Feb, 26 Feb).
The northern lights are more
than one of nature's most
awe inspiring sights, they
are an electromagnetic
phenomena that can adversely
affect power grids and
communications and
navigation systems.
Researchers from the
University of Oslo have
flown a rocket through the
phenomena to take a closer
look with the aim of
gathering data that will
help in predicting space
weather.
Muslim youths organized the
peace vigil in solidarity
with the Jewish community
following deadly shootings
at a free speech event and
at a synagogue last weekend
in neighboring Denmark.
Although coal is still the
predominant energy source in
West Virginia, solar has
been growing in the state in
recent years. Advocates for
solar energy are urging
Governor Earl Ray Tomblin to
veto House Bill (HB) 2201.
The bill is meant to amend
and reenact §24-2F-8 of the
Code of West Virginia,
"providing a definition for
net metering, requiring the
Public Service Commission to
adopt certain net metering
and interconnection rules
and standards, and striking
deadlines for rule-making by
the Public Service
Commission."
-
The US Fish and Wildlife
Service (FWS) announced
a $3.2-million campaign
to save “beleaguered”
monarch butterflies
-
Numbers of Monarch
butterflies have
decreased by 90 percent
since 1996
-
The announcement
acknowledges
agricultural practices
have played a role in
devastating monarchs’
habitat, but does not
mention Monsanto’s
Roundup herbicide, which
experts say was
instrumental to their
demise
Japanese utility Tokyo
Electric Power Company's
crude and fuel oil use for
thermal power generation is
expected to be less than 3.5
million kiloliters, or
60,000 b/d, and its LPG
consumption around 300,000
mt for fiscal 2014-2015
(April-March), a source
close to the matter said
Monday, February 23.
Tepco's oil consumption for
the current fiscal year
ending March 31 is seen to
be the lowest in more than a
decade, according to
available company data
tracked by Platts since
fiscal 2003-2004.
There is no doubt that
antibiotics are truly a
wonder of modern medicine.
Beginning with the discovery
of penicillin in 1928, the
rapid resolution of
bacterial infections from
antibiotics caused many in
the medical profession to
become completely enamored
with the drug based approach
to illness erroneously
thinking that the danger to
human life from infections
was a thing of the past.
Not so fast.
The Supreme Court next week
hears a challenge to
President Barack Obama’s
health care overhaul that
hinges on just four words in
the massive law that seeks
to dramatically reduce the
ranks of the uninsured. The
argument threatens subsidies
that help make insurance
affordable to consumers in
about three dozen states.
-
Truck driver is the most
common job in 29 out of
50 states
-
In 1978, farmers and
farm workers were the
most common job in eight
states
-
In 2014, farming was the
most common job in only
two states… but the term
“farmer” is no longer
used… now we have “farm
managers,” which
reflects the growing
trend of “farms” turning
into corporations
-
As a general rule, when
research is funded by
the industry, the
results are likely to
overwhelmingly favor the
industry’s preconceived
stance
-
However, sometimes
industry research may be
the very thing that
compels an industry to
make a better, safer
product
-
Industry-funded research
may have been key to
changing the food
industry’s stance on
trans fat, once their
own research showed
trans fats are indeed
worse than the saturated
fats they were designed
to replace
Toothpaste is one of those
things that everyone buys,
but did you know that
standard toothpaste produced
commercially is loaded with
nasty chemicals? They
contain things like Sodium
Laurel Sulfate, which
exacerbates canker sores,
and triclosan, which is
similar to BPA in that it
causes hormonal disruption.
Discerning which foods to
eat organic or not eat
organic is becoming more of
a task these days. Most us
remain confused. Cost is
also a concern.
Researchers have been
working for years to develop
an effective treatment. But
one "miracle" drug after
another has failed to live
up to its promises, and it's
becoming more and more
apparent that
pharmaceuticals are not the
solution.
McKay and co-authors
describe how Africa changed
from a humid environment to
the more arid region of
today. Earlier studies show
the Sahara Desert and other
north African regions
shifted from lush to dry
between 5,000 and
6,000 years ago. Analysis of
Lake Bosumtwi reveals humid
conditions remained until
about 3,000 years ago,
providing supportive
habitats for humans, animals
and plants.
The strandings of a record
number of sea lion pups
along the California coast
this year are linked to a
puzzling weather pattern
that has warmed their
Pacific Ocean habitat and
likely impacted fish
populations they rely on for
food, federal scientists
said on Wednesday.
Federal prosecutors filed
multiple criminal charges
against Duke Energy on
Friday over years of illegal
pollution leaking from coal
ash dumps at five North
Carolina power plants.
...infographic
claimed that we live
disease-free lives and owe
this to vaccines – a great
medical advancement. It gave
a one-sided history of the
creation of the first
vaccine, an inaccurate
account of the smallpox
campaign, hailed the
ineffective flu shot,
misinterpreted the Lancet
study, smeared Wakefield,
blamed Jenny McCarthy for
the “anti-vaccine movement”
that has been around since
the 1800s, attributed autism
to anything but vaccines,
dishonestly claimed that
neurotoxins and hazardous
wastes are safe, and said we
shouldn’t have a choice
whether or not to vaccinate,
because we disrupt the herd
immunity that doesn’t apply
to vaccines.
A CSX-owned train carrying
millions of pounds of crude
oil derailed and exploded
Monday afternoon in West
Virginia, leaking its
contents near the Kanawha
River, a drinking water
source for two counties.
On April 16, 2013, an
incident in San Jose,
California, led to
development of a new
physical security standard
for owners and operators of
transmission stations and
substations.
In the
2013 incident, a sniper
attack on a Pacific Gas &
Electric transmission
substation knocked out 17
large transformers that
powered Silicon Valley. The
sniper attack served as a
dramatic wake-up call for
the industry and raised
fears regarding the
vulnerability of the
nation's power grid to
terrorist attack.
A holy war is being fought
over a proposal to build a
$500 million commercial
development, on the rim of
America's natural treasure
More than 10 percent of the
electricity used in Texas’
primary electric grid, the
Electric Reliability Council
of Texas (ERCOT), was
generated using wind power
in 2014. According to the
U.S. Energy Information
Administration (eia), the
share of wind-generated
power in ERCOT’s mix grew
from 6.2 percent in 2009 to
10.6 percent in 2014. The
growth in wind generation is
the result of new wind
plants coming online and
grid expansions that have
allowed more wind power to
flow through the system to
consumers.
Wet winter storms that
dropped up to a foot (30 cm)
of rain on parts of
California have modestly
eased the state's ongoing
drought over the past three
months, U.S. drought experts
said on Thursday.
The portion of California
in the most extreme
categories of drought has
dropped by about 13 percent
since mid-November, said
Mark Svoboda, a
climatologist with the
National Drought Mitigation
Center at the University of
Nebraska.
February 19, 2015
The bricks utilize the
principle of evaporative
cooling, where water vapor
is added to air to lower the
temperature. If you've ever
hung a wet cloth in front of
the window to cool the
breeze flowing in, you've
used the same principle.
Afghan security forces
have launched a large
offensive against the
Taliban militants in the
country's south before the
group's spring offensive.
Heavy rains during Brazil's
four-and-a-half-day Carnival
holiday offered the first
relief in months for the
country's drought-stricken
and economically crucial
southeast, but was unlikely
to end fears of water and
electricity shortages.
The news that the Cape Wind
project might never be built
leads to the stark
conclusion that U.S.
offshore wind policy isn't
working, according to a new
report by Clean Energy Group
and Navigant Consulting,
Inc. The report is the first
policy assessment after the
major setback of the
nation's first proposed
offshore wind project.
"i've tried to read this 3
times. Still don't
know what it says." [ed]
The media insists that it’s
raining measles and everyone
should get the MMR vaccine,
made by Merck, to protect
themselves.
Even Obama has publicly
stated, “those who don’t get
their shots can pose a risk
to infants and other people
who can’t get vaccinated.”
He assures parents that
vaccine science is “pretty
indisputable.”
Dirt
and dust buildup on the
modules can reduce your PV
array’s energy output, so
implementing a regular
cleaning protocol can be
important.
This is not Nazi Germany or
Stalinist Russia. Parents
deserve answers to what are
reasonable questions about
vaccine safety...
In a predictable reaction to
the recent measles
outbreaks, both Republicans
and Democrats in Congress
filed a “Vaccines Saves
Lives” resolution last
Friday. Claiming that there
is “no credible evidence”
that vaccines cause
“life-threatening or
disabling disease,”..
Crude futures closed lower
Wednesday on a stronger US
dollar ahead of a weekly US
inventory data release
expected to show another
large build in crude stocks.
The ICE April Brent
crude futures contract
settled $2 lower at
$60.53/b. The NYMEX March
crude futures contract ended
the day $1.39 lower at
$52.14/b.
Duke Energy announced it
could reach a settlement
with the U.S. government in
the "next several days" in
regard to the February 2,
2014 coal ash spill in the
Dan River in North Carolina.
Criminal charges are
expected to be filed against
the company for violations
of the Clean Water Act.
Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon
Mobil Corp and the Dutch
government ignored the
danger of earthquakes caused
by gas extraction at the
massive Groningen gas field
for decades, the Dutch
Safety Board said on
Wednesday.
Egypt's president said in a
radio interview aired on
Tuesday that creating a
U.N.-backed coalition was
the best course of action to
rid Libya of Islamic
extremists.
For those opponents who
contend that the EPA wants
to “regulate puddles in a
massive ‘land grab,’” the
conclusions rendered by the
report, summarized here, are
likely to only intensify
those fears (which, for the
record, are directly
disputed by the EPA through
their “Ditch the Myth”
campaign).
The good news is that,
indeed, such an enzyme
exists, though it doesn’t
quite perform at the 14X
level and isn’t out of the
lab yet. The bad news is
that the research that
inspired the article
actually was originally
published in Science in
2013. Sorry folks, not a new
breakthrough.
European Union (EU) nations
are on target to meet their
20 percent renewable energy
goal by 2020, according to a
report conducted by the
European Environment Agency
(EEA): "Renewable energy in
Europe -- approximated
recent growth and knock-on
effects."
It's getting to be that time
of the year again — tax
time, that is. As all new
rooftop solar homeowners
should know who purchased a
system in 2014, they are
eligible for a Federal
Investment Tax Credit of 30
percent of the cost of their
system. This tax credit is
good for both solar PV and
solar thermal (hot water)
systems. The solar ITC
applies to the owner of the
system, which is the
homeowner for purchased
systems or the leasing/PPA
company for systems that are
owned by third parties.
Make no mistake about it —
Federal Reserve Chair Janet
Yellen and her colleagues
like what they see in the
U.S. economy and still
expect to raise interest
rates this year.
Even so, minutes from their
January meeting raised a
number of yellow flags that
inclined them toward leaving
the federal funds rate
near zero for longer.
