Clipmarks | ekorstanje's clips

Bush Administration Proposes Gutting Endangered Species Act

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:46:29 GMT

clipped by: ekorstanje
clipper's remarks: Good question to always ask yourself is Who stands to gain?

Bush Administration Proposes Gutting Endangered Species Act

The Bush administration has proposed rolling back protections for the nation’s wildlife by rewriting the Endangered Species Act. The proposed rule change would allow federal agencies to decide whether protected species would be imperiled by agency projects. This would eliminate the independent scientific reviews that have been required for more than three decades. The draft rules also would bar federal agencies from assessing the greenhouse gas emissions from projects that contribute to global warming and its effect on species and habitats. The Bush administration publicly announced the proposed regulatory changes on Monday, only after the National Wildlife Federation posted leaked documents outlining the administration’s plan. John Kostyack of the National Wildlife Federation described the proposed change as a “full blown attack on America’s premier conservation law.”

Scientists closer to developing invisibility cloak

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:09:57 GMT

clipped by: ekorstanje
clipper's remarks: This opens up some privacy issues. How would you know if someone from the Gov or Bussiness was not standing next to you inside your own home?

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Scientists closer to developing invisibility cloak

WASHINGTON - Scientists say they are a step closer to developing materials that could render people and objects invisible.

Researchers have demonstrated for the first time they were able to cloak three-dimensional objects using artificially engineered materials that redirect light around the objects. Previously, they only have been able to cloak very thin two-dimensional objects.

People can see objects because they scatter the light that strikes them, reflecting some of it back to the eye. Cloaking uses materials, known as metamaterials, to deflect radar, light or other waves around an object, like water flowing around a smooth rock in a stream.

Metamaterials are mixtures of metal and circuit board materials such as ceramic, Teflon or fiber composite. They are designed to bend visible light in a way that ordinary materials don't. Scientists are trying to use them to bend light around objects so they don't create reflections or shadows.

Tags: invisibility cloak

Wal-Mart mobilizes against Democrats

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:07:41 GMT

clipped by: ekorstanje
clipper's remarks: Of course if unionized they would have to pay their workers more than seven dollars an hour.

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Wal-Mart mobilizes against Democrats: report

(Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) is mobilizing U.S. store managers to lobby against Democrats in November's presidential election, fearing they will make it easier for workers to unionize, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

In recent weeks, thousands of Wal-Mart managers and department heads have been summoned to mandatory meetings at which the retailer stresses the downside for workers if store workers unionize, the paper said.

The Wal-Mart human-resources managers who have run the meetings didn't tell those attending how to vote in the November elections, but made it clear that voting for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, would be tantamount to inviting unions in, the Journals said.

Senate blocks bill to help poor pay energy costs

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:15:25 GMT

clipped by: ekorstanje
clipper's remarks: They can bail out the financial markets but it's too much to help people with no money to stay cool or warm. What would you know who do?

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Senate blocks bill to help poor pay energy costs

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a rare Saturday session, the U.S. Senate voted against moving forward with legislation that would boost funding for a federal program that helps low- income families pay their cooling and heating bills.

The legislation would nearly double money for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, commonly known as LIHEAP, to $5.1 billion.

Low-income families spend on average about 15 percent of their income on home energy bills, compared with 3.4 percent for all other households.

"At a time when the cost of home heating fuels and electricity are soaring, and when the economy is in a decline, millions of Americans are finding it harder and harder to stay warm in the winter or cool in the summer," said independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who sponsored the legislation.

Buyer Beware: The Many Ways Retailers Can Trick You

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:06:54 GMT

clipped by: ekorstanje

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Buyer Beware: The Many Ways Retailers Can Trick You

Shoppers do crazy things. And retailers bank on it.

Robert Roy Britt
LiveScience Managing Editor
LiveScience.com

Several studies reveal how Americans shop in irrational ways, and increasingly scientists are figuring out how easily we can be duped. Retailers in turn use these tricks to get inside our heads, encouraging window shoppers to become real shoppers, driving purchases of sales items regardless of real value, and helping buyers feel good about the things they walk out with ... often for no good reason.

One new study finds that happiness with a purchase depends on the choices that were available on a store shelf and how the items were presented.

Why We Save Stuff

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:07:03 GMT

clipped by: ekorstanje

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Why We Save Stuff

Robin Nixon
Special to LiveScience
LiveScience.com

Ever help a friend move and find yourself asking, why is she keeping that? A new study may have the answer.

When people were asked to choose between an iPod and, say, $100, they were more likely to choose the money. But when they were given an iPod and then immediately asked if they would like to trade it for $100, they were more likely to leave the Ben Franklin on the table.

This is called the endowment effect, which researcher Brian Knutson of Stanford University calls "the poster child of strange (economic) behavior." Chimps exhibit the effect, too.

Futuristic Chembots Squeeze Through Small Spaces

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:37:46 GMT

clipped by: ekorstanje

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Futuristic Chembots Squeeze Through Small Spaces

LiveScience Staff

LiveScience.com

Soft and squishy chemical robots will one day squeeze through tight spots then expand to 10 times larger, offering an advantage over rigid robots. Once a mission is complete, a chembot would biodegrade.

The chembots could get into a building through a crack, for example. They could explore a cave or crevice and dismantle an explosive. Or they might climb ropes, wires or trees. Another tiny idea: One chembot could pack a smaller chembot into a situation, then release it for even more minute explorations.

