Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.
This week's featured story comes from NPR.
Ig Nobel To Nobel: Creative (And Fun) Science Wins
The star of the physics world today is a new form of carbon: graphene. It's the world's thinnest material, and also perhaps the strongest.
The two scientists who discovered graphene in 2004, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, won this year's Nobel Prize for physics. But among non-physicists, the leader of the team may already be more famous for one of his laboratory tricks: using magnets to levitate a frog.
But you don't get a Nobel Prize for tricks with frogs — for that, there's the Ig Nobel prize, which is devoted to silly science. And Geim, a Russian-born physicist at the University of Manchester in England, has now become the first scientist to win both.
Hat/Tip to Magnifico for this story.
More on the Nobels and other science, space, and environment stories after the jump.
Recent Science Diaries and Stories
Watch this space!
iced327: "I'm You": Anti-intellectualism in the United States
pollwatcher: The Sound of Science
RLMiller: Stupid Goes Viral: Climate Zombies of HI, ID, MN, MT, OR, WY
DarkSyde took the day off.
Slideshows/Videos
National Geographic News: Pictures: Return to the Crystal Caves
Returning to Mexico's otherworldly Cave of Crystals, explorers have uncovered a new cavern, microscopic life-forms, and more.
National Geographic News: Pictures: Tube-Nosed Bat, More Rare Species Found
A striking bat and a katydid that "aims for the eyes" are among the hundreds of species recently seen in Papua New Guinea.
Astronomy/Space
National Geographic News: Saturn's Largest Moon Has Ingredients for Life?
Titan finding suggests new origin for life on Earth?
Victoria Jaggard in Pasadena, California
National Geographic News
Published October 8, 2010
The chemical "letters" used to write the basic code for life on Earth might exist on Saturn's largest moon, according to new research presented Thursday.
The findings suggest the building blocks of life on Earth may have originated in the air, not only in primordial "soup" on land.
Based on lab experiments, scientists concluded it's possible the thick atmospheric haze on Titan contains the five so-called nucleotide bases used in DNA and RNA, as well as some simple amino acids—the building blocks of proteins.
National Geographic News: Ice "Tsunamis" Detected in Saturn Ring
Victoria Jaggard in Pasadena, California
National Geographic News
Published October 6, 2010
The gravitational pull of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, causes giant, circling "tsunamis" of icy particles in one of the planet's rings, new data suggest. The discovery may solve the 30-year-old mystery of a gap in Saturn's faint, inner C ring.
NASA's Voyager 1 probe—observing Saturn's rings from a single, shallow angle—first recorded a rippling region within the C ring during a November 1980 flyby.
The otherwise regular ripple was interrupted by a gap that seemed to be almost 9.3 miles (15 kilometers) wide, based on radio data. Complicating the matter, later pictures of the C ring showed no large gap.
Now scientists working with NASA's Cassini orbiter have confirmed the gap exists.
Reuters: New crew arrives to oversee space station's completion
by Irene Klotz
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida | Sat Oct 9, 2010 8:27pm EDT
A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying two Russian cosmonauts and a U.S. astronaut reached the International Space Station on Saturday, setting the stage for a pair of final shuttle missions to complete construction of the orbital outpost.
The newly upgraded Soyuz slipped into a docking port aboard the station at 8:01 p.m. EDT (0001 GMT on Sunday), two days after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Aboard the Soyuz were veteran cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri, rookie Oleg Skripochka and NASA's Scott Kelly, a two-time shuttle flier. They join Americans Doug Wheelock and Shannon Walker and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, who arrived at the station in June, returning the outpost -- a $100 billion project of 16 nations -- back to full staff.
The new crew members will remain on the station for six months, during which time NASA plans two shuttle missions to deliver spare parts, a storage pod and the $2 billion, multinational Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer particle detector.