The 3.9 percentage point
margin by which President
Obama defeated Mitt Romney
in 2012 clouds the challenge
the Republicans face in
2016. Unless they are able
to improve their standing by
5 to 6 points in the key
electoral states, they
cannot win.
Prolonged cold snaps on the
East Coast, California
drought and frozen mornings
in the South all have
something in common – the
atmospheric jet stream which
transports weather systems
that’s taken to meandering
all over North America.
Neu5Gc is found in most
mammals, but not humans.
UCSD scientists found that
feeding Neu5Gc to mice that
were engineered to be
deficient in the sugar
greatly increased cancer
risk. In the study, mice
were not exposed to
cancer-causing substances,
which confirms Neu5Gc as a
key factor in the connection
between red meat and cancer.
HyperSolar, Inc.the
developer of a breakthrough
technology to produce
renewable hydrogen using
sunlight and water, today
announced that Dr. Wei Cheng
, a post-doctoral researcher
who has extensive experience
in developing hydrogen
production applications and
previously served the
Company during his time as
visiting scholar at the
University of California ,
Santa Barbara , will be
joining HyperSolar's
research and development
team at the University of
Iowa .
Abundant evidence supports
the role of olive oil in
protecting against heart
disease; now scientists have
found that extra-virgin
olive oil contains an
ingredient that kills cancer
cells without harming
healthy cells.
Reports Tuesday that the
Islamic State burned to
death 45 people in Iraq just
days after posting a video
showing the beheadings of 21
Egyptian Christians proves
that "we're witnessing
atrocities that were
reserved for the Dark Ages,"
Los Angeles author Johnnie
Moore told Newsmax.
A senior U.S. official said
experts are looking at
facial features and speech
patterns of the masked man
who spoke in the video, and
an expert in linguistics
said he believes the man was
educated in the United
States, Fox News reported.
ISIS jihadists in Syria and
Iraq have publicly
threatened to invade Jordan
and “slaughter” Abdullah,
whom they denounce as a
“tyrant.” Extremists inside
Jordan took to the streets
last summer shouting, “Down,
down with Abdullah!” The
latest ISIS propaganda video
attacks the king as an “ally
of the crusaders.” One
figure in the video
proclaims, “all Arab tyrants
should…be burned.”
Pharmaceuticals, hormones
and personal care products
associated with everyday
household activities are
finding their way into
groundwater through septic
systems in New York and New
England, according to the
U.S. Geological Survey.
While it’s known that the
volume of a brain’s gray
matter decreases as a person
ages, the study’s senior
author told Reuters Health
that the team of researchers
expected to see more gray
matter in certain regions of
the brain among long-term
meditators.
“What’s wrong?” she
asked.
Her son’s reply would
soon make the mother cry
tears of pride.
“There’s an older man
with a walker shoveling snow
— I’ll help him out,” Tommy
said.
A final order from the West
Virginia Public Service
Commission approving the
siting certificate for
Moundsville Power, LLC to
construct a 549 megawatt
combined-cycle natural gas
power plant in Marshall
County will allow the
utility to proceed to the
financing phase of this
project -- one that promises
to be a first in the
industry.
A new NASA study is
predicting the occurrence of
severe "megadroughts" across
the United States in the
second half of this century,
that are set to be more
extreme and prolonged than
any droughts that have taken
place in the region for the
past 1,000 years. According
to the study, one of the key
driving forces behind the
devastating droughts will be
the prolific creation of
human-produced greenhouse
gasses.
-
The New York’s Attorney
General has recalled up
to seven popular herbal
supplements from four
major retailers
-
The investigation was
based on DNA barcoding,
which found up to 41
percent of the products
tested did not contain
DNA from the plant
species listed on the
label
-
DNA barcoding has
serious limitations when
it comes to testing
herbal supplements
because many contain
herbal extracts, which
have a loss or
denaturation of DNA
during processing
-
The DNA barcoding test
cannot identify the
ingredients in all
herbal supplements
accurately
There's a lot of water
constantly moving through
the municipal pipelines of
most major cities. While the
water itself is already
destined for various uses,
why not harness its flow to
produce hydroelectric power?
Well, that's exactly what
Lucid Energy's LucidPipe
Power System does, and
Portland, Oregon has just
become the latest city to
adopt it.
Progress...
“You don't make progress
by standing on the
sidelines, whimpering and
complaining. You make
progress by implementing
ideas.”
― Shirley
Chisholm
C3 event observed.
Solar activity is expected
to be very low
with a
chance for a C-class flares
on days one, two, and three
(20 Feb,
21 Feb, 22 Feb).
The geomagnetic field is
expected to be at quiet
levels on days one and two
(20 Feb, 21 Feb) and quiet
to active levels on day
three (22 Feb).
Sadness...
“Even a happy life cannot
be without a measure of
darkness, and the word happy
would lose its meaning if it
were not balanced by
sadness. It is far better
take things as they come
along with patience and
equanimity.”
― Carl
Jung
The Tennessee Valley
Authority (TVA) is edging
ever closer to the startup
of its Watts Bar Nuclear
Plant Unit 2 (WBN 2) with a
recent recommendation by the
Advisory Committee on
Reactor Safeguards (ACRS), a
key advisory group for the
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC), to move
forward with the process to
grant an operating license
for the plant. The startup
of the plant would mark the
United States' first new
nuclear plant in 20 years.
Rep. King’s bill would
prevent state and local
government from interfering
in the production and
distribution of agricultural
products via interstate and
international commerce. In a
statement, King justified
the legislation by claiming
that freeing chickens from
cramped cages smaller than a
standard sheet of paper was
raising the cost of eggs too
much!
A report to be published
Thursday in the journal
Nature suggests that global
warming may increase
upwelling in several ocean
current systems around the
world by the end of this
century, especially at high
latitudes, and will cause
major changes in marine
biodiversity.
The Center for Biological
Diversity recently called on
Gov. Jerry Brown to
immediately shut down
thousands of oil and gas
wells that are illegally
injecting fluids into
protected California
aquifers, as well as
hundreds of illegally
operating oil industry
waste-disposal wells.
Just as the Tennessee Valley
Authority (TVA) is preparing
for the launch of Watts Bar
Unit 2, the first new
nuclear reactor in 20 years,
so-called experts claim that
the nuclear boom promised
five years ago when the
White House announced it was
providing $8.3 billion in
loan guarantees for two
nuclear reactors at the
Vogtle project in Georgia
has "fizzled" as the
industry "struggles with
major cost overruns and
delays."
On Friday, February 13, the
U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) approved
the first genetically
engineered apple, despite
hundreds of thousands of
petitions asking the USDA to
reject it.
The official Saudi Press
Agency says military chiefs
from 26 nations involved in
the U.S.-led coalition
battling the Islamic State
group are meeting in the
capital Riyadh.
The press agency says the
meeting, which began
Wednesday, is a chance for
military leaders to exchange
views about the fight
against the extremist group,
which controls large parts
of Iraq and Syria.
ISIS is different from
Islamic militants we’ve seen
before. This includes
the Muslim Brotherhood and
even al-Qaida. Unlike
al-Qaida, ISIS seeks to rule
rather than exist as an
underground operation.
Unlike the Muslim
Brotherhood in Egypt, it
does not wish to participate
in elections.
February 17, 2015
Sewage sludge appears to
be a treasure trove of
precious metals, according
to new research.
A ton of sludge could
contain "several hundred
dollars’ worth of
metals—potentially enough to
generate millions of dollars
worth of gold, silver, and
other minerals each year for
a city of a million people,"
Science reported.
Islamic State (ISIS)
released a video on Sunday
that appeared to show the
beheadings of 21 Egyptian
Christians in Libya and
President Abdel Fattah
al-Sisi warned that his
country would respond to the
deaths as it saw fit.
A hacking ring has stolen up
to $1 billion from banks
around the world in what
would be one of the biggest
banking breaches known, a
cybersecurity firm says in a
report scheduled to be
delivered Monday.
As of the end of 2014, 16
million mobile devices
worldwide have been infected
by malicious software,
estimated Alcatel-Lucent’s
security arm, Motive
Security Labs, in its latest
security report released
Thursday (Feb. 12).
Apple has set its sights on
the sun as a power source in
the past, and another big
project is on the horizon.
CEO Tim Cook announced
Tuesday at a Goldman Sachs
technology conference that
the company is investing
roughly $850 million in the
California Flats Solar
Project , a solar farm to be
built by First Solar in
Monterey County in
California .
In testimony recently before
the U.S. House Subcommittee
on Environment and the
Economy, American Water
Works Association Water
Utility Council Chair Aurel
Arndt stressed that the
solution to keeping drinking
water safe from cyanotoxins
begins with better managing
nutrient pollution.
This week, three sets of
meetings sought to defuse
three distinct threats to
the global economy.
All of the gatherings
featured suspenseful
atmospheres, dramatic
posturing and some public
tantrums. And their outcomes
were similar, too: The
participants ended up just
buying time, without doing
much, if anything, to begin
to address the underlying
causes of the unfolding
crises.
Gun owners with legal
permits would be allowed to
carry concealed weapons
around the country under a
bill introduced in the
Senate —
a measure that previously
came just three votes shy of
passage in a
Democratic-controlled
chamber.
The Nigeria-based extremist
group Boko Haram on Monday
threatened neighboring
countries Niger and Chad,
warning the fighters were
prepared to carry out
suicide bombings in the
countries sending troops to
help fight the militants.
The amount of power flowing
into Californias grid from
large solar plants set two
records this week, according
to the agency that runs that
grid.
Following high-speed
railway, nuclear power has
become a new international
calling card for Chinas
equipment manufacturing
industry.
China and Argentina have
recently signed an agreement
to build a pressurized water
reactor (PWR) nuclear power
plant in Argentina , marking
the first strike for the
going global strategy of
Chinas independent
third-generation nuclear
power technology.
Discovery of the new
particle would herald a
new realm of physics, as
the BBC's Pallab Ghosh
reports
A senior researcher at the
Large Hadron Collider says a
new particle could be
detected this year that is
even more exciting than the
Higgs boson.
The accelerator is due to
come back online in March
after an upgrade that has
given it a big boost in
energy.
Legal marijuana was a $700
million dollar industry in
Colorado last year,
according to a Washington
Post analysis
of recently-released tax
data from the state's
Department of Revenue. In
2014, Colorado retailers
sold $386 million of medical
marijuana and $313 million
for purely recreational
purposes. The two segments
of the market generated $63
million in tax revenue, with
an additional $13 million
collected in licenses and
fees.
A partnership between
Department of Energy's (DOE)
Western Area Power
Administration (WAPA) -
Western and a group of
Arizona utilities have
energized a new transmission
infrastructure project.
For the
first time, science shows
that a non-human animal can
recognize the emotional
state of another species
Do the rich pay their
fair share of taxes? That’s
the very question that Lee
Ohanian, an economics
professor at UCLA, tackled
in a new course for Prager
University, revealing some
fascinating statistics that
he says dispel the myth that
the wealthy aren’t paying
enough into the tax system.
