May 6, 2007, 4:46 PM CT

Creating corn for cars

A new variety of corn developed and patented by Michigan State University researchers could turn corn leaves and stalks into products that are just as valuable as the golden kernels.

Right now, most U.S. ethanol is made from corn kernels. This is because breaking down the cellulose in corn leaves and stalks into sugars that can be fermented into ethanol is difficult and expensive.

"We've developed two generations of Spartan Corn," said Mariam Sticklen, MSU professor of crop and soil sciences. "Both corn varieties contain the enzymes necessary to break down cellulose and hemicellulose into simple sugars in their leaves. This will allow for more cost-effective, efficient production of ethanol".

Sticklen will co-chair a panel on energy crops for biofuels today at BIO2007, the annual international convention of the Biotechnology Industry Organization.

"In the future, corn growers will be able to sell their corn stalks and leaves as well as their corn grain for ethanol production," Sticklen said. "What is now a waste product will become an economically viable commodity"......... Posted by: Kevin      Read more         Source

April 21, 2007, 7:21 AM CT

Herring In Our Midst

Where car tires and factory refuse once rooted to its banks and flowed down its channel, new life has delicately reclaimed the Bronx River. The New York waterway is now home to alewife herring, night herons and egrets, and even a lone beaver. The return of native wildlife is proof of the river's improving health, and a testimony to community restoration efforts by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Bronx River Alliance, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation's Natural Resource Group, and Lehman College.

In order to find their way back to their historic home, some of these wildlife residents needed a little encouragement- and in the case of the herring, transit assistance. Last year, 200 of the silvery fish were ferried overland by truck from their birthplace in Connecticut to the riverfront of the Bronx Zoo. The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection Inland Fisheries Division donated the truck, labor, and the aquatic pioneers themselves. The herring were released into their native home with great fanfare, the first net lowered to the water by Congressman Jose E. Serrano. Serrano's support of the restoration project has been integral to its success, and resulted in a federal partnership grant to WCS from NOAA, the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The 2006 release turned out to be highly successful, with the fish taking immediately to their new home. The herring spawned, producing the first official generation of Bronx alewives in more than 300 years, since the river was dammed for local industry. The flourmills that sprouted along the riverbanks in the 1600s blocked access to the fish's spawning grounds, and they vanished from the river. Last fall, the reintroduced herring's offspring were observed swimming downstream, presumably on their way to sea. (Like salmon, river herring hatch in freshwater and swim out to sea, returning as adults to their birthplace to spawn.) They are expected to return to the Bronx River in 2009, following a three to five year maturation period in the Long Island Sound and other coastal waters......... Posted by: Ashley      Read more         Source

April 21, 2007, 7:18 AM CT

When Nature Calls

The Bronx Zoo's newest exhibit requests a small contribution from its visitors upon entering. Your donation will support water conservation, help flowers grow, and provide healthy meals for red worms, fungi, and bacteria. And it doesn't take much.....just a little of your "liquid assets"!

Surrounded by sun, water, and soil, the Bronx Zoo eco-restrooms, located near the Bronxdale gate, are no typical New York City public facility. Cartoon animals that praise the "power of poop" adorn the stalls and walls of the skylit lavatory. But the graphics, from the children's book The Truth about Poop by Susan Goodman and illustrated by Elwood Smith, are more than silly scatological humor. They're also practical, offering advice on conserving resources at home and even providing a recipe for a homemade drain cleaner that won't harm wildlife.

The restrooms were created both as a conservation measure, as well as a reminder of our intimate connection with the Earth. Just as what goes into the body must come back out, what is taken from the environment must be put back in. At the new restrooms, zoo-goers' waste is not wasted; instead of entering the sewer system, your contributions-together with those of 500,000 yearly visitors-are flushed into a composting tank below the building. Microorganisms and other critters at the bottom of the food chain eat through the compost tank habitat, transforming its contents into fertilizer. Meanwhile, excess water from the sinks irrigates the gray water garden just outside, where the plants will naturally filter it......... Posted by: Ashley      Read more         Source

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 03:48:49 GMT

Paper Envelopes and Notebooks Made from Apples!

From the juice and fruit industries, apples got yet another new place — the paper industry! Yes, an Italian inventor Alberto created a type of paper made from apples. He has also expanded the fruits usage in making other office products as well.