History Channel: This Day in History: 10/09/1992 Meteorite Crashes Into Chevy Malibu
On this day in 1992, 18-year-old Michelle Knapp is watching television in her parents' living room in Peekskill, New York when she hears a thunderous crash in the driveway. Alarmed, Knapp ran outside to investigate. What she found was startling, to say the least: a sizeable hole in the rear end of her car, an orange 1980 Chevy Malibu; a matching hole in the gravel driveway underneath the car; and in the hole, the culprit: what looked like an ordinary, bowling-ball–sized rock. It was extremely heavy for its size (it weighed about 28 pounds), shaped like a football and warm to the touch; also, it smelled vaguely of rotten eggs. The next day, a curator from the American Museum of Natural History in New York City confirmed that the object was a genuine meteorite.
Evolution/Paleontology
Reuters: First dinosaurs walked on little cat feet
by Maggie Fox
WASHINGTON | Tue Oct 5, 2010 7:01pm EDT
Tiny footprints from Poland show that the first dinosaurs were extremely small animals that walked on four legs -- and probably only came to rule the world after a mass extinction knocked out many big reptiles, scientists said on Tuesday.
The 250-million-year-old footprints are the oldest evidence of dinosaurs, Stephen Brusatte of the American Museum of Natural History in New York and colleagues said.
The animal was about the size of a small domestic cat, they reported, and would have lived near rivers where larger crocodilians thrived.
National Geographic News: New Strong-Handed Dinosaur May Shatter Assumptions
Were gentle, plant-eating giants also scavengers and opportunists?
Brian Handwerk
for National Geographic News
Published October 6, 2010
Fossils of an intriguing new species with a powerful hand may reveal an edgier side of some supposedly peaceful, plant-munching dinosaurs, a new study says.
The discovery of Sarahsaurus aurifontanalis, which roamed North America about 190 million years ago, also boosts the idea that at least some dinosaurs became masters of their domain less by dominance than by opportunistic behavior and a bit of good luck.
A remarkably complete Sarahsaurus skeleton, found in Arizona, shows that the early Jurassic herbivore was, at 14 feet (4.3 meters) long and 250 pounds (113 kilograms), smaller than its enormous sauropod cousins such as Apatosaurus, which arose later.
Cue the Palin as a GOPosaur jokes in five, four, three...
Biodiversity
N.Y. Times: Scientists and Soldiers Solve a Bee Mystery
By KIRK JOHNSON
Published: October 6, 2010
DENVER — It has been one of the great murder mysteries of the garden: what is killing off the honeybees?
Since 2006, 20 to 40 percent of the bee colonies in the United States alone have suffered "colony collapse." Suspected culprits ranged from pesticides to genetically modified food.
Now, a unique partnership — of military scientists and entomologists — appears to have achieved a major breakthrough: identifying a new suspect, or two.
A fungus tag-teaming with a virus have apparently interacted to cause the problem, according to a paper by Army scientists in Maryland and bee experts in Montana in the online science journal PLoS One.
Hat/Tip to creosote for this article.
Reuters: Scientists say rare plant has biggest genome yet
By Kate Kelland
LONDON | Thu Oct 7, 2010 11:15am EDT
When it comes to genomes, size matters -- and British scientists say a rare and striking plant native to Japan is in a perilous position.
Researchers at Britain's Kew Botanical Gardens say the plant, Paris japonica, has the largest genome yet recorded, putting it at high risk of extinction.
"Some people may wonder what the consequences are of such a large genome and whether it really matters if one organism has more DNA than another," said Ilia Leitch, a researcher at Kew's Jodrell Laboratory. "The answer to this is a resounding 'yes'"
"Having a large genome increases the risk of extinction. The larger it is, the more at risk you are."
Biotechnology/Health
Reuters: IVF pioneer wins medicine Nobel prize
By Mia Shanley
STOCKHOLM | Mon Oct 4, 2010 5:09pm EDT
British physiologist Robert Edwards, whose work led to the first "test-tube baby", won the 2010 Nobel prize for medicine or physiology, the prize-awarding institute said on Monday.
Sweden's Karolinska Institute lauded Edwards, 85, for bringing joy and hope to the more than 10 percent of couples worldwide who suffer from infertility.
Known as the father of in-vitro fertilization (IVF), Edwards picked up the prize of 10 million Swedish crowns ($1.5 million) for what the institute called a "milestone in the development of modern medicine".