Ohanian began by noting that
defining two elements is
essential before fully
understanding the issue:
who, exactly, qualifies as
rich and how “fair” should
be defined.
Duke Energy has acquired
majority interest in REC
Solar, a provider of
comprehensive commercial
solar and energy solutions
nationwide.
Additionally, Duke Energy
announced plans to invest up
to $225 million in
commercial solar projects
developed by REC Solar and
supported by long-term power
purchase agreements.
-
The largest study of its
kind found that people
who “often or always”
ate organic food had
about 65 percent lower
levels of pesticide
residues compared to
those who ate the least
amount of organic
produce
-
More than 75 percent of
the US population has
detectable levels of
organophosphate
pesticides in their
urine, and unless you’re
a farmer, your diet is
one of the most likely
routes of exposure
-
In one previous study,
organic produce had, on
average, a 180 times
lower pesticide content
than conventional
products
Less than four dollars .
That's the cost to fuel
an electric car for 100
miles in Georgia . Compare
that to the typical cost of
driving a conventional
vehicle the same distance --
about $13.57 last year --
and even with gas prices
falling, there are big
savings awaiting Georgia
drivers of electric
vehicles.
It seemed like a pipe dream
when floated in 2013 by
Tesla and SpaceX founder/CEO
Elon Musk, but the Hyperloop
concept is making tangible
progress, though it is still
a long way off taking
passengers. A startup
company called Hyperloop
Technologies has been
established, with US$8.5
million raised and another
$80 million in funds
projected for later this
year. Meanwhile, another
startup called Hyperloop
Transportation Technologies
(HTT), formed in 2013, has
crowdfunded and crowdsourced
its way to a team of 170
mostly part-time engineers
and designers.
With the generation capacity
of renewables, led by solar
PV and wind power, on the
rise across the globe — 46
percent of newly installed
generation capacity in 2013
was renewables — investors
large and small are
scrambling to find
cost-effective means to
store power and balance
energy systems.
This is nearly one tenth of
all electricity demand in
Europe (ca. 3,300 TWh) and
one third of all electricity
from renewable sources in
Europe (ca. 900 TWh). "These
encouraging statistics
suggest a breakthrough for
Guarantees of Origin, and an
increasing momentum for
renewable energy consumption
overall", says Tom Lindberg
, Managing Director of ECOHZ
.
She had taken the videos for
evidence of the boy’s
aggressive behavior in her
classroom at the John E.
Ford Montessori School in
Jacksonville. She then
showed it to an assistant
principal before a meeting
with the child’s parents.
Generosity...
“Real generosity
is doing something nice
for someone who will
never find out.”
― Frank A. Clark
A new
explanation for a type of
order, or symmetry, in an
exotic material made with
uranium may lead to enhanced
computer displays and data
storage systems, and more
powerful superconducting
magnets for medical imaging
and levitating high-speed
trains, according to a
Rutgers-led team of research
physicists.
-
Brief, vigorous exercise
causes immediate
structural and chemical
changes in the DNA
molecules within your
muscles that benefit
your health
-
Endurance training also
produces beneficial
genetic changes that
play a role in energy
metabolism, insulin
response, and muscle
inflammation
-
Increased blood flow
from regular exercise
adapts your brain to
turn different genes on
or off; many of these
changes help protect
against diseases such as
Alzheimer’s and
Parkinson’s
Hundreds of Apple
employees have been secretly
working on developing an
electric car, according to a
Friday report in the Wall
Street Journal.
Sources familiar with the
project told the newspaper
that the project, code-named
“Titan,” has been in the
works for the past year.
-
Family Farmed is a
non-profit organization
that connects farmers,
supermarkets, and trade
buyers to build a system
of local food channels.
-
Chicago Public Schools,
which sources apples,
broccoli, cabbage,
antibiotic-free chicken
and other foods from
local farmers, is one of
the success stories of
this local food
movement.
-
Food hubs are also
popping up around the
US. They serve an
important role as
intermediaries by
aggregating local food
from local farmers,
which is then
redistributed to
supermarkets,
restaurants, or other
wholesale buyers
Monsanto may have just lost
a very significant battle in
the ongoing GMO seed debate.
The European Patent Office
(EPO) revoked the biotech’s
patent on a specific type of
all-natural, non-GMO tomato.
The specific tomato breed in
question is naturally
resistant to botrytis, a
fungal disease.
An international coalition
of concerned growers had
urged the European body to
make the move.
IF the human race is
going to turn this world
around—from a
self-destructive, suicidal,
selfish existence to one
that is built around life
and balance—it will
be Indigenous mothers and
grandmothers who make that
happen.
Right now, it seems like
self-destruction is winning.
Although lots of people
understand that we have to
do something, many
of us just aren’t sure
exactly what to do. I think
many people—including the
members of the US Senate and
House who voted to approve
the Keystone XL
Pipeline—simply see the
Keystone XL Pipeline as
inevitable.
In the new study, published
today in Nature Geoscience,
the scientists also report
the atmospheric abundance of
one of these ‘very
short-lived substances’
(VSLS) is growing rapidly.
Designed to potentially help
drought-plagued regions, a
new technology uses unmanned
aerial vehicles — also known
as drones — to put more
water into the clouds.
The growing outbreak of
measles tied to unvaccinated
children has led to new
calls from doctors and
public health officials to
tighten vaccine practices in
the U.S. But Phoenix
cardiologist Jack Wolfson,
M.D., says decisions should
be left to parents to
decide, when it comes to
vaccinating children.
Well over a third of
Americans fear that the
establishment of an Islamic
court in Texas means that
harsh sharia law soon could
spread throughout the United
States.
Power...
“Power is of two kinds.
One is obtained by the fear
of punishment and the other
by acts of love. Power based
on love is a thousand times
more effective and permanent
then the one derived from
fear of punishment.”
― Mahatma Gandhi
The Greek economy could fall
apart, but its left-wing
government is stalwartly
demanding unconditional
loans from the rest of
Europe.
The U.S. National Security
Agency has figured out how
to hide spying software deep
within hard drives made by
Western Digital, Seagate,
Toshiba and other top
manufacturers, giving the
agency the means to
eavesdrop on the majority of
the world's computers,
according to cyber
researchers and former
operatives.
Rutgers University, the
flagship state university of
New Jersey, will be hosting
what appears to be the first
ever college admissions fair
designed exclusively for
illegal immigrants.
A Senate panel has approved
legislation that would bar
most transfers from the U.S.
prison at Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba, a roadblock in
President Barack Obama's
push to close the detention
center.
They are deals
Appalachian coal companies
are betting will pay off
when better days at the
market arrive: mines at a
fraction of the cost, ready
for production, right in the
backyard.
Smaller companies are
taking advantage of a
seven-year low in coal
prices and tepid demand by
buying the mines of their
debt-laden corporate
competitors. It's a trend
analysts say will continue
through the year as the
tough market continues to
pinch.
A new study from the
National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (not
the National Organization
for the Reform of Marijuana
Laws, surprisingly), says
smoking pot does not have a
significant effect on a
person’s ability to drive.
Supporters of Yemen's former
President Abed Rabbo Mansour
Hadi have seized radio and
television buildings in the
southern city of Aden after
they accused security forces
of working for Shiite rebels
who control the capital.
A Taliban suicide bomber
on Tuesday killed six people
and himself in a brazen
attack on police
headquarters in Pakistan's
eastern city of Lahore, in
what militants called a
revenge bid for the recent
hangings of colleagues.
It was the third in a
series of high-profile
attacks in the last month
triggered by a government
decision in December to
begin hanging those
convicted of terror attacks,
reversing an informal
six-year moratorium on the
death penalty.
Tesla Motors Inc., best
known for making the
all-electric Model S sedan,
is using its lithium-ion
battery technology to
position itself as a
frontrunner in the emerging
energy storage market that
supplements and may
ultimately threaten the
traditional electric grid.
This infographic on
chemicals in beauty products
takes ‘Cosmetics Dirty
Dozen’ to a whole new level.
It's a simple fact: The
federal authorities who
control our nation's
once-vast gold reserves at
Ft. Knox have refused to
allow a comprehensive audit
to be conducted since the
Eisenhower Administration!
Has the U.S. gold
reserve been whittled away
to finance wild federal
spending? Did they ship all
our gold to New York to dump
on the market? Or send it to
China to cover our debts?
More and more parents around
the globe are choosing to
opt out of vaccinating
themselves and their
children. As a result of
this trend that’s been
gaining more and more
momentum, a harsh response
has come from the
“pro-vaccine” community
-criticizing parents for
their decision to not
vaccinate. At the end of the
day it’s not really about
“pro-vaccination” or
“anti-vaccination,” it’s not
one “against” the other or
about pointing fingers and
judgement, it’s simply about
looking at all of the
information from a neutral
standpoint.
Climate models predict that
the region will be drier
than the droughts that
likely caused ancient Native
Americans to abandon their
pueblo cities
Protesters carried banners
denouncing economic
austerity and Greece's
creditors.
Ukraine will seek to reduce
dependence on imports of
Russian natural gas "to
zero", Prime Minister
Arseniy Yatseniuk said on
Sunday.
"We have
proved that we are able to
get rid of Russian gas
dependence,"..
Magnetic resonance (MR)
imaging-guided ultrasound, a
technology that involves
highly-targeted ultrasound
beams and monitoring their
effects through imaging, has
shown to help treat symptoms
of Alzheimer’s disease in
mice. The treatment was
found to improve brain
performance in the animals
and has the researchers
hopeful that the technique
may prove effective in
improving cognitive behavior
in humans.
Saint Michael, the archangel
of battle, is tattooed
across the back of a U.S.
army veteran who recently
returned to Iraq and joined
a Christian militia fighting
Islamic State in what he
sees as a biblical war
between good and evil.
Veterans Affairs
Secretary Robert McDonald
lost his cool in a House
hearing Wednesday after Rep.
Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) asked
him questions about huge
cost overruns at a Denver VA
hospital, which prompted
McDonald to blame Congress
for those problems and then
imply that Coffman isn’t
qualified to debate the
issue.
At the end of a few
minutes of sniping, McDonald
ended by barking at Coffman,
“I’ve run a large company,
sir. What have you done?”
Cornell University students
are up in arms over a $350
student health fee that will
be assessed to any student
who doesn’t buy the
university’s health
insurance, Casey Breznick,
editor-in-chief of the
Cornell conservative student
paper the Cornell Review,
wrote on Legal Insurrection
Saturday.
The White House released
a strongly worded statement
Sunday condemning the
killing of 21 Egyptian
Coptic Christians by Islamic
State-affiliated militants
in Libya, but did not name
the religions of the victims
or of the perpetrators.
In the video released
Sunday purporting to show
the mass execution on a
Libyan beach, militants
emphasized their captives’
faith, calling them
“crusaders.” The video was
titled “A Message Signed
With Blood to the Nation of
the Cross,” certainly
suggesting the Christians
were targeted because of
their religion.
