plastic
milhayser | February 23, 2014Researchers observed tiny voids forming in silicon used for solar panels; these voids provide physical evidence of the Staebler-Wronski effect, "which reduces the solar cell efficiency by up to 15 percent within the first 1000 hours."
Using an online avatar with a skin color other than your own makes you less racist in real life; playing a hero makes you less cruel, and playing a villain less benevolent.
Old mouse muscles exhibit "elevated levels of activity in a biological cascade called the p38 MAP kinase pathway" which prevents stem cells from dividing and repairing muscle damage. By…
pgleick | April 22, 2013We live on solid ground, but the truth is, our planet is mostly covered in water. The famous writer Arthur C. Clarke noted this when he said, “How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean.”
Today is Earth Day, when we celebrate the planet, and in particular the functioning ecosystem that supports all life, including our own. In recognition of Earth Day, here is a short piece about bottled water in the United States and most developed countries, with some basic facts that should help any readers still in doubt about the downsides of that industry.
The Money…
ksnyder | November 8, 2010This one-liner from the 1967 classic "The Graduate" might have made Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) cringe:
But 43 years later, it's obvious that Mr. McQuire was onto something. Today, it's hard to imagine life without plastic, from brushing your teeth in the morning to pouring yourself a glass of milk. We produce so much of the stuff, though, that we now face major environmental problems. Conventional plastic is made from crude oil, is not often recycled, and, when put in landfills, can release toxins that enter soil, water, and the food chain.
Researchers at Brookhaven and Dow…
sastyk | January 21, 2010...you just gotta love The Onion. Not only is it a lazy-ass blogiste's best friend, providing amusing commentary when you just can't get a post up, but it also does a lovely job of illustrating the scope of our ecological problems now and again. You'll enjoy this one.
"It's not like I don't care, because I do, and most of the time I don't even buy bottled water," thought Missouri school teacher Heather Delamere, the 450,000th caring and progressive individual to have done so that morning, and the 850,000th to have purchased the environmentally damaging vessel due to being thirsty, in a huge…
grrlscientist | October 26, 2009tags: Project Kaisei, Oceanography, North Pacific Gyre, North Pacific Garbage Patch, plastic, pollution, environment, streaming video
Underwater videographer, underwater photographer, and author, Annie Crawley joined Scripps Institute of Oceanography and Project Kaisei aboard the New Horizon on a 3 week long expedition to the North Pacific Gyre. They collected data to help find a solution to the "Plastic Vortex" forming in our Ocean.
grrlscientist | October 23, 2009tags: Project Kaisei, Oceanography, North Pacific Gyre, North Pacific Garbage Patch, plastic, pollution, environment, streaming video
Project Kaisei's 2009 Expedition. Footage from the Kaisei, one of two research vessels Project Kaisei sent to the North Pacific Gyre in August, 2009 to study the extent of the marine debris problem in the gyre, the impact it may be having on marine life and the food chain, and to find ways to catch and recover some of the debris for a larger clean-up effort.
cwilcox | August 31, 2009NutritionWonderland is a fantastic site which looks at nutrition from all angles, from health to ecological impact to hard science. Right now, they're running a special feature called "Plastic Troubles" about all those things that plastics make possible, like smaller testes, cancer, and marine debris. So far, you've only missed articles on BPA and Phthalates, so if you hurry, you'll catch up pretty quickly. Some horror stories about brominated flame retardants and dioxin are on the way, as well as a nice piece written by yours truly about the ecological impacts of plastics.
ddobbs | May 22, 2009
Having lived with fire ants, stepped in fire ants, laid down with fire ants, and been bit just about everywhere by fire ants, the news that parasitic flies turn fire ants them into zombies by eating their brains pleases me immensely.
Speaking of pleasure: Vaughn whacks the dopamine = pleasure meme.
Sharon Begley says Obama may get a lot done, but he can't erase stereotype threat (so far).
We may be dozing, but Europe is ordering its swine flu vaccine. D'oh! Update: We're getting a start too.
"Good night, sleep tight, I love you." Why consistent bedtime routines work.
Why the best…
bioephemera | March 23, 2009Via Morbid Anatomy: the Discovery Channel series "How It's Made" features the construction of modern anatomical models. You can watch the five-minute segment after the fold.
Discovery Channel, "How It's Made", Season 11, Episode 2/Part 1
cwilcox | October 2, 2008Of all the materials that were discovered in the past 100 years or so, none have become so widespread as plastic. Plastic is used for just about everything. From soda-pop to sterile saline in hospitals, flooring to teflon pans, plastics have become universal in every home and business in America and around the world. Unfortunately.
The great thing about plastics is their almost unlimited usefulness. The finished product can be shaped in almost any way imaginable, vary in hardness, and is relatively chemically inert, all for a nice, low price. Unfortunately, these properties also make it one…