Environment

A software that can drastically reduce CO2 emissions (and energetic costs) on computers all over the world has been developed by Portuguese scientists and is freely available to anyone interested. The program is called SPIRIT and is the first automated system capable of turning the computers of a server on and off according to need to prevent the energetic waste of idle units. In the last year, just in the 200 computers of the Interdisciplinary Complex of Lisbon University, the software saved energy equivalent to 5 tons of CO2 emissions. And its potential is huge like Carlos Reis and Jorge…

Abstract The banning of plastic bags may not be the salvation of the environment, but it could be a useful way to begin reducing waste pollution. Plastic bags: -  are one of the plastic products produced in the greater numbers, and one of the products most commonly dispersed in the environment; -  have a slow rate of decomposition, and are very dangerous for sea life; -  are a sources of "microplastic" particles (or "plastic plankton"), which is vastly present in many marine areas around the world; -  are able to absorb high concentrations of the toxic substances in water…

If you've ever splurged on more expensive grass seed in hopes of a better lawn, you may have been derailed by the frustratingly long time it takes to actually grow once planted. Up in New England, we regularly water for several weeks before even seeing the beginnings of fuzzy green stuff popping out of the soil. There is a noticeable correlation (inverse) between speed of germination and plant durability. Of course, you can simply buy cheapo contractor's mix too. It's full of the grandaddy scam of grass seed, Annual Ryegrass (AR). AR grows in and creates a nice lawn while you walk inside to…

Biodegradation of phenol by oxygenase producing thermophilic microorganisms Neetika Mathur1*, Vinod Kumar Nigam2, Ashwani Kumar1 and Purnendu ghosh2 1 Department of Botany, University of Rajasthan, Rajasthan- 302 004 2 Department of Biotechnology, Birla Institute of Scientific Research, Jaipur, Rajasthan-302 001 Abstract: Screening and characterization of phenol degrading bacterial isolates from the soils and sewage samples of desert regions of Rajasthan was performed under batch cultivation. The degradation studies were monitored by the consumption of NADH and it was found that maximum…

This has recently appeared on Telegraph Blogs, from one of the few sensible authors. Could someone explain why global warming has to be a disaster? Could readers please help with a reasonably concise explanation, which I could post within a day or two? Many thanks in advance.

I just returned from Environment and Climate Change Summit held at New Delhi. After 3 days of round table discussion and intensive brainstorming the final result was that every participating nation pledged to reduce its greenhouse emissions and carbon footprint, as already expected. Just lies and lies. Who cares about climate….it is changing, let it change, why you are getting the itch??…This could be seen in the eyes of all the VIPs there, except a few environment geeks like us who were there with PowerPoint presentations and statistics charts convincing the rich men to stop hurting nature…

Recent research proposes that 40,000 years ago a series of massive, volcanic eruptions caused drastically cooler, dryer climate change, which was then responsible for driving Neanderthals to extinction. This cleared the way for modern humans to replace them and to later flourish in western Europe and eastern Asia as they do now, until the predicted Anthropogenic Climate Warming (ACW) possibly adversely affects them too one day. The Neanderthal is named after the Neandertal valley, which is located about 12 km east of Düsseldorf, Germany and where a fossil was discovered n 1856 which was…

As a form of encouragement for the first steps in the scientific publishing world, I am here taking the licence to draw your attention, dear reader, to the first article published here by my nephew Enrico, who isn't even 18 years old yet but is already showing significant writing and researching skills. The article discusses the effects of an Italian law meant to reduce pollution by forcing the use of "green" gasoline. Unfortunately hings in Italy always end up half-baked: the government did not force the dismiss of non-catalitic cars, and Enrico shows quite clearly that this has ended up…

A recent National Science Foundation Distinguished Lecture series featured Michael Goodchild, a world-renowned geographer and director of the University of California, Santa Barbara's Center for Spatial Studies. On November 17, Prof. Goodchild presented his evolving views on the development and distribution of geographic information, and how these are being significantly influenced not only by new technologies, but, in particular, by the volunteer efforts of interested non-professionals connected in with the new technologies. For the past five hundred years there has been a…

A research team at the Yale School of Public Health has developed the first smartphone app for Lyme disease.  Lyme disease is caused by a bacterium, which spreads to humans through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks. Using Global Position System, the application provides information regarding the abundance of infected ticks at the location of the user and a list of precautions one should employ to help avoid tick-bites. If bitten by a tick, the list gives step-by-step instructions and a 40-second video on how to remove the tick. The iPhone app for Lyme disease became available on…