When it comes to what is in
our food, more and more
people are making their
voices heard. Just in the
last couple of years, Subway
removed a chemical also used
in shoe rubber from their
bread, General Mills stopped
using GMOs in their original
Cheerios, and Chick-fil-A
cut out high fructose corn
syrup – to name only a few
examples.
Just as he has warned of
froth in the stock and
housing markets, Nobel
laureate economist Robert
Shiller sees signs of
trouble in the bond market
too.
Yemen's Gulf Arab neighbors
warned on Sunday that if the
world fails to act against
the Shiite rebels who have
toppled the Yemeni
government, the six-nation
Gulf Cooperation Council
will take whatever actions
it deems necessary to
maintain regional security
and stability.
The
foreign ministers of the GCC
did not elaborate on what
measures the group might
take, but called
specifically on the United
Nations Security Council to
intervene.
February 13, 2015
Sea ice increases in
Antarctica do not make up
for the accelerated Arctic
sea ice loss of the last
three decades, according to
the stark findings of a new
NASA study.
As a whole, the planet
has been shedding sea ice at
an average annual rate of
13,500 square miles (35,000
square kilometers) since
1979, the equivalent of
losing an area of sea ice
larger than the state of
Maryland every year.
However, the rate of sea
ice loss has recently
doubled to now reach an
alarming rate of nearly
20,000 square miles.
-
Aluminum-containing
products are likely
fueling the rise in
Alzheimer's disease and
autism
-
Aluminum and glyphosate
appear to act as
synergistic poisons that
promote autism
-
Fluoride in food and
drinking water may also
exacerbate the ill
effects of aluminum
-
The best way to protect
yourself is to be
careful about your
choices in food, drink,
and personal products,
and minimize use of
vaccines and other drugs
that contain aluminum,
mercury, and/or fluoride
As soon as Congress grants
President Barack Obama a new
authorization for the use of
military force against
terrorists, it will no long
have any say in how the war
is run, says retired Judge
Andrew Napolitano.
The findings, which appear
in Environmental Health
Perspectives, found
that mercury - even at low
levels generally considered
safe - was associated with
autoimmunity. Autoimmune
disorders, which cause the
body's immune system to
attack healthy cells by
mistake, affects nearly 50
million Americans and
predominately women.
Brazilians are hoarding
water in their apartments,
drilling homemade wells and
taking other emergency
measures to prepare for
forced rationing that
appears likely and could
leave taps dry for up to
five days a week because of
a drought.
In São Paulo, the
country's largest city with
a metropolitan area of 20
million people, the main
reservoir is at just 6
percent of capacity with the
peak of the rainy season now
past.
State
representatives in Arizona
have proposed a measure that
would require food
manufacturers to label
some genetically
modified foods. Similar to
Minnesota, Rhode Island,
Indiana, and other states,
at least Arizona lawmakers
are listening to the
people’s choice to have
their food labeled as
genetically modified when it
contains biotech-altered
ingredients.
Business is taking a new,
more prominent role in
urging government
negotiators to take bold
climate action by quickly
halting greenhouse gas
emissions as countries begin
their next round of UN
climate change talks.
The World Health
Organization has recorded a
surge in new Ebola cases
this past week, ending a
series of declines that saw
the number of new cases in
the three hardest-hit
countries – Guinea, Liberia
and Sierra Leone – fall
below 100 a week for the
first time in seven months.
Even so, UN officials say
the response to the Ebola
epidemic has now moved to a
second phase, shifting from
slowing transmission to
ending the epidemic...
A currency war is raging
across the world, as foreign
central banks ease policy to
devalue their currencies and
boost exports. And Mohamed
El-Erian, chief economic
adviser at Allianz, says the
war might last for a while.
"Not all currencies can
depreciate against one
another at the same time.
But the current wave of
efforts, despite being far
from optimal, can persist
for a while, so long as at
least two conditions are
met," he writes in an
article for Project
Syndicate.
Labeling GMOs, or
Genetically Modified
Organisms, hasn’t always
been a successful endeavor.
Previous campaigns in
California and Washington
failed to succeed with the
public. But this year,
activists in Oregon
collected almost 119,000
valid signatures, which
qualified a GMO labeling
initiative for the November
ballot.
-
While no one has died
from the measles in
recent years, 3,000 die
(and another 128,000 are
hospitalized) from food
each year
-
Antibiotic-resistant
bacteria infect 2
million Americans every
year, causing at least
23,000 deaths
-
Government priorities
should be focused on
cleaning up the US food
supply, but instead
research is focused on
creating more profitable
animals
Did you know that you can
actually stop a heart attack
in its tracts with the
simple but amazing and
awesome power of cayenne
pepper? It’s true. Cayenne
pepper can actually stop a
heart attack in about 60
seconds flat!
The weir, a concrete barrier
that stretches across the
river, allows water to pool
behind it while excess
spills over the top and
continues downstream. Pipes
installed in the pool behind
the weir tap the water and
carry it underground to a
storage tank.
The 10-megawatt field, to be
built on about 110 acres (45
hectares) in the desert town
of Dimona in southern
Israel, will combine
existing solar thermal
technology with an
underground system that
stores heat for use at
night.
He had absolutely NO
interest in academics, let
alone numbers — unless it
had something to do with his
bar tab.
Today, he’s much
different. Scientists say
the damage he suffered after
his attack forced his brain
to overcompensate in areas
most people aren’t able to
access — something called
‘acquired savant syndrome.’
Hogan said in a statement
that the stormwater
management measure would
allow nine counties and the
city of Baltimore
alternative ways to pay for
cleaning up fouled runoff
that flows into the
Chesapeake Bay, the largest
U.S. estuary.
"Passing a state law that
forces counties to raise
taxes on their citizens
against their will is not
the best way to address the
issue," said Hogan, whose
victory in the November
election was one of the
biggest upsets in the United
States.
-
In January, visitors to
Disneyland got measles
and presumably infected
other people in
California, Washington,
Utah, and Colorado, yet
no source case for the
outbreak has been
identified
-
Dr. Pan, a pediatrician
politician, has vowed to
introduce new
legislation to further
limit parents’ ability
to make voluntary
vaccine choices for
their children
-
The hype about 51 cases
of measles has more to
do with covering up
vaccine failures and
propping up the
dissolving myth of
vaccine acquired herd
immunity than it does
about protecting the
public health
Native American activists
gathered in Montana's
capital on Tuesday to
protest the deaths of
hundreds of Yellowstone
National Park bison killed
this year to ease the
worries of Montana ranchers
about a cattle disease
carried by many park
buffalo.
The demonstration marked
a week of protests over
federal-state management of
Yellowstone bison that
entails culling the herd
each winter when some
animals cross from the park
into neighboring Montana in
search of food.
By altering metal alloy at a
nanoscale level, researchers
at the Graduate Institute of
Ferrous Technology (GIFT) at
Pohang University of Science
and Technology in South
Korea have created a new
material that has the
strength of steel and the
lightness of titanium alloy.
Made from an amalgam of
steel, aluminum, carbon,
manganese, and nickel, the
new alloy promises to be
low-cost and readily
available due to its mix of
common minerals.
This is a bill sponsored in
the House by Rep. DeLauro
and in the Senate by Sen.
Durbin. Durbin is the
arch-nemesis of natural
health. But with the right
amendments, this bill could
actually hel
A plastic grocery bag
cartwheels down the beach
until a gust of wind spins
it into the ocean. In 192
coastal countries, this
scenario plays out over and
over again as discarded
beverage bottles, food
wrappers, toys and other
bits of plastic make their
way from estuaries,
seashores and uncontrolled
landfills to settle in the
world's seas.
About the only thing growing
quicker than the number of
privately owned drones is
the level of concern
surrounding them. Questions
of privacy and how these
things can be regulated are
pretty well-founded, but are
so far yet to be met with
any convincing answers.
NoFlyZone.org may go some
way to providing a solution,
allowing users to enter
their address to create
drone-free zones in the
airspace over their homes.
Life without basic
infrastructure – running
water, phone or electricity
– wasn’t a hardship,
Bigthumb said, because she
didn’t know any better.
“We knew how to get along
without it,” she said.
President Barack Obama said
he doesn't blame the media
for an "if it bleeds, it
leads," strategy, noting in
an interview with Vox editor
in chief Ezra Klein and
executive editor Matt
Iglesias that policy stories
are often an unsexy sell.
In his interview,
however, the president
weighed in on his belief
when asked if the media
"overstates" terror threats
and creates alarm.
"Absolutely," Obama
responded.
Opinions...
“Don't let someone else's
opinion of you become your
reality.” ― Les Brown
The number of people who
renounced their U.S.
citizenship or long-term
residency soared 14 percent
last year to a record of
3,415.
C6 event observed.
Solar activity is expected
to be low with a chance for
M-class flares on day one
(13 Feb) and expected to be
low with a slight chance for
an M-class flare on days two
and three (14 Feb, 15 Feb).
The geomagnetic field is
expected to be at quiet to
unsettled levels on days one
and two (13 Feb, 14 Feb) and
quiet to active levels on
day three (15 Feb).
The skin is the body's first
line of defense against
infection, with an extensive
network of skin-based immune
cells responsible for
detecting the presence of
foreign invaders. However,
in addition to pathogens, an
immune response can be
triggered by allergens or
even our own cells,
resulting in unwanted
inflammation and allergies.
Researchers have now shed
new light on the way the
immune system in our skin
works, paving the way for
future improvements in
tackling infections,
allergies and autoimmune
diseases.
Risk...
“Only those who will risk
going too far can possibly
find out how far one can
go.” ― T. S. Eliot
"How come the Republicans
give up so quickly? Why
don’t they just use budget
reconciliation in this
case?" he continued.
"They tell us that
they’re serious about
opposing Obama’s executive
amnesty, but they’re not.
They don’t want to stop
Obama’s executive amnesty,
and so that’s why they’re
not going to really work on
this," he explained.
-
The agrichemical and
food industries have
mounted a campaign to
defend genetically
engineered food and
crops and the pesticides
that accompany them
-
The purpose of this
campaign is to deceive
the public, deflect
efforts to win the right
to know what is in our
food via labeling, and
extend their profit
stream
-
A new report from U.S.
Right to Know reveals 15
things the industry is
hiding with its artful
PR campaign on GMOs
Strength...
“The turning point in the
process of growing up is
when you discover the core
of strength within you that
survives all hurt.” ― Max
Lerner
Researchers have tracked the
activity of bees forced to
begin foraging earlier in
their lives due to stress on
their colonies and found
that they collect less
pollen and die earlier,
accelerating the decline and
collapse of their hives.
The club of U.S. central
bankers appears jittery, but
it’s not because of interest
rates, unemployment, or
mortgage-backed securities.
It’s because of Congress.
