Archive for January, 2016
Portland’s New Pipes Harvest Power From Drinking Water
January 4th, 2016Via: Fast Coexist: If you live in Portland, your lights may now be partly powered by your drinking water. An ingenious new system captures energy as water flows through the city’s pipes, creating hydropower without the negative environmental effects of something like a dam. Small turbines in the pipes spin in the flowing water, and […]
Armed Group Seizes U.S. Government Building at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
January 3rd, 2016Via: AP: A protest in support of Oregon ranchers facing jail time for arson was followed by an occupation of a building at a national wildlife refuge led by members of a family previously involved in a nationally watched showdown with the federal government. Ammon Bundy — the son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who […]
Floating Dam Could Revolutionize Ocean Clean-Up
January 2nd, 2016Via: Quartz: In a few months, a giant floating dam—in the form of a 328-feet (100 meters) long barrier segment—will be set up in the North Sea, some miles off the coast of The Netherlands. Its ambition: to cleanse the world’s oceans of plastic trash forever. Plastic waste is a major threat to animals in […]
Scientists Reprogram Social Behavior in Carpenter Ants Using Epigenetic Drugs
January 2nd, 2016Via: PhysOrg: In Florida carpenter ant colonies, distinct worker castes called minors and majors exhibit pronounced differences in social behavior throughout their lives. In a new study published today in Science, a multi-institution team anchored at University of Pennsylvania found that these caste-specific behaviors are not set in stone. Rather, this pioneering study shows that […]
Happy New Year, Power’s Out Again
January 1st, 2016Summer storm took down the power about two hours ago. You know the routine… Middle of the night now, but if the juice isn’t back on by tomorrow I’ll be rigging up the inverter to ‘ye ole Nissan van. About 23c so our freezer will definitely be ready for a cooling blast by then.
