Category: Environmental

Environmental

Lake of doom: deadly waterway calcifies any animal that dares to dive in

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As reported on The Verge. By Katie Drummond Sometimes, truth is indeed more terrifying than fiction. In what could easily make for prime horror film fodder, a renowned photographer has captured stunning images of wildlife calcified by the caustic waters of a deadly Tanzanian lake. Nick Brandt, well-known for his photography of East Africa’s natural landscape, came across Tanzania’s Lake Natron during his travels. And as his ensuing photos demonstrate, this isn’t any ordinary body of…

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Environmental

Dogtown: Detroit’s latest challenge is thousands of stray dogs

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As reported on The Verge. By Russell Brandom Detroit’s recent bankruptcy has exacerbated an old problem: stray dogs. A new Bloomberg report estimates there could be as many as 50,000 stray dogs roaming the streets of Detroit, roughly one for every 14 citizens. The problem is particularly severe because of the city’s large number of abandoned homes, which the head of animal control says is “as if you designed a situation that causes dog problems.” Detroit currently houses only…

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Environmental Hardware Dev

Solar-powered Ubuntu laptop boasts 10-hour battery, 2-hour charge time

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As reported on Engadget. By Mariella Moon A blazing sun and the outdoors don’t exactly make for an ideal computing environment — unless you’re toting a ruggedized laptop that harnesses energy from sunlight like the Ubuntu-running Sol. Created mainly for use in developing countries with intermittent (or non-existent) electricity, it’s equipped with solar panels that soak up the sun when unfolded. According to OMG Ubuntu, its creators from Canadian company WeWi Telecommunications claim Sol’s battery, which can last…

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Culture Environmental Mobile

New Yorkers Get Free Power In The Parks

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As reported on TechCrunch. by ELIZA BROOKE Months after Hurricane Sandy left New York scrambling for power, the city is unveiling 25 solar powered charging stations in parks and public spaces throughout the five boroughs, starting today. The pilot project between AT&T and the city of New York is officially called AT&T Street Charge. (DUMBO firm Pensa handled design, and Goal Zero provided the solar technology, AT&T handled the cash.) The stations will move to new…

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Business Culture Environmental

Remaking Rio: turning an urban dystopia into an Olympic playground

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As reported on The Verge. By Amar Toor With the World Cup just 12 months away, Brazil is scrambling to put its best foot forward On March 22nd, police in Rio de Janeiro clashed with demonstrators outside the city’s Maracanã football stadium, where members of various indigenous groups had been squatting in protest. Earlier, the protesters had received eviction notices from the government, which planned to build a new parking lot where their homes then stood. Less than…

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Environmental Random

Rogue Queens, Sex-Changing Fish, and Rain-Making Bacteria: Nature’s Weirdest Life Cycles

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As reported on Wired. BY BRANDON KEIM The word ‘unnatural’ is often used to describe what’s considered weird or unusual. But is anything weirder than nature? Just look at 17-year cicadas, poised to flood the U.S. East Coast after having stayed underground since Bill Clinton was President. And cicadas are just the start: Biology abounds with creatures that change shape, change sex, change locations and in some cases cause other creatures to do these things. It’s a strange,…

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Environmental

Climate change threatens to destroy Alaskan village within four years

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As reported on The Verge. By Amar Toor   The Guardian this week published a fascinating in-depth report on the village of Newtok — a remote Alaskan community that, because of climate change, will likely be underwater within the next few years. Experts say it could be just four years beforerising sea levels swallow Newtok, and although the community has already agreed to relocate to higher ground, a shortage of money and resources has precluded them from taking action. Meanwhile,…

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Environmental

Keeping a Wolf at Home to Save the Species

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As reported on Wired. BY PETE BROOK View as gallery   Getting photos of wolves is difficult. It usually requires traveling into the farthest reaches of North America or other remote locations. But photographer Camille Seaman in Oakland only needed to cross the San Francisco Bay to find one for her latest project. Aqutaq, a two year-old female white wolf (aka arctic wolf), lives in Marin County in the shadow of Mt. Tamalpais with owner Oliver Starr. Aqutaq…

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Environmental

Rain will get more extreme thanks to global warming, says NASA study

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As reported on The Verge. By Carl Franzen The forecast for the future of rainfall on Earth is in: over the next hundred years, areas that receive lots of precipitation right now are only going to get wetter, and dry areas will go for longer periods without seeing a drop, according to a new NASA-led studyon global warming. “We looked at rainfall of different types,” said William Lau, NASA’s deputy director of atmospheric studies and the lead…

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Automotive Environmental

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive test-driven, quietly tears up the track (video)

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As reported on Engadget. By Jamie Rigg Sure, Mercedes-Benz is building all-electric vehicles for the daily grind, but none can deny the 750-horsepower SLS AMG Electric Drive is by far its most exciting EV. One lucky test-driver — Chris Harris from YouTube channel DRIVE — recently had the opportunity to point the overtly shiny beast round a track, and filmed it for his online passengers. He’s initially unsure the car will turn petrol-heads on, and talks torque, cockpit layout, driving modes…

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