As many as 4 million babies have been born since the first IVF baby in 1978 as a result of the techniques Edwards developed, together with a now-deceased colleague, Patrick Steptoe, the institute said in a statement.
io9.com: Genetically altered trees could capture billions of tons of excess carbon every year
Although we can't just destroy all the carbon building up in the atmosphere, nature can capture it and convert it into a more long-lived, less environmentally dangerous form, which can then remain in the soil and vegetation for thousands of years. Trees, plants, and algae do some of this work in photosynthesis, but we currently produce way more atmospheric carbon than can be naturally dealt with.
That's where a little nifty genetic engineering comes in. There are a number of different approaches we could take. We could increase a tree's absorption rate of light - and, with it, the amount of carbon it absorbs - or allow trees to sequester more carbon in their roots instead of releasing it back out into the atmosphere.
Climate/Environment
Reuters: Hungary PM warns of new spill risk as village evacuated
By Krisztina Than and Gergely Szakacs
BUDAPEST | Sat Oct 9, 2010 2:00pm EDT
Hungary's premier warned on Saturday that the wall of a damaged industrial reservoir could collapse, threatening a second spill of toxic red sludge, and a nearby village was evacuated as a precaution.
About one million cubic meters of the waste material leaked out of the alumina plant reservoir into several villages and waterways earlier this week, killing seven people, injuring 123 and fouling some rivers including a local branch of the Danube.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that the wall of the damaged reservoir had cracks in it and was likely to collapse.
Geology
University of Liverpool (UK) via EurekAlert: Study to reveal link between climate and early human evolution
Olduvai Gorge is a steep-sided ravine on the edge of the Serengeti Plain, East Africa, and is home to some of the world's most important fossil hominins. Geologists are investigating the chemical composition of carbonate rocks that lie beneath the surfaces where early human fossils have been uncovered. The data will help an international team of geologists, paleoanthropologists and archaeologists understand how environmental pressures may have influenced the development of human ancestors and their use of the land.
Professor Ian Stanistreet, from the School of Environmental Sciences, said: "Research findings so far suggest that environmental changes, such as very dry conditions to very wet, were more extreme and took place more frequently than previously thought. It is currently unclear how these changes might have contributed to human evolution, but evidence indicates that an ability to cope with hostile and rapidly changing environments may have characterised and shaped the development of the human race."
The team is investigating elements in the mineral calcium carbonate, which were deposited in the mud and soil in and around a lake between two and 1.7 million years ago. Carbonates formed in the semi-arid environment of the Olduvai Gorge through evaporation and concentration of soil and lake water. The chemical makeup of calcium carbonate mirrors the chemical composition of the water from which it came, allowing scientists to understand what the original soil water was like and what influenced it, such as climate and vegetation growth.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for this story.
Psychology/Behavior
Big Questions Online: The Language Style of Happy Couples
Heather Wax
Could how you use language predict how your relationships turn out? To investigate, a couple of researchers from The University of Texas at Austin studied what they call "language style matching." LSM occurs almost immediately after we begin to interact with someone else; the way we talk—the grammatical structure of our sentences—naturally starts to mirror how the other person speaks.
Archeology/Anthropology
Herald Sun (Australia): Neanderthals had feelings of empathy and sympathy, say UK scientists
EARLY humans like Neanderthals had a deep seated sense of compassion that belied their primitive reputation, new research from UK archaeologists suggests.
A team from the University of York, northern England, found that between around 500,000 and 40,000 years ago, early humans in Europe, such as Homo heidelbergensis and Neanderthals, developed commitments to the welfare of others.
The injured or infirm were routinely cared for over this period, according to archaeological findings.
Remains examined by the university's Department of Archaeology revealed a child with a congenital brain abnormality was not abandoned, but lived until five or six years old.
Shetland Times (UK): Prehistoric house discovered on site of new Total gas plant
A previously unknown archaeological site has come to light during work on Total’s Laggan-Tormore gas plant. As a result, a team of archaeologists has been excavating a prehistoric house and other associated structures over the past six weeks.
