Blub, blub, wimper…
If you have any Polar Bear friends, better give them a hug, quick. Despite what many would say is overwhelming evidence that global warming poses a threat to the animal’s habitat, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service says it needs more time to study the issue before granting endangered species status, according to Nature. What […]
$2500 ‘people’s car’
Intended for India’s market, the Tata ‘people’s car’ will likely be the first car for many in India’s emerging middle class. The car’s 600cc engine will sip fuel relative to Western SUVs and other cars, but vast numbers of these vehicles will create demand for oil that will push prices and political wrangling over […]
Blub, blub
New York Times environment writer Andrew Revkin takes a look at the Greenland ice sheet: some scientists worry that it could add 6 feet to the oceans by this century’s end. Check out the video from an HD camera scientists dropped down a moulin or natural drainpipe…
A green New Year, or else!
The Archbishop of Canterbury, theoretically my loftiest spiritual guide, has decreed that “God does not waste,” on YouTube, no less. Does St. Peter have to drag his recycling to the curb?
Biting the ‘green bullet’
Here’s our brand new, energy-efficient furnace: at almost $4,000, it wasn’t particularly cheap. The air conditioning option would have cost an additional $4600 (I declined).
You may recall that last year our 53-year-old furnace failed during a cold snap (temperatures in the 30s). Our good, local plumbing and heating guys wouldn’t repair it, it was just […]
Seed banks
Friend, retired priest Stuart Coxhead came over for leftovers last night (with friend Anne Peterson), and brought a copy of the New Yorker with a fascinating story about the world’s seed banks. American Cary Fowler, descibed as the ‘world’s seed banker’ by writer John Seabrook is also a long term cancer survivor (after being given […]
Industrial revolution
While perusing web pages, I came across this interesting PDF about the Scorpius space transportation system a component of which can be seen above, right. To the left is a Saturn J-2 engine: it’s successor, the RL-10 produces about the same thrust as the Scorpius for about 100 times the cost. The RL-10, like almost […]
Getting a quote for solar power at gulker.com
The new furnace will be considerably more efficient than the old one, reducing both our energy bill and carbon footprint which got me thinking about our other big energy use, electricity.
The RealGoods.com estimator came back with a price of $37,000 for a 5.5 KW photovoltaic system for gulker.com, and promising a $1300 to $2400 reduction […]
Al Gore joins Kleiner Perkins
Al Gore will be a part-time Green tech partner at KPCB, according to the Merc and a bunch of other sources. I wonder how many other VCs have a Nobel laureate on board…
More water woe
BBC: A massive rescue operation is under way in the southern Mexican state of Tabasco after rains caused the worst flooding there in more than 50 years. More than one million people are believed to be affected by the floods, and some 300,000 are thought to be trapped in their homes. Most of the state […]
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