Climate Science
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Critical List: Military could produce 7 GW of solar; British survey hedgehogs
Solar projects at desert military bases could produce 7,000 megawatts of solar energy — a huge amount. EVs have more than enough range to make 95 percent of the trips we take by car. Scotland aims to source 100 percent of its power from renewables by 2020, but to reach that goal, it needs the […]
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Chatting with the climate scientist Newt dissed
Katherine Hayhoe, an atmospheric scientist and evangelical Christian, wrote a chapter on climate change for Newt Gingrich's upcoming book, only to find out he scrapped it. Hear her thoughts on talking to conservatives about global warming, and why the threat of hate mail makes it hard for climate scientists to speak out.
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The hagfish defeats its predators with slime
This video from National Geographic will make any self-respecting maritime predator think twice before attacking a hagfish, an eel-like creature that secretes slime from its pores. Also, fair warning, you may not want to watch this with food in your mouth. (Click the image below to watch the video on the NatGeo site.)
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Orangutans will eat adorable lorises if they have to
If orangutans can't get fruit, they will EAT SLOW LORISES.
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‘Beyonce fly’ has a solid gold butt
Say its name, say its name: This horsefly has been dubbed "Scaptia beyonceae" because of its golden rear end.
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Why we need to relocate animals threatened by climate change
The solution to this human-created problem can only come from us: We've got to move animals in advance of the warming climate.
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Critical List: Cruise ship could leak oil; Chevron rig catches fire
That capsized cruise ship in Italy could leak thousands of tons of fuel into a national maritime park. A four-lane bicycle superhighway could go up between the Swedish cities of Malmo and Lund. Rusty on your climate science? This open University of Chicago course covers climate research without getting too technical. Commercial agricultural projects in […]
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Watch an orca chase a shark out of the water
Orcas might be charismatic movie stars, but they are also killer whales. A family of beachgoers in New Zealand caught on film an orca fighting with a few sharks. One shark was so eager to get away from the whale that it beached itself in the shallow water. (That's the most interesting part of the footage, so if you've already seen Free Willy ten gazillion times, just fast-forward to 0:56.)
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Cap-and-trade scheme for whaling to be almost as popular as the other kind
Scientists proposed in the journal Nature that one way to save whales is to allow people to hunt them.
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The age-old battle of goats versus tortoises
Before reading further in this post, ask yourself a question (and answer honestly): Which do you care about more, guiltless (if hungry) goats or the Galápagos Islands' giant tortoises?
If you answered goats, this post will make you sad.
Here was the situation on the Galápagos Islands of Española: a population of hundreds of thousands of tortoises had dwindled to a few thousand. As the tortoises' population decreased, the population of goats, introduced to the islands by humans, grew to tens of thousands. The goats were eating all of the islands' vegetation. It was not a good situation for the tortoises.
And so conservationists decided the goats had to go.