The site was found by local archaeologist Rick Barton, one of a team of archaeologists working on the development for ORCA, the Orkney based archaeological contractor that has been employed by Total since the development started. The archaeological monitoring began back in January, with geophysical survey and coring which was carried out by the ORCA team in terrible weather. Since construction started the archaeologists have been observing the work as the earth moving machines strip the peat from the site in case there is any archaeology below the peat.
Stone Pages: 100 new rock art sites found in Somaliland
A team of Somali archaeologists lead by Dr. Sada Mire from the Institute of Archaeology, University College London (England), has found scores of previously unstudied rock paintings in the eastern African country of Somaliland. The art depicts wildlife in motion; antelope, snakes and giraffes. Some are dated to 5,000 BCE. Giraffes are no longer found in the country.
One very unique find is the first known rock painting of a mounted hunter. It was created approximately 4,000 years ago. According to Mire, the art is exceptional. "These are among the best prehistoric paintings in the world", she said. "Yet Somaliland is a country whose history is totally hidden. With wars, droughts and piracy in Somalia, hardly anyone has researched the archaeology until now. But it's absolutely full of extraordinarily well-preserved rock art." It is expected that some of the sites are so valuable that they will be granted World Heritage status by the United Nations.
The Hindu (India): 4,000-year-old Aryan city discovered in Russia
PTI
Russian archaeologists have unearthed some ancient and virtually unknown settlements, which they believe were built by the original Aryan race about 4,000 years ago.
According to the team which has discovered 20 spiral-shaped settlements in remote Russia steppe in southern Siberia bordering Kazakhstan, the buildings date back to the beginning of the Western civilisation in Europe.
The Bronze Age settlements, experts said, could have been built shortly after the Great Pyramid, some 4,000 years ago, by the original Aryan race whose swastika symbol was later adopted by the Nazis in the 1930s.
Live Science via MSNBC: Shipwreck may yield secrets of antiquity
4th century B.C. merchant vessel carried ceramic vases
By Clara Moskowitz
The examination of a Mediterranean shipwreck from the 4th century B.C. could shed light on ancient sea routes and trade, researchers say.
The remains of a merchant vessel, full of amphoras that probably had been filled with wine, were discovered in 2006 on the seafloor south of the island of Cyprus. A team has been excavating the site, diving and dredging up important pieces, since then.
The wreck was first discovered in 2006 by fishermen. One of the ship's anchors was also uncovered.
The Northern Echo (UK): £2.2m for Roman helmet at auction
8:41am Friday 8th October 2010
By Mark Summers
AN unemployed metal detectorist who uncovered a Roman cavalry helmet in a field yesterday made a six-figure fortune in three minutes.
The anonymous man, believed to be in his 20s, a graduate and from Peterlee, in east Durham, will get hundreds of thousands of pounds from the sale at Christie’s of the 2,000-year-old artefact, although the exact amount he will receive is not known.
Agence France Presse: Ancient Roman spa awaits flooding in Turkey
By Nicolas Cheviron (AFP) – Sep 30, 2010
ALLIANOI, Turkey — Under a mild autumn sun, workers bustle about like bees at a Roman bath complex sprawling over a green plain in western Turkey in what looks like a regular excavation site.
But the fate awaiting the impressive ancient spa of Allianoi is dark: the workers here are tasked with burying the site and not digging it out to reveal its secrets.
Much to the consternation of archaeologists and civic bodies, the Turkish government has said it will go ahead with flooding the valley the site sits in to serve as a dam reservoir with a capacity to irrigate 8,000 hectares (19,760 acres) of farmland.
The Florida Times-Union: Archaeological team looks for signs of Native American dwellings in Brunswick
Archaeologists zero in on Selden Park to find clues to history.
Posted: October 3, 2010
By Terry Dickson
BRUNSWICK - The history of Selden Park is well known locally.
In 1903, the Selden Normal & Industrial Institute was established as a school where African-Americans received teacher training and learned industrial arts.
After a group of archaeologists excavated several points at the park Saturday, more is known about who may have used the site before any U.S. history was written.