The Fed appears
particularly nervous that
Congress will pass Rand
Paul’s audit bill and some
version of the Federal
Reserve Accountability and
Transparency Act (the FRAT
Act).
Toyota is opening the door
to the hydrogen future,
making available thousands
of hydrogen fuel cell
patents royalty free.
Announced at the 2015
Consumer Electronics Show,
this Toyota initiative will
spur development and
introduction of innovative
fuel cell technologies
around the world.
The worst persistent drought
ever in the U.S. Southwest
and Great Plains will parch
the region during the second
half of the 21st century,
with the drying conditions
“driven primarily” by
human-induced global
warming, new research
predicts.
It’s time for both sides to
stop relying on emotional
arguments and instead let
the science—all of
the science, even the less
popular research—speak for
itself.
The increase in numbers
of American children
diagnosed with autism is
frightening. Autism
cases have skyrocketed
between 20 and 30 fold
since the early 1970s,
according to the Centers
for Disease Control.
In 2014, the CDC
released a report
stating that one child
in 68 had autism, a 30
percent increase from
only two years earlier.
For boys, the risk was
even worse — one in 42.
...it’s
not just stress that causes
skin problems; anxiety,
depression, and other
psychological conditions do,
too. TheAmerican
Psychological Association
(APA) says that a relatively
new (and growing) field
called psychodermatology
aims to understand the
relationship between our
mental health and skin.
The White House scrambled to
the defense Tuesday
following a crush of
criticism of President
Barack Obama's remarks about
last month's terrorist siege
at a Kosher grocery in
France.
Obama
described the siege as one
in which people "randomly
shoot a bunch of folks in a
deli in Paris."
A federal judge has granted
two animal protection groups
a unusual preliminary
injunction to stop the
Bureau of Land Management’s
roundup of more than 330
wild horses in northern
Nevada, saying the
government cannot rely on a
five-year-old environmental
analysis that ignores claims
the herd would be harmed by
a pesticide given as a form
of birth control.
February 10, 2015
1. Two Trillion Becquerels
of Radioactive Material
Escaped Reactor 1
2. US West Coast Will
Experience Peak Radiation in
2015
3. Thyroid Cancer is
Spreading in Japan
4. Japan is Planning to
Build More Nuclear Plants
5. Experts Can’t Agree on
the Health Dangers
The germs that call
New York City’s
subways, parks and
waterways home are
often a reflection
of the people who
live there and the
events that affect
daily life, a new
study shows.
“You can see a
molecular echo of
what’s left
behind,”..
Iran’s supreme leader
offered a new signal of
support yesterday for a deal
to scale back his country’s
nuclear program as
negotiators race to meet a
March 24 deadline.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
whose recent public
pronouncements usually have
been skeptical about the
talks, promised in a speech
to Iranian air-force
officials that “I would go
along with the agreement in
the making,” the official
IRNA news agency reported.
People in Baghdad have been
celebrating the lifting of a
12-year-old curfew in the
Iraqi capital.
Pictures on social media
showed people dancing in the
streets as the restriction
came to an end at midnight
local time...
Based on numerous interviews
with members of Congress and
their staff, state
legislators, federal and
state government officials,
industry insiders, and trade
association, advocacy group
and corporate
representatives, Bloomberg
BNA has released its 2015
policy outlook on the
environment and energy --
which focuses on some of the
most hotly debated issues in
Congress.
In a move that will increase
the use of solar heating in
California , the state's
Public Utilities Commission
(CPUC) has increased the
incentive caps in California
Solar Initiative's (CSI)
Solar Thermal Program for
multifamily, commercial, and
pool heating systems.
Applauding the decision,
Solar Energy Industries
Association (SEIA) President
and CEO Rhone Resch issued
the following statement:
Boko Haram is well known for
car bombings and suicide
bombings within Nigeria
during its five-year
insurgency, but the group
had not carried out such
assaults within neighboring
countries.
The health benefits of
active outdoor pursuits over
sedentary indoor pastimes
are well known and
increasingly highlighted in
the battle against childhood
obesity and its long-term
consequences.
People
of all ages extol the
virtues of getting some
fresh air, particularly for
a generation of children in
which, according to a
Mothercare survey last year,
more than a quarter play
outside for less than half
an hour a week.
Crude futures continued
rising Monday, closing
higher after OPEC said it
expected global supply
growth to slow in 2015 as
oil companies reduce
spending and drill less.
-
Chronic inflammation is
associated with
metabolic syndrome
-
Curcumin, the active
ingredient in the spice
turmeric, is one of the
most potent
anti-inflammatories in
nature
-
After taking curcumin
for eight weeks, people
with metabolic syndrome
had lower levels of
inflammation and blood
sugar
US coal industry leaders who
gathered at the 15th annual
Coaltrans event this week in
Miami say depressed prices
have made physical deals
difficult to seal.
"A
number of companies are
interested in doing deals,
but don't want to do them at
[over-the-counter] prices,"
said one Eastern fuel buyer.
"Traders are willing to do
them, but producers can't
take that risk."
Jim Holt, a Canadian
military veteran, is dying.
His required care resulted
in a $61,000 medical bill
that the 79-year-old
believed he would have to
pass on to his family.
Little did he know, the
Ottawa Hospital wasn’t going
to let that happen.
In the 16th century, during
its conquest of South
America, the Spanish Empire
forced countless Incas to
work extracting silver from
the mountaintop mines of
Potosí, in what is now
Bolivia—then the largest
source of silver in the
world. The Inca already knew
how to refine silver, but in
1572 the Spanish introduced
a new technology that
boosted production many
times over and sent thick
clouds of lead dust rising
over the Andes for the first
time in history.
A coalition of Arizona
community groups and
businesses, including the
Sierra Club, Sustainable
Tucson, and 350.org Tucson,
are calling on Tucson
Electric Power (TEP) to
divest from the out-of-state
coal-fired San Juan
Generating Station, and
instead to commit to local,
clean energy solutions like
rooftop solar.
The EU has agreed to
postpone new sanctions
against Russia to give time
to see if a four-way Ukraine
peace summit makes progress,
French Foreign Minister
Laurent Fabius says.
-
Sprouts may offer some
of the highest levels of
nutrition available,
including vitamins,
minerals, antioxidants,
and enzymes that help
protect against free
radical damage
-
Many of the benefits of
sprouts relate to the
fact that, in their
initial phase of growth,
the plants contain more
concentrated amounts of
nutrients
-
Sunflower seed and pea
shoots are both
typically about 30 times
more nutritious than
organic vegetables, and
are among the highest in
protein
Gulf Power, a subsidiary of
Southern Co.announced plans
to retire coal-fired
generating Units 1 & 2 at
the Plant Smith power plant
by March 31, 2016.
The company said it was in
their customers’ best
interest to retire the
units, located near Panama
City,..
Defense Secretary Chuck
Hagel said Thursday he is
worried about a potential
division within NATO as
countries in the north want
to focus on the growing
threat from Russia, while
other alliance members in
the south are more worried
about the influx of foreign
fighters from northern
Africa.
Scientists say they have
gained new insight into what
lies at the very centre of
the Earth.
Research from China and
the US suggests that the
innermost core of our planet
has another, distinct region
at its centre.
The team believes that
the structure of the iron
crystals there is different
from those found in the
outer part of the inner
core.
Herbal supplements BANNED
from GNC, Walmart, Target
and Walgreens after a study
supposedly discovered that 4
out of 5 herbal supplements
contain ZERO herbs. Chain
stores are now being ordered
to pull products from their
shelves in what seems to be
a major victory for the big
pharma mafia….
“If you want to find
the secrets of the
universe, think in terms
of energy, frequency and
vibration.” – Nikola
Tesla
“What we have called
matter is energy, whose
vibration has been so
lowered as to be
perceptible to the
senses. There is no
matter.” – Albert
Einstein
Hundreds of former Internal
Revenue Service employees
who had a history of
misconduct and poor
performance on the job were
rehired by the tax agency,
including some who had
committed fraud or falsified
documents.
Meteorologists are searching
for answers after rain with
a “milky” quality fell in
the Pacific Northwest
Friday.
The left-wing politician
said Netanyahu “won’t get to
meet with a single American
official on this visit — not
from the National Security
Agency, not from the White
House, not from the State
Department.”
Herzog is Netanyahu’s
chief rival for prime
minister when Israelis go to
the polls March 17.
A Jordanian official says
dozens of air strikes have
been launched against ISIS
militants since the group
released a video last week
showing the burning to death
of a Jordanian fighter
pilot.
Jordan is going after
Islamic State group
militants wherever they are
and plans to "wipe them out
completely," Jordan's
interior minister said in
comments published Saturday.
It was the latest in a
series of warnings of harsh
retaliation after the
militants released a video
of them burning a Jordanian
pilot to death in a cage.
The gruesome images sparked
widespread anger in Jordan
and the region.
Southern Co. (NYSE: SO)
said it will spend at least
another $45 million to
finish the power plant it's
building in eastern
Mississippi's Kemper County,
pushing total costs to
nearly $6.2 billion.
The Atlanta-based parent
of Mississippi Power Co.
said the additional money
will pay for further
construction costs and fuel
during plant startup.
The government has begun
prep work on a parcel of
land near the crippled
Fukushima No. 1 nuclear
power plant to receive its
first delivery of
radioactive debris from
decontamination work in the
area.
The repercussions of the
continuing oil price slump
have been underscored in a
number of ways, affecting
both majors like BP and
Royal Dutch Shell in
addition to smaller
companies. Layoffs,
drastically cut budgets and
capital investment, falling
stock value and cancelled or
delayed exploration and
drilling projects have been
the most prominent. Now,
China's energy companies are
beginning to acknowledge the
pinch
Monsanto’s Roundup Ready
system – a potent herbicide
combined with
genetically-modified seeds
that can withstand it – has
decimated the monarch
butterfly’s only source of
food in the Midwest, putting
it on the edge of
extinction, according to a
new study.
"The findings in the
inspector general's report
are deeply troubling. Not
only did the report find
inconsistencies between the
testimony of former FERC
Chairman Wellinghoff and
commission officials, but it
found that during
Wellinghoff's tenure there
was a 'culture of reluctance
to classify certain
nonpublic documents,'"
Murkowski said. "The
security of our nation's
electric grid is a serious
concern and the release of
public documents detailing
security issues is
alarming."
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg
said February 5 that the
alliance has agreed to
immediately set up six bases
in eastern Europe and
establish a spearhead force
of 5,000 troops in response
to Russian aggression in
Ukraine.
"Harmful levels of ammonium
and iodide have now been
found in wastewater from
conventional oil and gas
production plus the more
controversial practice of
hydraulic fracturing, known
as fracking. The chemicals,
pulled up from the earth,
arrive at the surface at
concentrations high enough
to harm aquatic life and
form cancer-causing
compounds when mixed with
the chlorine in tap water,"
according to Science
News.
