The romantic imagery painted of Spanish bullfighting in Ernest Hemingway’s famous book The Sun Also Rises might soon be the stuff of history. Spain is edging ever closer to banning the sport. [social_buttons]Thanks to a petition with 180,000 signatures, the regional government of Spain’s northeastern Catalonia area will soon debate banning the sport tied so […]
Bullfighting Soon to be Banned in Spain? Read More 👉
Last week news surfaced that several raccoons had been seen repeatedly in areas around the White House grounds. Humane traps have been set to capture them, and if caught, the fuzzy-looking bandits will be released in a forested area by the National Park Service. [social_buttons] Forget the need for economic stimulus, Barack, can you come
Raccoons Move into White House– Should Obama Let Them Stay? Read More 👉
Dreamworks/Paramount Vantage Dear Mr. DiCaprio, If you haven’t heard, there are reports that several years ago you bought a “pristine” Caribbean Island in the Central American country of Belize. It’s been the subject of speculation for some time, and there are many reports and rumors that you plan to build a “green resort.” Seeing as
Unsolicited Advice for Leonardo DiCaprio on His Belize Island Resort Read More 👉
After completing its annual wolf population estimate, Yellowstone National Park has announced that the number of wolves inside the park has declined by 27% since the end of 2007. 124 wolves are now thought to reside in the park, down from 171. Is this a normal fluctuation?
Yellowstone National Park Wolf Population Dropped Sharply in 2008 Read More 👉
Thanks to a new program, New Yorkers will now have yet another way to compare the relative prestige of where they live within the city: air quality. The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene recently initiated what will be the city’s most comprehensive air quality monitoring effort to date. Rather than monitor air quality
New York City Rolls Out Comprehensive Air Quality Monitoring Program Read More 👉
Prior to Friday’s premiere of the new Animal Planet series Whale Wars, Japan’s Institute of Cetacean Research has accused Animal Planet of ecoterrorism. The show will chronicle the exploits of an anti-whaling group who takes their quest directly to the front lines, trying to stop Japanese whaling vessels from succeeding in killing whales. [social_buttons] Planetsave
Japan Accuses Animal Planet of EcoTerrorism Prior to "Whale Wars" Premiere Read More 👉
As coral reefs around the world continue to disappear, one Florida town has taken the initiative by investing $60,000 to stimulate coral reef growth using electricity. While there is not yet peer-reviewed evidence to suggest that using a low powered electrical current works, scientists are not dismissing the idea. The company that has been hired
Florida Town Wants to Grow Coral Reefs with Electricity Read More 👉
Representatives from South Florida’s Monroe County are going to make a pitch this week for undeveloped private land in the Florida Keys to be bought with federal and state money, and then turned into a national park. While I’m all for more protection of beach and ocean areas in the Keys, I think this is
Will the Florida Keys Be Our Next National Park? I Hope Not Read More 👉
This past weekend, undercover operatives from Greenpeace tested the DNA of fish served in several London-based restaurants that are part of a chain known as Nobu. The restaurants are partially owned by actor Robert De Niro. The tested fish were discovered to be endangered bluefin tuna. In an incredibly stupid response, Nobu’s principal manager has
Robert De Niro Caught Selling Endangered Fish in His Restaurants Read More 👉
A scientist named Tim Bean, who is a PhD student at the University of California Berkeley writes the following on a website: “I expect that ‘Counting Rats from Space,’ the proposed title of my thesis, will become an international phenomenon, spawning everything from a board game to a Top 40 dance hall burner.” His dream
Giant Kangaroo Rat Will Be the First Endangered Species Monitored from Space Read More 👉
Toyota is donating 5 hybrid cars and $500,000 to help support Grand Canyon National Park’s educational programs and safety efforts. The donation is part of a larger initiative that the company is sponsoring to help support the National Park Service. In total, Toyota will donate $5 million and 21 hybrid vehicles to help support five
Toyota Donates 5 Hybrid Cars and $500,000 to Grand Canyon National Park Read More 👉
A federal judge has banned snowmobiles from Yellowstone National Park. He said that a plan approved by the Bush Administration to allow 500 snowmobiles to travel daily through Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks in the winter months would cause damaging noise pollution, air pollution, and would also stress wildlife.
Court Rules Against Bush Plan to Allow Snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park Read More 👉
On Wednesday a 5 acre marijuana farm located in Redwood National Park was raided by over 60 park rangers and other cooperating law enforcement officials. The farm was located less than six miles away from the world’s tallest tree. It is the first major marijuana growing operation to have been found in the well-known park.