Attracted by mounds of discarded oyster and mussel shells, the archaeological team dug to see if it could find any signs of Native American dwellings on the site, said Fred Cook, a Brunswick archaeologist.
The Art Newspaper: Fighting the fungus
Restorers may have discovered a way to save the volcanic stone Moai on Easter Island from damaging lichens
By Tina Lepri | From issue 216, September 2010
Published online 5 Oct 10 (Conservation)
Get it off! Lichens threaten to destroy the monolithic Easter Island heads
TURIN. Lichen are eating away at the Moai, the 400 volcanic stone heads that dominate the skyline of Easter Island. Earlier treatments to preserve these ancient monoliths at this World Heritage Site called for filling some of the most deeply corroded stones with concrete. Unfortunately, experts think that this treatment might have worsened the damaging effects of the wind and saltwater that batter the Polynesian island. In fact, the lichen may even be feeding off the concrete used to save the Moai.
The Arizona Republic: Arizona archaeology sites under attack by vandals
Officials, supporters working diligently to shield ancient art
By Glen Creno - Oct. 3, 2010 12:00 AM
WILLIAMS - Somewhere out there, there's a modern Western explorer who decided he had something so important to say that it had to be slathered in silver paint on a remote rock wall full of ancient petroglyphs in the national forest.
The mysterious etchings depicting people, animals and a blazing sun are in a box canyon known as Keyhole Sink in the Kaibab National Forest east of Williams, a mountain town off Interstate 40 that has welcomed sojourners since its namesake, fur trapper "Old Bill" Williams, explored the locale in the early to mid-1800s.
The pristine rock art in Keyhole Sink was a silent reminder of the ancient culture that long flourished in northern Arizona, and it stood unaltered for at least 1,000 years. That all changed in August, when someone painted "ACE" on top of the petroglyphs in sloppy, dripping letters. Under the defacement is an indistinguishable glop of paint that could be more lettering.
Pitch Engine: Three Rivers Systems co-sponsors archaeological dig to help establish Missouri as tourism destination for history buffs
1863 Civil War battle was longest cavalry charge in U.S. history
St. Louis — October 7, 2010 — Three Rivers Systems Inc., a leading provider of academic management software for higher education, is joining Missouri Valley College, Wood & Huston Bank of Marshall and Missouri's Civil War Heritage Foundation in sponsoring an archaeological dig aimed at pinpointing the location of an 1863 battle that ended the longest cavalry raid in U. S. history.
If successful, the expedition could lay the groundwork for establishing Missouri as a tourism destination for Civil War history buffs as the nation approaches the 150th anniversary of the conflict between North and South. In states like Pennsylvania, Virginia and Tennessee, battlefield monuments and other historic Civil War sites draw thousands of visitors each year and provide a boost to state tourism revenues.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman, who sent in the above articles.
Physics
Reuters: Duo wins 2010 physics Nobel for super-thin carbon
By Niklas Pollard and Adam Cox
STOCKHOLM | Tue Oct 5, 2010 12:51pm EDT
Two Russian-born scientists shared the 2010 Nobel Prize for physics for showing how carbon just one atom thick behaved, a discovery with profound implications from quantum physics to consumer electronics.
Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov of the University of Manchester in England conducted experiments with graphene. One hundred times stronger than steel, it is a new form of carbon that is both the thinnest and toughest material known.
"Since it is practically transparent and a good conductor, graphene is suitable for producing transparent touch screens, light panels and maybe even solar cells," the committee said.
Chemistry
Reuters: American, two Japanese share Nobel for chemical tool
By Patrick Lannin and Adam Cox
STOCKHOLM | Wed Oct 6, 2010 12:37pm EDT
A U.S. and two Japanese scientists won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry on Wednesday for inventing new ways to bind carbon atoms with uses that range from fighting cancer to producing thin computer screens.
Richard Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki shared the prize for the development of "palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling," the Nobel Committee for Chemistry at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement.
"Palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling is used in research worldwide, as well as in the commercial production of, for example, pharmaceuticals and molecules used in the electronics industry," the committee said.