Telomeres are the caps at
the end of human DNA strands
known as chromosomes that
protect the DNA code of the
genome. As humans age,
telomeres begin to decrease
in size, causing cellular
aging. After telomeres reach
a certain length, the cell
is no longer able to divide
and will die. This process
has been associated to
disease, aging, and
death.Antioxidants are often
credited as providing
nutritional support that can
help protect normal telomere
size and function.
The newly released 2013
Renewable Energy Data
BookPDF illustrates United
States and global energy
statistics, including
renewable electricity
generation, renewable energy
development, clean energy
investments, and
technology-specific data and
trends. The Data Book is
produced and published
annually by the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory
(NREL) on behalf of the
Energy Department's Office
of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy .
Barack Obama and his
Washington Democrats are
STILL PUSHING unelected
bureaucrats at the Federal
Election Commission - the
FEC - to regulate (and
ultimately censor) your
online political speech.
President Barack Obama
unveiled his $3.99 trillion
budget proposal for Fiscal
Year 2016 this week, setting
the stage for a showdown
with the
Republican-controlled
Congress on funding for
environmental issues such as
climate change, clean water,
clean power, and cleaning up
abandoned mine lands.
The contracts were filed
under "Troop Support."
DOE said the project would
not meet a September 2015
deadline to use $1 billion
in stimulus funds and
suspended the rest of the
funding. FutureGen 2.0 would
have retrofitted a
coal-fired generating unit
at Ameren’s Meredosia power
plant in Illinois with an
oxy-combustion system, air
quality control systems, a
boiler, steel and other
control systems. The project
was designed to capture up
to 90 percent, or 1 million
tons, of carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions from the unit and
inject them deep
underground.
C3 event observed.
Solar activity is expected
to be low with a chance for
M-class flares on days one,
two, and three (10 Feb, 11
Feb, 12 Feb). The
geomagnetic field is
expected to be at quiet to
unsettled levels on days one
and two (10 Feb, 11 Feb) and
quiet levels on day three
(12 Feb).
Scientists have found a new
species of bacterium which
cleans up the environment
and produces hydrogen, an
element which may in the
future reduce the world's
dependency on oil. ..
It can "produce hydrogen
under saline and alkaline
conditions in amounts that
rival genetically modified
organisms," said head
researcher Dr. Melanie
Mormile.
Vast ranges of volcanoes
hidden under the oceans are
presumed by scientists to be
the gentle giants of the
planet, oozing lava at slow,
steady rates along mid-ocean
ridges. But a new study
shows that they flare up on
strikingly regular cycles,
ranging from two weeks to
100,000 years—and, that they
erupt almost exclusively
during the first six months
of each year. The
pulses—apparently tied to
short- and long-term changes
in earth’s orbit, and to sea
levels--may help trigger
natural climate swings.
Scientists have already
speculated that volcanic
cycles on land emitting
large amounts of carbon
dioxide might influence
climate; but up to now there
was no evidence from
submarine volcanoes. The
findings suggest that models
of earth’s natural climate
dynamics, and by extension
human-influenced climate
change, may have to be
adjusted.
...the subcommittee will
begin expanded oversight
with budget hearings in
February and March, then
turn to a series of hearings
in April about the future of
nuclear in the U.S. and what
the country would be like
without nuclear power.
There would be hearings on
nuclear waste, energy
research, nuclear vs.
renewables, and energy
reliability.
As darkness falls, Dora
Mjungu and her two brothers
cram themselves around the
faint flame of a kerosene
lamp, struggling to finish
their homework before their
mother blows out the lamp to
save the fuel cost.
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek
Murthy has admitted that
weed is beneficial in the
treatment of certain
conditions. It’s seemingly a
small step forward, but some
medical marijuana advocates
think it will make all the
difference in the battle for
legalizing weed.
Success...
“Success is not a
destination, but the road
that you're on. Being
successful means that you're
working hard and walking
your walk every day. You can
only live your dream by
working hard towards it.
That's living your dream.” ―
Marlon Wayans
150 years ago Cancer was
almost non-existent, but
with the inclusion of
processed
foods, low-quality
meat and dairy, and refined
sugars into the standard
diet, disease and sickness
sprung up in the body…
quickly
becoming a human
epidemic. To this day, most
mainstream medical doctors
and pharmaceutical companies
dispel the notion that
diet and lifestyle
choices are related to
Cancer, and it is for this
reason a growing percent of
the population continues to
contract this largely
preventable disease.
Trust...
“We're
never so vulnerable than
when we trust someone -
but paradoxically, if we
cannot trust, neither
can we find love or joy.”
― Walter Anderson
In January, the U.S.
Interior Department
auctioned off two 25-year
leases to build wind farms
off the coast of
Massachusetts. The leases
went to the only two bidders
to attend the auction, and
for a fraction of what the
agency received from
previous sales, says a
Bloomberg report.
There is a reason we
use the term “well” as
opposed to “fit” or
“healthy” or anything else.
It is because wellness is
not bound by a narrow
definition - it is
all-encompassing. I cannot
emphasize this enough:
wellness is just as much, if
not more, about
mindfulness as it is about
physical fitness. And just
like it is possible to
improve physical fitness, it
is possible to improve
mindfulness: but it takes
work, time, attention and
discipline.
Without action by Feb. 27,
the department’s budget will
shut off — and that won’t be
the end of the world.
The White House quietly
released the names of the
Muslim leaders who met
privately with President
Barack Obama earlier this
week to discuss the Islamic
State, anti-Muslim
“discrimination” and even
Obamacare.
Soon after Gov. Jerry Brown
proposed expanding
greenhouse gas reduction
policies in his State of the
State address, California's
influential utilities
praised Brown's agenda but
moved quietly to craft a
version that could be easier
for them to meet.
February 6, 2015
Eating what’s quick,
convenient, and tasty may
fit your lifestyle for now,
but you may be subjecting
yourself to progressively
worsening health. If you
don’t shift to a healthier
diet, someday sooner rather
than later you’ll be a young
person in an old person’s
body, wondering what
happened. Below are 8 foods
you should avoid to age
gracefully and avoid
sickness.
Air travel emits more than
650 million metric tons of
carbon pollution annually –
equivalent to the pollution
from 136 million cars –
making the increased use of
sustainable biofuels a
critical to reducing the
industry’s carbon footprint.
Oil companies have eyed
the Arctic for years. With
an estimated 90 billion
barrels of oil lying north
of the Arctic Circle, the
circumpolar north is one of
the last parts of the globe
that is still almost
entirely unexplored.
As drilling technology
advances, conventional oil
reserves become harder to
find, and climate change
contributes to melting sea
ice, the Arctic has moved up
on the list of priorities in
oil company board rooms.
Today's children should look
like pincushions from the
dozens of vaccines they get
from birth to the age of 18.
"According to the Centers
for Disease Control, the
onslaught begins within 12
hours of birth when many
babies get a Hepatitis B
vaccine," says holistic
doctor Dr. David Brownstein.
"At two months, eight more
vaccines follow, including
polio, tetanus, diphtheria,
and pertussis, and
throughout the next few
months, they are subjected
to boosters of the vaccines
they've already have plus
additional vaccines.
It’s official: the Oregon
Bureau of Labor and
Industries has found
that Aaron and Melissa
Klein, the Christian bakers
who gained national
attention after they refused
to make a wedding cake for a
lesbian couple in 2013, were
guilty of discrimination —
and could be forced to pay
up to $150,000 in damages.
In most pumps, either a
spinning impeller pulls
liquid in and then
essentially "throws" it out
via centrifugal force, or a
rotor draws it through using
peristaltic force. After
studying how birds' flapping
wings use fluid dynamics to
push air back while moving
the animals forward,
however, two scientists from
New York University have
developed a pump that works
in yet another fashion – and
it has teeth.
Planned capital spending
cuts by oil companies this
year will likely cause a dip
in production within six
months, which could drive
shale drillers to ramp up
operations and create the
risk of another plunge in
prices, the head of the US
Energy Information
Administration said
Wednesday.
The chairman of the
venerable Gallup research
and polling firm says the
official U.S. unemployment
rate is really an
underestimation and a “big
lie" perpetuated by the
White House, Wall Street and
the media.
A computer storing operating
cost data for the
Midcontinent Independent
System Operator Inc., power
network extending from the
Midwest to the Gulf Coast
was compromised this summer.
Within the past two years,
sophisticated cyber-attacks,
whose colorful names
"Dragonfly" and "Energetic
Bear" belie their disruptive
capability, gained access to
U.S. and European power
networks. These and other
recent cyber intrusions
highlight the persistent
risk confronting the U.S.
electricity grid.
The inaccessibility of clean
water in some parts of rural
California is linked to
obesity and type 2 diabetes,
according to a new policy
paper.
The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) has called for
a second look at the
controversial Keystone XL
pipeline because today's low
oil prices could have
"implications" that would
change previous assessments
of the projects impacts,
particularly greenhouse gas
emissions. EPA is referring
to earlier studies and
assessments made by the
State Department when oil
prices were higher than they
are today.
Wheeler confirmed Wednesday
that he intends to regulate
wired and wireless broadband
services under the Title II
of the Communications Act of
1934, subjecting them to the
same utility-style rules
that oversee telephone
service.
This March will mark the
four-year anniversary of
when the world’s worst
nuclear disaster since
Chernobyl hit the northeast
of Japan. Communities
severely affected by the
triple-disaster of
earthquake, tsunami and
nuclear meltdown have made a
strong commitment to become
energy self-reliant by
producing safe, clean energy
locally for local
consumption.
“The key here, for me, is
the name of God,”
Beck said on his television
program Wednesday. “The name
of God in Hebrew is
different, and it changes
throughout the story of
creation. The first time you
see the word — ‘In the
beginning…’ that word God
there actually means
‘justice.’”...
Beck was also amazed by how
the name of God meant
“mercy” after Adam and Eve
ate the forbidden fruit.
Greek markets tumbled after
the European Central Bank
raised the pressure on the
country's new anti-austerity
government to stick to the
terms of its massive
international bailout
program, a message
reinforced later by Germany.
On Tuesday, the U.S. House
of Representatives voted
239-186 to repeal Obamacare.
Of the 186 ‘nay’ votes, all
were Democrats but three.
Reps. Robert Dold (R-Ill.),
John Katko (R-N.Y.) and
Bruce Poliquin (R-Maine)
were the only Republicans to
cross party lines.
The world will take years to
limit climate change to
manageable levels, with no
miracle fix at a Paris
summit this year despite
growing signs of action by
governments and companies,
the United Nations climate
chief said on Thursday.
The GOP-House voted
Tuesday evening to fully
repeal Obamacare, sending
the bill to a Republican
Senate that seems likely to
at least try to pass it in
the coming weeks.
There was little doubt
the bill could pass in a
House with a stronger
Republican majority, and it
passed easily 239-186.
