TOP 100 CAMPING SITES
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| Update on Uranium Mining near the Grand Canyon Dear EarthTalk: Are plans to mine uranium near the Grand Canyon, as proposed by the Bush administration in 2008, still underway? -- Denton Chase, Half Moon Bay, CA [More] rss.sciam.com |
Surprises from General Relativity: "Swimming" in Spacetime In a famous series of stories in the 1940s, physicist George Gamow related the adventures of one Mr. C.G.H. Tompkins, a humble bank clerk who had vivid dreams of worlds where strange physical phenomena intruded into everyday life. In one of these worlds, for instance, the speed of light was 15 kilometers per hour, putting the weird effects of Einstein's theory of special relativity on display if you so much as rode a bicycle.Not long ago I figuratively encountered one of Mr. Tompkins's great grandsons, Mr. E. M. Everard, a philosopher and engineer who is carrying on his ancestor's tradition. He told me of an amazing experience he had involving some recently discovered aspects of Einstein's theory of general relativity, which I will share with you. His remarkable story is replete with curved space­time, cats twisting in midair, an imperiled astronaut dog paddling through a vacuum to safety--and Isaac Newton perhaps spinning in his grave. [More] rss.sciam.com |
A Decade of New Species Discoveries in the Himalayas [Slide Show] Deep in the eastern Himalayas , where two continental plates and four countries converge, a treasure trove of new species has kept scientists on the lookout for the past decade. A recent report , assembled by the World Wildlife Fund International (WWF) based in Washington, D.C., gathered the fruits of these labors--completed by various organizations--and lists the 353 new plant and animal species that years of rugged research have now brought to the wider world's attention. [More] rss.sciam.com |
Last chance to save the vaquita porpoise from extinction? This is a crucial time for the critically endangered vaquita porpoise ( Phocoena sinus ). Despite conservation efforts, the vaquita population has dropped more than 50 percent in the past three years as hundreds of porpoises have died in commercial fishing nets. Now just 150 vaquitas remain in their sole habitat, a portion of the Gulf of California off the coast of Mexico, and the species exists at the razor's edge of extinction. [More] rss.sciam.com |
Green for Green: U.S. Stimulus Package Offers Businesses $7 Billion in Environmental Incentives Dear EarthTalk: I've been following reports about President Obama's stimulus package and what it may mean for creating green jobs. Beyond that, are there programs in place to help businesses switch to greener raw materials and/or to green up operations overall? --Diane, via e-mail [More] rss.sciam.com |