Energy
Reuters: UK fuel cell power plants come big step closer
By Kwok W. Wan
CRANLEIGH, England | Fri Oct 8, 2010 8:45am EDT
Huge hydrogen fuel cell stacks capable of providing thousands of homes with green power may arrive in a few years thanks to cheaper component parts, developer AFC Energy told Reuters.
Although hydrogen fuel cell technology has been around for decades, commercialization has been restricted as expensive platinum was needed to make the catalyst, a problem AFC said it has overcome by using low-cost ceramic minerals instead.
Reuters: Honda unveils Fit hybrid, cheapest hybrid in Japan
by Chang-ran Kim, Sachi Izumi and Antoni Slodkowski
TOKYO | Fri Oct 8, 2010 12:54am EDT
Honda Motor Co said on Friday it would sell the hybrid version of its popular Fit subcompact for 1.59 million yen ($19,310) in Japan, making it the cheapest gasoline-electric car on the domestic market.
The company expects to sell about 5,600 units a month.
Competition in the hybrid segment is set to heat up as industry leader Toyota Motor Corp works to expand its line-up to meet growing demand for fuel-efficient cars from drivers around the world.
Toyota said last month it would produce a small hybrid model at its factory in France from 2012.
Reuters: Electric cars put lithium miners on fast track
By Julie Gordon
TORONTO | Fri Oct 8, 2010 10:43am EDT
Lithium miners are reaping the benefits of a political and industry push to get more electric vehicles on the road, with shares in some Canadian-listed miners up more than 50 percent in the past two months.
Four major producers have long dominated lithium output and demand is likely to double in the next 10 years as automakers roll out hybrid and electric cars using lithium-ion batteries.
That has opened the door to numerous exploration companies and junior miners looking to capitalize on the trend.
Reuters: Spain's Siliken to open solar plant in Ontario
by Susan Taylor
OTTAWA | Fri Oct 8, 2010 2:40pm EDT
Spanish solar equipment maker Siliken S.A. said on Friday it will open a manufacturing plant in Windsor, Ontario, to capitalize on an Ontario provincial government program that pays high rates for green energy but requires local content in installations.
The plant, which will manufacture up to 50 megawatts of solar modules annually and employ about 175 people, is expected to be in full production by the second quarter of 2011.
Ontario last year unveiled a green energy feed-in tariff (FIT) plan that offers rich incentives to renewable energy developers producing clean energy in the province.
That last paragraph is an example of why I place energy next to policy in my ONDs.
Reuters: U.S. ethanol shoots up on surprise corn shortfall
By Janet McGurty
NEW YORK | Fri Oct 8, 2010 4:54pm EDT
U.S. ethanol prices shot higher on Friday after a government report forecast a surprising shortfall in corn yields, sending grain prices surging.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast a surprisingly small 12.664 billion-bushel U.S. corn crop this year -- 4 percent smaller than the record forecast a month ago -- and the tightest corn supply in 15 years.
Ethanol futures closed up 9.9 percent at $2.185 per gallon as traders bet the higher corn price could cut into ethanol output.
The current weak market for gasoline and high price for ethanol could further squeeze producers as it gives blenders no incentive to maximize ethanol use.
About that "weak gasoline market"...
Reuters: Oil up on dollar dive as U.S. payrolls slip
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK | Fri Oct 8, 2010 4:08pm EDT
Oil prices rose on Friday, posting a third straight weekly rise as investors bet that a weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs report bolstered the case for more monetary easing by the Federal Reserve that would keep pressure on the dollar.
The oil futures complex got further support as a strike at France's top oil port, now in its 12th day threatened to cut European oil products output. Also, a surprisingly sharp cut in the U.S. government's corn crop forecast sent cash ethanol prices sharply higher.
Science, Space, Environment, Health, and Energy Policy
Reuters: Climate talks marred by bickering, progress on finance
By Chris Buckley
TIANJIN, China | Sat Oct 9, 2010 7:16am EDT
China hit back on Saturday at U.S. claims it was shirking in the fight against climate change, likening the criticisms to a mythic pig preening itself.
Frustration between the world's two top carbon polluters overshadowed week-long U.N. talks seeking progress on the shape of a new climate pact, with negotiators making some progress on financing but failing to dispel fears the process could end in deadlock.
