BBC Nature - Fossil 'is first pregnant lizard'
21 July 2011Last updated at 04:58 By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC Nature The lizard was just days from giving birth when it died and was buried A 120-million-year-old fossil is the oldest pregnant lizard ever discovered, according to scientists. The fossil, found in China, is a very complete 30cm (12in) lizard with more than a dozen embryos in its body. Researchers from University College London, who studied the fossil, say it was just days from giving birth when it died and was buried during the Cretaceous period. The team reports the findings in the journal Naturwissenschaften. The fossil is especially interesting to scientists because it is a reptile that produced live young rather than laying eggs. Only 20% of living lizards and snakes produce live young, and this shows it is an ancient, if unusual, trait. "I didn't think much of the fossil when I first saw it," said Prof Susan Evans, joint lead author of the paper, from University College London.
Voters Overwhelmingly Support EPA Air Pollution Rules
A new, nationwide poll shows that by a wide margin, voters of both political parties and in all regions of the U.S. disagree with Congress’ anti-Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) agenda and support the EPA’s new rules to limit air pollution from coal-fired power plants. A new, nationwide poll shows that by a wide margin, voters of both political parties and in all regions of the U.S. disagree with Congress’ anti-Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) agenda and support the EPA’s new rules to limit air pollution from coal-fired power plants. Two-thirds of the respondents – 67 percent – oppose Congress delaying implementation of the air pollution rules, according to the national survey of 1,400 voters conducted by Hart Research Associates and GS Strategy Group and sponsored by Ceres. “American voters, both Democrats and Republicans, are unified in backing prompt EPA action on the clean air rules,” said Ceres president Mindy Lubber. Among the poll’s key findings: Key Regional Findings
Arctic environment during an ancient bout of natural global warming
Scientists are unravelling the environmental changes that took place around the Arctic during an exceptional episode of ancient global warming. Newly published results from a high-resolution study of sediments collected on Spitsbergen represent a significant contribution to this endeavour. The study was led by Dr Ian Harding and Prof John Marshall of the University of Southampton’s School of Ocean and Earth Science (SOES), based at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. Around 56 million years ago there was a period of global warming called the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), during which global sea surface temperatures increased by approximately 5°C. The warming of the oceans led to profound ecological changes, including the widespread extinction of many types of foraminifera, tiny single-celled organisms with distinctive shells. Plankton that had previously only prospered in tropical and subtropical waters migrated to higher latitudes.
BBC Nature - Sepia cuttlefish videos, news and facts
House Passes Bill to Delay EPA Clean Air Rules - Coral Davenport
The House on Friday passed the first in a planned series of Republican bills to effectively block the Environmental Protection Agency from reining in toxic pollution under the Clean Air Act. The measure, which passed 233-180, largely along party lines, would delay the EPA from moving forward on a new rule scheduled to be rolled out in November requiring coal plants to slash 90 percent of their mercury emissions. That rule is required under the terms of the 1990 Clean Air Act, and has been delayed for more than 20 years. The bill also would keep the EPA from moving forward with a rule known as the cross-state air rule, which would require coal plants to limit toxic emissions that cross state lines and contribute to health and environmental damage. The “Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation”—which Republicans call the “TRAIN” act— has no chance of passing the Democrat-controlled Senate. But enacting legislation isn’t the point. Rep.
IBM Researchers Develop Highly Recyclable, Biodegradable Plastic
A mind-boggling 13 billion plastic bottles are tossed in the trash or recycled each year. And while most plastics are recyclable, the resulting materials are limited to "second generation reuse" only--so anything made out of recycled plastics has to be thrown on the landfill pile at the end of it's life. But now researchers from IBM and Stanford say they have solved the problem by developing plastics that can be continuously recycled. The discovery, published in the American Chemical Society journal Macromolecules, involves the use of organic catalysts instead of the metal oxide and metal hydroxide catalysts typically used in plastic-forming polymers. Another advantage: the organic catalysts are cheap.
BBC Nature - Plant evolved a bat beckoning beacon
29 July 2011Last updated at 02:29 By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC Nature The dish-shaped leaves emit a powerful echo that helps the bat locate the plant A rainforest vine has evolved dish-shaped leaves to attract the bats that pollinate it, scientists have found. Tests revealed that the leaves were supremely efficient at bouncing back the sound pulses the flying mammals used to navigate. When the leaves were present the bats located the plant twice as quickly as when these echoing leaves were removed. A team of scientists in the UK and Germany reported its findings in the journal Science. The study is the first to find a plant with "specialised acoustic features" to help bat pollinators find them using sound. Most bats send out pulses of sound to find their way around; the way they sense objects in their environment by sensing how these pulses bounce off them is known as echolocation. "What we've found is the echolocating equivalent to colourful flowers.
House passes bill to block EPA clean air rules
Masdar City: World's most Sustainable City
An artist's rendering of Masdar City Smack dab in the middle of the desert is the location of one of the world’s greenest cities. Masdar City is located in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The city is actually still in the early stages of being developed, but several buildings are fully operational, including the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology. The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology Masdar City addresses every sustainability issue you could ever think of: Transportation will be via electric vehiclesRenewable energy powers the entire cityGreenhouse gas emissions are virtually non-existentWaste will be diverted from landfills and recycled or compostedAnd on, and on… Masdar City’s Waste Management Plan Since the focus of Trash Talk is waste/trash/garbage, that’s the part of the city’s master plan we were most intrigued by. The City of the Future? Is Masdar City the city of the future? My best guess is that Masdar City succeeds in developing the most sustainable city in the world.