5 Acre Marijuana Farm Found and Destroyed in Redwood National Park Read More 👉
It’s about time! California’s historic Fairfax Theatre claims that it will be the first major movie theater in the United States to install a solar power system to help cover its energy costs. * In addition to supplying clean energy, it will save the theater’s owner about $627,000 over the estimated thirty year life of
The First Solar Powered Movie Theater in the U.S. Read More 👉
After the Phoenix Suns NBA basketball team announced last week that they were installing solar panels as part of a new green initiative, now things only seem to be getting better for the environment when it comes to the efforts of professional sports teams. The Philadelphia Eagles NFL football team announced on Sunday that they
Philadelphia Eagles Pay for Wind Energy to Power Team Read More 👉
On Thursday, Charlotte based utility company Duke Energy unveiled plans for a pilot program that will test whether or not 850 North Carolina homes can collectively produce the energy of a small solar power plant. While the panels will only be placed on 850 roofs, it is estimated that they will actually produce 16 megawatts
Will Your Roof Soon Be Part of a Solar Power Plant? Read More 👉
The Phoenix Suns NBA basketball team has announced that they will be installing 1,125 solar panels on their parking garage to help power their arena. The clean energy project will cost about $1.5 million and will reportedly not increase ticket prices for fans. The 194 kilowatt solar power system will provide an equivalent amount of
No Gimmick: The Phoenix Suns Will Use Solar Power for Energy Read More 👉
A new study in the journal BMC Ecology indicates that coastal wolves in British Columbia switch to eating salmon in the fall as a primary food source, rather than deer. Scientists arrived at this conclusion after analyzing wolf poop they collected over a four year span. Among the thousands of stools that were collected by
Scientists Use Poop to Learn that Salmon is Just as Tasty to Wolves as Deer Read More 👉
Everglades National Park has obtained approval to proceed with a plan to redesign the most developed area of the park with an emphasis on promoting sustainability. Through building design, alternative energy, and improved transportation systems, the park area known as “Flamingo” will be reborn as an example for other parks to follow. Flamingo is near
Everglades National Park Approves Ambitious $23 Million Plan for Eco-Friendly Lodge Read More 👉
Probably you missed it, but last week there was a fascinating interview on the NPR program Talk of the Nation. The segment featured a scientist named David Goldberg, who answered questions about his research concerning the plausibility of storing massive amounts of carbon dioxide in basalt formations deep below the earth’s oceans. In a paper
When you were younger, did you ever own an ant farm? I’m still begging my wife to get me a glow-in-the-dark one that we saw several years ago in a science center gift shop. Ok, begging might be a little bit of an exaggeration, but I’d still like the novelty gift. In any case, when
Turkish Man Believes His Ant Farms Can Predict Earthquakes Read More 👉
Tomorrow my family is planning to make a trip to the zoo. I like zoos, but there are some things about them that always get my mind racing through ethical questions about animals and the nature of people. I find that zoos tend to reliably provoke more thoughts in my mind than other places that
Why Zoos Stimulate Our Minds Read More 👉
Earlier this week, several media outlets chose to dip their hands into the sensationalist journalism cookie jar a second time, and for all of the wrong reasons. About a month ago, an exciting story broke about how photographs of an uncontacted tribe living near the Brazil-Peru border had been taken for the first time. Now
Media Loses Credibility By Calling Uncontacted Tribe Story "A Hoax" Read More 👉
Several weeks ago, almost every major press outlet picked up the story of the photographs taken of an uncontacted tribe in the Amazon rainforest near the border between Brazil and Peru. Unfortunately, it seems that fewer members of the media have chosen to keep following the story.
Before I write anything else, I want to unequivocally explain that I think natural disasters are terrible. They cause countless deaths and incredible human suffering. With that being understood, I often find myself believing that things happen in nature for a reason, and so I started to ponder what some of the good aspects to
The Upside to Natural Disasters Read More 👉
Many of us have been there at one time or another: working in an office or room with empty, white walls. It can make you want to a) either hang something on the walls or b) blow your brains out. Of course, this is assuming that the environment you are in has an effect on
Approximately 1 million people paid for tickets to go on whale watching cruises off the coast of Massachusetts and Maine in 2006. These sales generated around $21 million dollars for the companies who operate the boats: no small change. While the public might have been enjoying the experience of seeing and learning more about endangered
Scientists Use GPS to Spy on Whale Watch Tours, Uncover Ugly Secret Read More 👉
Note: This is second part of a two-part series. The first part ended by asking: “just what is the ‘intended effect’ of Inherit the Wind? The play, as the one professor suggested, is trying to get people to think. It specifically wants them to think about and consider the possibilities of evolution and creationism, even
Does Reading "Inherit the Wind" Really Help Students Learn about Evolution (Part 2) Read More 👉
Note: This is Part 1 of a two part series. Click here to go to Part 2. Occasionally I receive emails from publishers who are advertising a new academic journal that they think “will be a good match for my interests.” How kind of them to think of me. In one of these recent emails,
Does Reading "Inherit the Wind" Really Help Students Learn about Evolution? (Part 1) Read More 👉
There is a person who’s columns I regularly read, because I often find it fun to disagree with him. This person is George Will, conservative commentator and phony-baloney. I call him a phony-baloney, because it seems to fit with the old-fashioned bow tie he sometimes chooses to wear on television programs like Sunday’s political talk
Calling Out Phony-Baloney George Will Read More 👉