Su Wei, a senior Chinese climate change negotiator, swiped at comments from top U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern as the climate change talks drew to a close in the north Chinese city of Tianjin.
Reuters: Climate talks struggle as China, U.S. face off
By Chris Buckley
TIANJIN, China | Wed Oct 6, 2010 12:38pm EDT
The United States and EU said on Wednesday that U.N. climate talks were making less progress than hoped due to rifts over rising economies' emission goals, while China pushed back and put the onus on rich nations.
Negotiators from 177 governments are meeting this week in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin, trying to agree on the shape of the successor to the current phase of the Kyoto Protocol, the key U.N. treaty on fighting global warming, which expires in 2012.
Midway through the talks, however, initial hopes that they can deliver progress on trust-building goals have become snared in procedural skirmishing that boils down to feuding over how far rich and emerging nations should curb their greenhouse gas emissions and how they should check on each other's efforts.
Reuters: Aviation deal clears way for emissions scheme: EU
by Philip Blenkinsop and Pete Harrison
BRUSSELS | Sat Oct 9, 2010 9:58am EDT
A global deal on emissions curbs by airlines struck late on Friday will allow the European Union to press ahead with plans to charge airlines for emissions permits from 2012, the European Commission said on Saturday.
The EU agreed in 2008 that airlines should be included in its emissions trading scheme (ETS), which forces industry to pay for permits for each tonne of carbon dioxide they emit into the atmosphere.
The ETS is the EU's main tool for combating climate change and it wants to see the system adopted worldwide. Aviation is responsible for some 2 percent of the world's carbon emissions.
Some U.S. airlines had challenged the EU's right to include their flights into and out of Europe within the ETS.
Reuters: FDA to push for more investment in science
By Susan Heavey
WASHINGTON | Wed Oct 6, 2010 12:14pm EDT
Health regulators plan to spend millions of dollars to step up their scientific prowess in a move that officials say will help quickly get new treatments to patients and protect the public against possible health threats.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in a proposal released on Wednesday, said it aims to invest in a wide range of efforts, from developing methods to assess new products to creating better tests to identify food contaminants.
All of them are aimed at keeping up with rapidly changing science and technology.
N.Y. Times: New York Asks to Bar Use of Food Stamps to Buy Sodas
By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS
Published: October 6, 2010
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg sought federal permission on Wednesday to bar New York City’s 1.7 million recipients of food stamps from using them to buy soda or other sugared drinks.
The request, made to the United States Department of Agriculture, which finances and sets the rules for the food-stamp program, is part of an aggressive anti-obesity push by the mayor that has also included advertisements, stricter rules on food sold in schools and an unsuccessful attempt to have the state impose a tax on the sugared drinks.
Public health experts greeted Mr. Bloomberg’s proposal cautiously. George Hacker, senior policy adviser for the health promotion project of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said a more equitable approach might be to use educational campaigns to dissuade food-stamp users from buying sugared drinks.
Examiner.com: Michigan Supreme Court to hear water rights case
Lisa Hossler, Toledo Environmental News Examiner
The Michigan Supreme Court is hoping the case of Anglers of the Au Sable v Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and Merit Energy could set a new legal standard for some environmental disputes. Several justices are using flaws in the Merit case to highlight previous state cases involving Michigan water rights.
...
At heart is the case of Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation vs. Nestlé Waters. In a 2007 decision the former Court’s conservative majority restricted who can sue under the state’s Environmental Protection Act.
Two Michigan Surpreme Court Justices are up for re-election this fall, a Democrat and a Republican. This case shows how important state Supreme Court elections really are.
Examiner.com: Governor Strickland eliminates taxes for renewable energy projects
Lisa Hossler, Toledo Environmental News Examiner
Last Wednesday Governor Strickland gave alternative energy a boost by issuing an Executive Order eliminating the State’s tangible personal tax and real property tax for advanced and renewable energy project facilities. "As Ohio residents and businesses are fighting hard to recover from the crippling Wall Street recession, we must give promising companies every reason to develop and invest in Ohio as quickly as possible," Strickland said in a news release. Elimination of taxes will apply to projects that begin construction before Jan. 2012, produce traditional energy by 2013, (or 2017 for nuclear, clean coal and cogeneration projects).