NASA's venerated Hubble
Space Telescope has captured
a striking image of the
larger galaxy NGC 7714
colliding with its smaller
companion NGC 7715. A
similar cataclysmic
collision is due to take
place between our own galaxy
– the Milky Way – and our
closest neighbor, the
Andromeda galaxy, in around
four billion years. The
image itself is a composite,
comprised of a number of
images captured by Hubble
over a wide range of
wavelengths.
The nuclear energy industry
is calling on federal
appropriators to demand
additional efficiencies at
the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission and to reject the
Obama administration's
latest attempt to impose a
multibillion-dollar tax on
the industry for a federal
facilities cleanup program
that electric utilities
already have funded.
The automated tank gauge is
a huge example of the market
being ill prepared for the
IoT
As additional objects join
the cult of the
Internet-connected devices
known as the
Internet-of-Things, the
number of attack vectors
accessible to hackers are
exponentially skyrocketing.
Jordan's King Abdullah vowed
a "relentless" war against
Islamic State on their own
territory on Wednesday in
response to a video
published by the hard-line
group showing a captured
Jordanian air force pilot
being burned alive in a
cage.
"The Jordanian King Abdullah
II will participate
personally on Thursday in
conducting air strikes
against the shelters of the
terrorist ISIL organization
to revenge the execution of
the Jordanian pilot [First
Lieutenant Moaz al-Kasasbeh]
by the ISIL," said one
IraqiNews report published
Wednesday.
Perhaps you're one of those
guys who dreams of having a
"man cave" with its own
private urinal. The things
cost hundreds of dollars,
however, plus they take up a
lot of space in the
bathroom. That's why Daniel
Garvin created the Main
Drain, a low-cost urinal
that attaches to the side of
an existing toilet
97% of United States
population wants to know
what they’re eating
When you think of GMO
labeling initiatives, you
probably don’t immediately
think about the tucked away
Midwestern state of
Minnesota. But in a move
that could very well beat
out states like California
and New York in finally
achieving a full-fledged GMO
labeling law system,
Minnesota legislatures have
introduced brand new
highly-backed GMO labeling
legislation that is shaping
up to be quite promising.
Case in point: A
new
study reports
that when developing mice
are exposed to a pyrethroid
insecticide called
deltamethrin, it results in
impacts on brain chemistry
and changes in behavior
similar to what’s observed
in attention deficit
hyperactivity (ADHD). Like I
said, interesting stuff.
Scientists have found some
of the strongest evidence
yet that musical training in
younger years can prevent
the decay in speech
listening skills in later
life.
Indigenous protesters plan
to shut down more wells in
Peru's biggest oil block
unless operator Pluspetrol
agrees to pay compensation
for pollution on ancestral
lands, a tribal leader said
on Wednesday.
The system aims to make
sewage marketable by turning
sewage into a substance
called Recycllose, a pellet
material, according to the
report.
"The technology works
using a fine filter to
capture cellulose, fats and
oils which can be
pasteurized to produce a
pellet material," the report
said. "This can be used in
paper, plastic,
construction, energy and
other industries."
Solar cell efficiency has
made significant strides in
recent times, but cells are
still far from their maximum
theoretical efficiency, and
part of the reason is that
the semiconductors we use to
build them don’t have ideal
electrical properties.
Oil futures were unsteady
Thursday, rising sharply one
day after crashing, as a
weaker US dollar supported
crude prices.
ICE
March Brent ended $2.41
higher at $56.57/b. NYMEX
March crude closed up $2.03
at $50.48/b.
A bill introduced in the
Oregon Legislature would ban
state utilities from
generating coal-fired power
or buying it by 2025 and
requires instead that they
develop wind and solar power
to make up the difference.
The reaction to the
legislation has been
predictable: environmental
organizations generally
support it while utilities
in the state talk about the
billions of dollars such a
relatively abrupt transition
would require.
The execution of two Iraqi
jihadists by Jordan as
punishment and revenge for
the Islamic State (ISIS)
burning alive a 26-year-old
Jordanian pilot captured by
the terror group shows how
seriously King Abdullah
takes the threat, a far cry
from the lackluster response
shown by President Barack
Obama, according to Texas
Rep. Kevin Brady and retired
military commanders Paul
Vallely and Derek Harvey.
The U.S. Concealed Carry
Association is claiming that
its repeated attempts to
place a paid print
advertisement in the
official Super Bowl program
were rejected by the NFL.
Kevin Michalowski, editor
of Concealed Carry Magazine,
says the pro-gun group’s ad
was ultimately rejected
“without comment.”
Where you live may
increasingly become as
important as how you live in
determining your health as
we continue to recognize how
environmental factors affect
our lives and may hasten our
deaths.
C3 event observed.
Solar activity is expected
to be low with a slight
chance for an M-class flare
on days one, two, and three
(06 Feb, 07 Feb, 08 Feb).
The geomagnetic field is
expected to be at quiet to
unsettled levels on days one
and two (06 Feb, 07 Feb) and
quiet levels on day three
(08 Feb).
Scott Walker is the only
ambidextrous candidate in
the Republican field. He
appeals equally to the
Republican establishment and
the Tea Party/evangelical
wingers.
All other candidates fit
neatly in one or the other
box.
The exit further frees
Osaka-based Sharp to focus
on its home market, which
has grown following the
introduction in 2012 of
incentives to build clean
energy projects. Outside the
country, the company has
been facing competition from
cheaper panels made by
Chinese rivals.
The impacts of the rapid
plunge in crude oil prices
have been documented in a
number of ways: budget cuts;
exploration and drilling
slowed or stopped
altogether; then layoffs in
the industry and in the
companies that supply it
with pipe and other
equipment. Very recently,
that impact was underscored
by the decision some
companies have made to put
their pipelines and
processing facilities up for
sale.
Except in this instance, the
nightmares are very much
based on reality. In fact,
there are two different
scenarios—one related to
natural events, the other to
intentional human
action—under which an
electromagnetic pulse could
indeed bring modern society
crashing to the ground, and
both are considered
likely to occur at some
point by experts who study
the question.
Need evidence that tax
codes are wonky?
Look no further than one
of the world’s leading tech
companies.
ynesthesia is a superpower
phenomenon whereby a lucky
group of people see color
when exposed to stimuli,
most commonly sounds. It’s
the inspiration behind some
famous art and music — but
it’s virtually impossible
for mere mortals to get
their heads around. This
visualization is the best
attempt I’ve yet seen.
"Milk is losing the battle
of public opinion now," said
Julia Kadison, CEO of Milk
Processor Education Program
(MilkPEP). "We've kept too
quiet. The bear is out of
hibernation and growling. We
need to place super positive
stories—a lot of them. We
need to fight the battle in
the social media and digital
world."
Summary:Microsoft
engineers are working to fix
a dangerous flaw found in
Internet Explorer which
allows attackers to steal
user credentials.
US factory orders fell
for a fifth straight month
in December, hit by the
global economic slowdown and
the oil price plunge, US
Commerce Department data
released Tuesday showed.
New orders for
manufactured goods fell 3.4
percent from November to
$471.5 billion, with
shipments, unfulfilled
orders and inventories also
all lower
The US Department of
Energy's Inspector General
issued a highly critical
report Wednesday faulting
the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission's
handling of information
about potential
vulnerabilities of the
electric grid.
By the end of 2014, solar
deployment is slated to be
up nearly 40 percent over
2013. Today, the booming
demand for solar energy
supports more than 173,000
jobs and the U.S. has become
the third largest solar
market in the world. You can
find solar energy atop your
neighborhood big box store,
powering a Las Vegas casino,
in the middle of the desert,
or on your own roof.
The U.S. weather forecaster
on Thursday maintained its
forecast for a 50 percent to
60 percent chance of El Nino
during the Northern
Hemisphere winter and early
spring, with neutral
conditions thereafter.
Germany’s utilities,
battered by the country’s
shift to wind turbines and
solar panels, would be glad
to sell you a power plant on
the cheap. They’ll even pack
it up and ship it to another
country.
Water scarcity could lead
to conflict between
communities and nations as
the world is still not fully
aware of the water crisis
many countries face as a
result of climate change,
the head of the U.N. panel
of climate scientists warned
on Tuesday.
The latest report from
the U.N. Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) predicts a rise in
global temperature of
between 0.3 and 4.8 degrees
Celsius (0.5 to 8.6
Fahrenheit) by the late 21st
century.
West Virginia's six-year-old
Alternative Renewable Energy
Portfolio Act that required
utilities to meet targets
for including alternative
fuels in their energy
portfolios is done. Governor
Earl Ray Tomblin signed the
House and Senate approved
legislation that repeals it
this week.
February 3, 2015
Some Texas utility customers
have been surprised to find
they are charged a fee for
using less than a specified
amount of electricity, even
while the utilities serving
them promote energy
conservation and efficiency.
Utilities in the state are
largely unregulated and
there are hundreds of rate
plans for customers to
choose from. Many include
the fees.
Bill Gates is worried
about artificial
intelligence.
In a question and answer
session on
Internet-community website
Reddit Wednesday, the
Microsoft co-founder said he
was frightened about the
possibility it could grow
out of hand.
“I am in the camp that is
concerned about super
intelligence,” Gates wrote.
“First, the machines will do
a lot of jobs for us and not
be super intelligent. That
should be positive if we
manage it well. A few
decades after that, though,
the intelligence is strong
enough to be a concern.”
President Barack Obama set a
goal in his 2011 State of
the Union speech – put one
million electric vehicles on
the road by 2015. But auto
analysts and executives
doubted that was possible.
Turns out the doubters were
right. U.S. car dealers have
sold just over 250,000
electric vehicles since they
were introduced in 2010.
-
2015 has been declared
the International Year
of Soils, with the
objective to achieve
full recognition of the
prominent contributions
of soils to food
security and climate
change adaptation
-
Carbon sequestration in
soils can help
regenerate soils,
increase crop yields,
reduce atmospheric
carbon dioxide levels,
limit fresh water usage,
reduce use of
agricultural chemicals,
and reduce pollution
-
About 40 percent of
agricultural soils
around the globe is
currently classified as
degraded or seriously
degraded; the world only
has about 60 years’
worth of topsoil left
According
to UK research,
celiac disease rate in
children has almost tripled
in the past 20 years.
However, kids from poorer
families have about 50
percent less risk of
developing celiac disease.
A year after a spectacular
spill into the Dan River ,
Duke Energy's North Carolina
ash ponds are apparently
still leaking more than 3
million gallons a day near
rivers and lakes.
An Egyptian court Monday
confirmed death sentences
against 183 men convicted of
killing 13 policemen, in a
verdict slammed as
"outrageous" by rights group
Amnesty International.
The verdict came as
another court announced that
deposed Islamist president
Mohamed Morsi would stand
trial on February 15 in an
espionage case -- the fourth
trial he is facing.