$7.00 a gallon gas by 2010 Video

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:00:25 GMT

clipped by: ekorstanje
clipper's remarks: At this rate, a second Great Depression is not far behind.

Clip Source: rawstory.com

CBS: Report predicts $7/gallon gas

A new energy report predicts that oil will cost $200 a barrel in two years. If that happens, gas would go up to $7 a gallon. CBS News’ Priya David reports on the huge impact that would have on American lives.

Download video

Study Claims Iraq's 'Excess' Death Toll Has Reached 655,000

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:06:46 GMT

clipped by: ekorstanje
clipper's remarks: Should be 655,000 murder charges including American deaths.

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Study Claims Iraq's 'Excess' Death Toll Has Reached 655,000

By David Brown

Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 11, 2006; Page A12

A team of American and Iraqi epidemiologists estimates that 655,000 more people have died in Iraq since coalition forces arrived in March 2003 than would have died if the invasion had not occurred.

The estimate, produced by interviewing residents during a random sampling of households throughout the country, is far higher than ones produced by other groups, including Iraq's government.

Tags: iraq

The Future Is Now? Pretty Soon, at Least

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 16:41:35 GMT

clipped by: ekorstanje
clipper's remarks: Interesting stuff

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The Future Is Now? Pretty Soon, at Least

Before we get to Ray Kurzweil’s plan for upgrading the “suboptimal software” in your brain, let me pass on some of the cheery news he brought to the World Science Festival last week in New York.

Do you have trouble sticking to a diet? Have patience. Within 10 years, Dr. Kurzweil explained, there will be a drug that lets you eat whatever you want without gaining weight.

Worried about greenhouse gas emissions? Have faith. Solar power may look terribly uneconomical at the moment, but with the exponential progress being made in nanoengineering, Dr. Kurzweil calculates that it’ll be cost-competitive with fossil fuels in just five years, and that within 20 years all our energy will come from clean sources.

Tags: the future

Losing just one night's sleep makes brain prone to 'sudden shutdowns'

Thu, 22 May 2008 14:44:47 GMT

clipped by: ekorstanje

Clip Source: www.thisislondon.co.uk

Losing just one night's sleep makes brain prone to 'sudden shutdowns'

Being deprived of sleep even for one night makes the brain unstable and prone to sudden shutdowns akin to a power failure - brief lapses that hover between sleep and wakefulness, according to researchers.

"It's as though it is both asleep and awake and they are switching between each other very rapidly," said David Dinges of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, whose study appears in the Journal of Neuroscience.

"Imagine you are sitting in a room watching a movie with the lights on. In a stable brain, the lights stay on all the time. In a sleepy brain, the lights suddenly go off," Dinges said.

Tags: sleep

Does Time Run Backward in Other Universes

Wed, 21 May 2008 20:47:09 GMT

clipped by: ekorstanje
clipper's remarks: Long article but worth the read.

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

Does Time Run Backward in Other Universes?

One of the most basic facts of life is that the future looks different from the past. But on a grand cosmological scale, they may look the same

The basic laws of physics work equally well forward or backward in time, yet we perceive time to move in one direction only—toward the future. Why?

To account for it, we have to delve into the prehistory of the universe, to a time before the big bang. Our universe may be part of a much larger multiverse, which as a whole is time-symmetric. Time may run backward in other universes.

Tags: time

Can Birds Tell If We Look Them in the Eye?

Tue, 06 May 2008 15:36:10 GMT

clipped by: ekorstanje
clipper's remarks: First one to blink

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Can Birds Tell If We Look Them in the Eye?

In humans, the eyes are said to be the "window to the soul," conveying much about a person's emotions and intentions. New research demonstrates for the first time that birds also respond to a human's gaze.

Predators tend to look at their prey when they attack, so direct eye-gaze can predict imminent danger. Julia Carter, a graduate student at the University of Bristol, and her colleagues, set up experiments that showed starlings will keep away from their food dish if a human is looking at it. However, if the person is just as close, but their eyes are turned away, the birds resumed feeding earlier and consumed more food overall.

Tags: birds

Scientists May Have Found Titanic’s Weak Link

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:21:14 GMT

clipped by: ekorstanje

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Scientists May Have Found Titanic’s Weak Link

For a decade, metallurgists studying the hulk of the Titanic have argued that the storied liner went down fast after hitting the iceberg because the ship’s builder used substandard rivets that popped their heads and let tons of icy seawater rush in. More than 1,500 people died.

Now, a team of scientists has moved into deeper waters, uncovering evidence in the builder’s own archives of a deadly mix of great ambition and low quality iron that doomed the ship, which sank 96 years ago Tuesday. Historians say the riddle of the disaster has finally been solved.

Tags: titanic

Get out of jail free card for companies,deferred prosecution agreement

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:01:36 GMT

clipped by: ekorstanje
clipper's remarks: Perfect example of what happens when their is no regulation on busness. They will do anything no matter how harmful if it means a bigger profits for share holders.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

In a major shift of policy, the Justice Department, once known for taking down giant corporations, including the accounting firm Arthur Andersen, has put off prosecuting more than 50 companies suspected of wrongdoing over the last three years.

Instead, many companies, from boutique outfits to immense corporations like American Express, have avoided the cost and stigma of defending themselves against criminal charges with a so-called deferred prosecution agreement, which allows the government to collect fines and appoint an outside monitor to impose internal reforms without going through a trial. In many cases, the name of the monitor and the details of the agreement are kept secret.