...
Republican candidate John Kasich indicated that he would repeal the state’s renewable energy standard if it proves too costly for utility companies and consumers.
Oh, look, renewable energy as a political football, with the Democrat on the side of sustainability.
Examiner.com: Michigan now meets federal ozone standards
Lisa Hossler, Toledo Environmental News Examiner
After a lot of hard work, the State of Michigan has received final approval by the EPA for meeting the federal health-based standard for ozone.
...
In order to meet federal ozone levels, Michigan took effective pollution control measures. Automotive fuels are cleaner with less sulfur. Power plants have also reduced emissions. As a result, people in Michigan are breathing cleaner air. Local industries also will face fewer hurdles when they want to expand. Michigan has plans to continue to meet federal standards through 2021. This plan provides corrective action should the area violate the ozone standard.
Science Education
Athens Banner-Herald (Georgia): Students to comb lynch site
By Lee Shearer - lee.shearer@onlineathens.com
Published Thursday, October 07, 2010
Students from two Atlanta-area colleges will spend Saturday in Walton County looking for shell casings, bullet fragments or other pieces of metal that might help law enforcement agencies finally bring justice in the lynching of two couples in Walton County more than 64 years ago.
A Bauder College student group that for years has investigated prominent unsolved murders will join archaeology students from Kennesaw State University, using metal detectors and other ground-penetrating sensors at Moore's Ford. At that spot on the Walton-Oconee line, a mob of white men killed Roger Malcom, 24; Dorothy Malcom, 20; Mae Murray Dorsey, 23; and George Dorsey, 28, on July 25, 1946.
In the past, Kennesaw State archaeology professor Terry Powis and his classes have used metal detectors and other electronic devices to find Civil War bullets and other metal artifacts, said Sheryl McCollum, director of the Bauder College Cold Case Investigative Research Institute.
The wingnuts are all over the comments of this article, doing everything they can to wish it away. Of course, they're missing the point of this as an educational exercise.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for this story.
Science Writing and Reporting
Science News: The Weather of the Future
By Heidi Cullen
Review by Sid Perkins
October 23rd, 2010
The forecast for Earth is in, and it’s not good. So writes Cullen, a climatologist formerly of the Weather Channel, in her new book subtitled Heat Waves, Extreme Storms, and Other Scenes from a Climate-Changed Planet. If trends continue, she says, by the middle of this century — a mere 40 years from now — no place on Earth will experience the same weather that it does today.
Science is Cool
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Greensburg professor attempts to uncork a mystery
By Karen Kadilak
FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Anthony Boldurian has been asked to examine artifacts ranging from arrowheads to mussels during his 22 years as a professor of archaeology and anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg.
But nothing interested him as much as a request he recently received from the daughter of a co-worker vacationing in North Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Katie Miller of Butler shipped a corked bottle containing a written message she and her husband, Ed, found as they walked on the beach during Labor Day weekend.
During the past month, Boldurian -- head of the archaeology department at Pitt-Greensburg -- has been analyzing the contents.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for this story.
Reuters: Analysis: Fidelity records first "green" proxy votes
By Ross Kerber
BOSTON | Fri Oct 8, 2010 12:41pm EDT
Four mutual funds at Fidelity Investments recently backed an environmentalist proxy proposal for the first time on record, showing how even the historically aloof fund giant has begun to join other investment firms lending more support to green measures.
To be sure, the votes cast by Fidelity funds at MGM Mirage were dwarfed by the scores of occasions when Fidelity's funds abstained on shareholder environmental proposals, according to a count sponsored by Ceres, a coalition of environmentally minded investors.
Still, advocacy groups who pore over proxy records said the votes could mark the start of a new environmental embrace at Fidelity, one of the most influential of U.S. mutual fund firms.
"This is a tiny symbolic gesture on their part, but one in the right direction," said Rob Berridge, senior manager at Ceres. "It's definitely a sign of progress."