Monthly Archives: July 2013

When Wearable Technology Interacts With Everyday Tools

"Driving is perhaps the prime time when your hands and eyes aren’t free, so with voice commands, the app will also be able to open the sunroof or change the temperature or do any number of other actions. So even though Glass Tesla is nestled in a niche that fewer than 50 people are likely to use, it’s on the cusp of something big. But Google Glass is too much of a departure from the present mobile computing paradigm to be covered under current safe-driving laws. It’s entirely possible that a decision could be made to ban Glass from moving vehicles, like it’s been banned in certain static locations. Such is the risk of the bleeding edge." Continue reading →

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Imagine the ‘outrage’ from environmentalists if it had been an oil derrick

"Dozens of birdwatchers who traveled to a Scottish island to see an extremely fast and rare swift have been left distraught after it was killed by a wind turbine. There had been only eight recorded sightings of the white-throated needletail in the UK since 1846. So when one popped up again on British shores this week, bird watchers were understandably excited. A group of 40 enthusiasts dashed to the Hebrides to catch a glimpse of the brown, black and blue bird, which breeds in Asia and winters in Australasia. But instead of being treated to a wildlife spectacle they were left with a horror show when it flew into a wind turbine and was killed." Continue reading →

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Wind Energy Encounters Problems and Resistance in Germany

"Germany plans to build 60,000 new wind turbines -- in forests, in the foothills of the Alps and even in protected environmental areas. But local residents are up in arms, costs are skyrocketing and Germany's determination to phase out nuclear power is in danger. Even valuable tourist regions -- such as the Moselle valley, the Allgäu and the foothills of the Alps -- are to be sacrificed. On one side stand environmentalists and animal rights activists passionate about protecting the tranquility of nature. On the other are progressively minded champions of renewable energy and climate activists determined to secure the long-term survival of the planet." Continue reading →

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Floating Nuclear Power: Inside Russia’s Reactors at Sea

"The U.S. and Russian navies have long used nuclear-powered submarines, aircraft carriers, and icebreakers. But a new kind of nuclear power is coming. Russia's Akademik Lomonosov, currently under construction, will be a floating power plant with two 35-megawatt generators designed to supply power to hard-to-reach Arctic communities straight from the ship. After years of delay, the Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation says it plans to build this first ship by 2016 and to ramp up to four to six in the near future to power up remote cities and industrial areas cut off from the regular power grid." Continue reading →

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Can fracking cause bigger, more frequent earthquakes?

"The most striking indication of human-induced earthquakes is provided by the graph below, which shows the cumulative number of earthquakes in the central and eastern US that were greater than or equal to magnitude 3.0 on the Richter scale. The clear increase from 2005 coincides with the rapid increase of shale gas wells and associated increased, deep waste-water injection. Between 2005 and 2012, the shale gas industry in the US grew by 45 percent each year. Three reports have been published this month in Science that add to our limited but growing data on the causal link between fluid injections and earthquakes." Continue reading →

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Safety Statistics Are Not to Be Ignored, Especially Not in Oil Transport

"An oil spill is 34 times more likely with a railway accident compared to just the aging pipeline infrastructure. So why then are we relying more and more on rail transports? The answer is simple: there is simply too much uninformed opposition to building new pipelines and replace the aging infrastructure criss-crossing North America. But the fact of the matter is this: for every day that we delay implementing a 'Casey Sensible Solution,' we are in fact putting rural communities such as Lac Mégantic at risk from either rail disasters or spills from pipelines that have been around since the Eisenhower administration." Continue reading →

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In Oregon, The GMO Wheat Mystery Deepens

"The USDA is trying to answer two big questions about this wheat. First, where else can it be found? Second, how did it get into this farmer's field? Hundreds of millions of dollars could hang on the answer to the first question. If rogue genes are present in America's wheat harvest, some customers — especially in Japan and Korea — say they won't take it. Every test that comes up negative eases the worries of the wheat industry, but it also makes the source of this GMO wheat a bigger mystery. Investigators are finding no trail that leads from the Oregon farm back to Monsanto's research operation." Continue reading →

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Sysco facing thousands in fines for ‘runaway train’ of food storage violations

"Food distributor Sysco could be forced to pay thousands of dollars in fines after officials with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) found insects and rodent droppings at storage sheds the company used for perishable foods throughout northern California, KNTV-TV reported on Tuesday. The station reported that it secretly filmed employees using sheds in six cities to store and transport pork, bread, lettuce and cheese items. One employee, who did not wish to be identified, told KNTV in an interview that the practice had been going on for more than a decade, saying, 'Enough is enough. The public needs to know where their food is coming from.'" Continue reading →

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Should You Be Able to Buy Food Directly From Farmers? Regulators Don’t Think So

"For the USDA and its sister food regulator, the FDA, there’s a problem: many of the farmers are distributing the food via private contracts like herd shares and leasing arrangements, which fall outside the regulatory system of state and local retail licenses and inspections that govern public food sales. In response, federal and state regulators are seeking legal sanctions against farmers in Maine, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and California, among others. These sanctions include injunctions, fines, and even prison sentences." Continue reading →

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Medical Marijuana for Kids Could Pit Parents Against Pediatricians

"Hope resident Jennie Stormes advocated for the change in the law on behalf of Jackson Stormes, a 14 year old who has used marijuana to reduce the symptoms of Dravet Syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy. She said the substance has reduced the intensity and duration of her son’s seizures, after years of unsuccessful approaches such as brain surgery. 'The additional doctor appointments for a child who has failed so many medications, brain surgery, and other treatments are cruel and the cost is burdensome for a single mother who is working more than one job without any child support,' said Stormes, a pediatric nurse." Continue reading →

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