Physicists, architects,
engineers, economists and
civil society activists on
Sunday emphasized the need
to adopt alternative energy
sources like solar and wind
instead of nuclear power
plants for generation of
electricity in Pakistan as
it is not cheaper as claimed
by the Atomic Energy
Commission of Pakistan .
Regardless of intelligence
uncertainties and unknowns
about Iran's nuclear weapons
and missile programs, we
know enough now to make a
prudent judgment that Iran
should be regarded by
national security decision
makers as a nuclear missile
state capable of posing an
existential threat to the
United States and its
allies.
Another youngster has been
reported dead after getting
a flu shot, the latest
victim of an ongoing
genocide campaign
masquerading as medicine.
Five-year-old Kiera Driscoll
allegedly developed a cough
and fever not long after
getting jabbed, claim
reports, and just hours
later collapsed, was put on
life support, suffered
cardiac arrest and died.
Government regulations and
price concerns continue to
linger as manufacturers
attempt to break into other
markets.
Biotech scientists are
certain they can create a
taint-free boar through a
process that edits a pig’s
genome rather than
introducing any DNA foreign
to the species, as has been
the case with many GMO
experiments like Bt corn or
Round Up ready soy. These
‘experts’ feel that by
avoiding any interspecies
mixing, the pigs would be“much
more likely to be approved
for human consumption by the
Food and Drug Administration
and other regulatory
agencies.”
-
Illegal gold mining in
Peru has increased
significantly since
2000, where high gold
prices continue to
attract laborers
-
High levels of mercury
were detected both near
the mining operations
and hundreds of
kilometers downstream
-
Other leading sources of
environmental mercury
pollution include
coal-fired power plants
and the use of dental
amalgam fillings
Around 3,000 people attended
the "Spring Comes, Orban
Goes" rally outside
parliament. Orban's Fidesz
party easily won three
elections last year but its
popularity has nosedived
since an aborted attempt in
October to introduce a tax
on Internet use.
Once again, the world is on
a sprint toward a new
agreement on global climate
change. The last time this
happened — in 2009 — the
sprint ended in acrimony in
Copenhagen. This time, the
signs are more auspicious.
As someone who has been
writing for nearly 25 years
about the difficulties of
making serious progress on
climate change, I am more
optimistic today than I have
been in a very long time.
When governments gather in
Paris late this year, I
believe they are likely to
adopt a watershed strategy
for slowing climate
change.
Japan has begun deliberating
its 2030 targets for power
generation, a process likely
to turn contentious when
nuclear restarts are
considered even as the much
delayed cleanup at Fukushima
continues four years after
the meltdowns there.
-
A PBS documentary covers
the amazing 2,000-mile
migration of Monarch
butterflies from Canada
to the highlands of
Mexico
-
The North American
Monarch butterfly
population has fallen by
more than 90 percent as
their primary food
source and breeding
habitat are decimated by
glyphosate
-
Your help is urgently
needed to help save the
Monarch butterfly;
specific action steps
are provided
Southern states see a
bonanza, environmentalists
see mixed signals from Obama
on climate change as
moratorium ends after almost
three decades.
Naturally occurring arsenic
in private wells threatens
people in many U.S. states
and parts of Canada,
according to a package of a
dozen scientific papers to
be published next week. The
studies, focused mainly on
New England but applicable
elsewhere, say private wells
present continuing risks due
to almost nonexistent
regulation in most states,
homeowner inaction and
inadequate mitigation
measures.
The U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC)
began special inspections at
the Pilgrim nuclear power
plant in Massachusetts.
The inspections stem from
a storm-induced unplanned
shutdown at the plant on
Jan. 27. During the recent
winter storm, one of two 345
kV lines that provide
off-site power to the plant
tripped.
President Barack Obama's
budget will propose an
ambitious six-year, $478
billion public works program
of highway, bridge and
transit upgrades, half of it
financed with a one-time
mandatory tax on profits
that U.S. companies have
amassed overseas, White
House officials said.
As more communities look
to solar energy as a source
of clean, renewable
electricity, the Obama
Administration is investing
more than $59 million in
solar energy innovation,
Energy Secretary Ernest
Moniz announced today.
The funds are being spent
in support of the
administration’s effort to
double renewable energy
generation for a second time
by 2020.
New Federal Communications
Commission rules that will
regulate Internet service
providers (ISPs) more like
utilities are due to be
proposed on Thursday, CNBC
reported on Monday, citing
Dow Jones Newswires.
C3 event observed.
Solar Activity Forecast:
Solar activity is expected
to be low with a chance for
M-class flares on days one
and two (03 Feb, 04 Feb) and
expected to be low with a
slight chance for an M-class
flare on day three (05 Feb).
The geomagnetic field is
expected
to be at quiet
to active levels on day one
(03 Feb) and quiet to
unsettled levels on days two
and three (04 Feb, 05 Feb).
Increasing U.S. coal exports
could be good for the U.S.
economy and the environment,
according to a new report by
the National Center for
Policy Analysis, as
increasing governmental
regulations and decreasing
domestic demand paint
challenge the U.S. coal
industry.
Changes in drinking water
quality in the 21st Century
are coming from a myriad of
circumstances, and not all
are for the best.
Top contenders for why
water-drinking quality might
become suspect to the
average consumer include
California's drought
conditions, the technology
of fracking, and the
nationwide aging
infrastructure of rusty,
degrading pipes.
Unbeknownst to most, a
Copernican revolution has
already taken place in
cancer theory. Today, the
weight of evidence indicates
that plants and not
chemicals are the solution
for reversing the global
cancer epidemic.
While it will not make North
American and other oil
companies struggling with
low oil prices and spending
cuts feel any better, Saudi
Aramco -- considered the
world's largest oil company
-- has suspended its
deepwater oil and gas
exploration projects in the
Red Sea.
Nothing in the Keystone
debate suggests there's
bipartisan consensus on any
basic energy issue, or on
the biggest climate question
of all.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a
potential Republican
candidate for president next
year, doesn't think American
children should be required
to have every vaccine that
is available.
"I'm
not anti-vaccine at all, but
most of them ought to be
voluntary," Paul said on
Laura Ingraham's radio
program Monday.
Standard & Poor’s, the giant
credit rating agency accused
of inflating the subprime
mortgage bubble, had long
been convinced that a
Justice Department lawsuit
lacked merit. So convinced,
in fact, that it portrayed
the lawsuit as an act of
“retaliation” for its
decision to cut the credit
rating of the United States
in the summer of 2011.
Now that S.&P. is poised to
settle that case, as well as
lawsuits from 19 state
attorneys general across the
country, the rating agency
is walking back that claim.
With endocrine-disrupting
compounds affecting fish
populations in rivers as
close as Pennsylvania's
Susquehanna and as far away
as Israel's Jordan, a new
research study shows that
soils can filter out and
break down at least some of
these emerging contaminants.
The results suggest that
water pollution can be
diminished by spraying
treated wastewater on land
rather than discharging it
directly into streams,
according to researchers in
Penn State's College of
Agricultural Sciences
A technical fault
at South Africas only
nuclear power plant has cut
close to 1,000 MW of
electricity from the already
strained power grid and is
potentially exposing Africas
most advanced economy to
more rolling black-outs.
A team of researchers led by
Kathryn McKain of Harvard
University has recently
discovered that
approximately three percent
of the natural gas delivered
to Boston leaks directly
into the atmosphere, taking
with it a heavy load of
methane, a known greenhouse
gas.
Federal law makes it very
clear that food additives
and supplements are not to
be treated the same way. But
once again the FDA doesn’t
seem to care about the law.
For the first time in
five years, Americans cite
defending the United States
against terrorism as the top
priority in 2015, a new
survey by the Pew Research
Center reveals.
Seventy-six percent of
respondents say terrorism is
a top priority, just ahead
of strengthening the
nation's economy at 75
percent.
Thousands of
pro-democracy demonstrators
marched through Hong Kong’s
streets Sunday in the first
major rally since mass
protests last year.
Chanting “No fake
universal suffrage. I want
genuine universal suffrage,”
the demonstrators held
yellow umbrellas, which
became a symbol of the
earlier protests when the
activists wielded them as a
defense against police using
pepper spray.
-
The thread linking a
wide variety of common
health problems—from
obesity and diabetes to
heart disease and
cancer—is chronic
inflammation
-
The key to reducing
chronic inflammation
starts with your diet.
Being liberal in your
use of high-quality
herbs and spices is one
simple way to boost the
anti-inflammatory
quality of your food
-
Four herbs and spices
found to quell the
inflammatory response
most effectively are
cloves, ginger,
rosemary, and turmeric
Turmoil in financial
markets, including oil's
plunge to 5 ½-year lows, and
China's "faltering economy"
will help spark the global
downturn, said Odey, who
made millions after
correctly predicting the
2008 global credit crunch.
But Odey doesn't
expect the European Central
Bank's quantitative easing
program to save the eurozone
economy.
-
According to the USDA,
more than half of all
foods tested last year
had detectable levels of
pesticide residues, but
most, they claim, are
within the “safe” range.
However, foods are NOT
tested for glyphosate
residues
-
Glyphosate has been
shown to severely damage
your gut flora and cause
chronic diseases rooted
in gut dysfunction.
Pesticides and
herbicides are also
known to disrupt your
neurological, brain
health, and endocrine
systems
-
Your best bet is to buy
only organic fruits and
vegetables, as synthetic
agricultural chemicals
are not permissible
under the USDA organic
rules
Latest from the Dallas Fed.
The U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS) has released a
convenient and informative
new method for the analysis
of groundwater and
surface-water hydrologic
data called the Groundwater
(GW) Toolbox. The GIS-driven
graphical and mapping
interface is a significant
advancement in USGS software
for estimating base flow
(the groundwater-discharge
component of streamflow),
surface runoff, and
groundwater recharge from
streamflow data.
These waves have something
to do with a change in
opinion over the last 50
years. Increasingly large
majorities of the people
consistently profess
themselves afraid of their
government. They think it
too big. They think it does
not account to them—that it
is beyond their control and
does not operate with their
consent. They think it
should be smaller, even if
that means they receive
fewer services. It seems
that the growth of
government has not made
people feel safe and happy.
...NRC staff concluded that
the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) could not move
forward with building a
repository at the site due
to a lack of land and water
rights that DOE had not
obtained, but that DOE had
met any other safety
requirements to build a
repository.
Studies have shown that deep
sleep and napping throughout
the day can be helpful with
mental cognizance and if
improved or experimented
with, have the potential to
produce unexpected
results. One such study
explains how dreaming is a
function of the minds
ability to sift through
valuable information, which
in turn shape our lives.
According
to the article “59% of
Americans drink diet sodas
regularly hoping to lose
weight” – yet “evidence
shows that they
do not help
lose weight. In fact, they
increase your risk of
becoming obese and may even
be worse for your health
than regular sodas.”
The article
goes on to tell how these
artificial sweeteners can
cause “neurological
problems, autoimmune
disorders, and probably
cancer.”