Environment

Geoengineering And Climate Change

A National Academy of Sciences panel said that, with proper governance and other safeguards, we should commence more research on geoengineering — technologies that might let humanity deliberately intervene in nature to counter climate change.  With the pl ...

Article - David Brin - Mar 16 2015 - 8:04pm

EPA Study Finds That Neonics Not Causing Colony Collapse Disorder In Bees

A few years ago, bees suddenly had a sharp decline in numbers. This "Colony Collapse Disorder" as it is called, is a disorder in the sense that it is a recurring phenomenon, detailed for the last 1,000 years even when record-keeping just consiste ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Jul 17 2019 - 9:54am

Apparently The Frog-pocalypse Is Still A Thing

Lost in all of the hype and hysteria and White House panels on how industry is killing bees is the last indicator species that was being doomed by non-organic pesticides: frogs. ...

Article - Hank Campbell - May 23 2015 - 11:09am

Bee Colonies In 2014 Increase Another 4 Percent

The National Agricultural Statistics Service  of the United States Department of Agriculture has released its honey report for 2014 and found it's boom times for bees. Hives increased again, another 4 percent, up to a whopping 2.74 million colonies, ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Mar 23 2015 - 5:05pm

Is Bio-Based Insulation Ready For Prime Time?

The country of France recently sided with environmental donors and mandated that new buildings must have solar panels or plants on the roof. Though the science is unclear, the belief is that this will naturally cool buildings or, in the case of planets, re ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 22 2015 - 12:32pm

Methyl Bromide And Strawberries: Why Everyone Still Uses A 'Banned' Pesticide

There was an article on the ABC site this morning which gave us this alarming headline “ Pesticide banned worldwide still used to grow 70pc of Australian strawberries ”. Shocking! Except, well, there were a few teeny tiny but important details missing. Li ...

Article - The Conversation - Mar 30 2015 - 11:10am

Nitrogen Fertilizers Not Recommended For Radiata Pine Plantations

A new study has recommended against using nitrogen to fertilize radiata pine plantations after analysis of more than 1,500 soil samples gathered in timber woodlands in Bizkaia and the north of Araba-Álava in recent years.  Fertilizing using phosphorus is r ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 31 2015 - 7:30am

Plowing Prairies For Grains: Biofuel Crops Replace Grasslands Nationwide

Clearing grasslands to make way for biofuels may seem counterproductive, but University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers show in a study today (April 2, 2015) that crops, including the corn and soy commonly used for biofuels, expanded onto 7 million acres ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 7 2015 - 11:41pm

Natural GMO: Rice Borrows Stronger Defense From Other Plants

Rice is well-equipped with an effective immune system that enables it to detect and fend off disease-causing microbes but sometimes nature needs a hand. A new study shows that rice immunity gets boosted when the plant receives a receptor protein from a com ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 3 2015 - 11:45am

Micro-Climate: Deforestation Blamed For Changes In Local Climate And Food Production

Deforestation could impact global food production by triggering changes in local climate, according to research on albedo (the amount of the sun's radiation reflected from Earth's surface) and evapotranspiration (the transport of water into the ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 4 2015 - 11:03am