Alberto has not just supplied regional offices with 60,000 apple-made envelopes and 7,000 apple paper-made notepads, but also diversified his apple products including the manufacture of glue as well as leather goods, the Italian news agency ANSA said.

Luis Durnwalder the local governor of the Alto Adige said,

This recycling will have a significant industrial and environmental impact.

According to ANSA, the Alto Adige region is currently the largest apple producer in all of Europe distributing its natural products to both the domestic and foreign market. Posted by: Irani      Read more     Source

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 03:46:02 GMT

Trust to Help Mend Gas Leaks That Choke 1000s of Trees to Death

The natural gas leaks might be harmless to people, but not that kind with the trees. They can kill the public shade trees by choking off the oxygen at their roots. And this is happening to thousands of trees in and around Boston.

But, the gas companies seem to be least intfixing it before its too late its not harming, rather devastating humans after all! Bob Ackley informs on the prevailing problem after spending 25 years testing natural gas lines for leaks.

Ackley said,

We can’t be losing these trees. Every tree that we lose that’s 60, 70, 80 years old, it’s going to take 60, 70 years to replace.

Gas company representatives justifies their reluctance to repair the problem saying that leaks are widespread and federal regulations require them to detect and repair leaks annually. According to them, these tree-killing leaks are not that big a problem.

As a remedy, a new trust will be open at no cost to any of the state’s 260 communities having natural gas lines. And, once a community joins the trust, it will be cataloging any trees that are damaged by natural gas leaks.

The trust will then try to negotiate damage payments with gas companies. To boost Ackleys spirit, Marshfield became the first community to join earlier this month.

Photo credit: AP/Massachusetts Public Shade Tree Trust, Bob Ackley Posted by: Irani      Read more     Source

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 03:02:56 GMT

What's the buzz? Tell me what's a-happening.

The suggebusiness mantras have already begun to pour in and I muentry from Buzzdoodler Ron McDaniel puts me in mitune from Jesus Christ Superstar.

To understand why buzz is important to the bootstrapper sometimes it helps to compare and contrast the buzz factor of the little start-up with that of the well established firm having money to burn but little or no passion for the product among its employees.

The example I most often give is from my early days at a mid-sized northeastern Pennsylvania newspaper.

As head of a recently established bureau office in a highly competitive fringe market, I was driving past a local volunteer fire company when I noticed vending machine for two of our competitors out front but a conspicuous absence of our own paper in that part of town.

Returning to my office, I immediately phoned our circulation manager to ask how soon he could drop a box in the spot.

"They'd only steal it," a disheartened voice replied.

What advantage do small bootstrap entrepreneurs have over huge established companies?

Passion for their product and a hunger to attack every opportunity.

Without these qualities, a business will never succeed, no matter how well funded. Posted by: Shawn Hessinger      Read more     Source

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 02:49:56 GMT

American Crocodile Is An Endangered Species

It was in 1975, the American crocodile was listed as a federally endangered species, as was on the brink of disappearing from South Florida the only U.S. habitat of the reptile. The population was estimated at just about 300, by 1976.
presently, scientists estimate the American crocodiles count in Florida to be 2,000! And eventually, it was on Tuesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declassified the rebounding reptile as an endangered species.

Though the reptile was downgraded to a “threatened” species, it remains protected under the federal Endangered Species Act protecting it from harassment, poaching or killing legally.

Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Tom MacKenzie said,

It’s just one step closer to recovery, but it still has many, many threats. It’s still protected with the full force of federal law.

According to Florida officials, there are more than 1 million wild alligators in the state, as estimated last year. Posted by: Irani      Read more     Source

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 00:56:34 GMT

Artificial Photosynthesis Using Graphitic Carbon Nitride

In tphotosynthesis, the plants simply grab carbon dioxide out of the air converting it into biomass. But, now chemists an important step towards using CO2 as a carbon source for their synthetic reactions.

Thanks to a team headed by Markus Antonietti at the Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces for successfully activating CO2 for use in a chemical reaction. For this, they are using a special new type of metal-free catalyst — graphitic carbon nitride.

Exlaining it, chemists Goettmann, Thomas and Antonietti said,

Chemical activation of carbon dioxide, meaning its cleavage in a chemical reaction, is one of the biggest challenges in synthetic chemistry.

Antonietti hopes,

This could make novel, previously unknown chemistry of CO2 accessible. It may even be the first step in artificial photosynthesis. Posted by: Irani      Read more     Source

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 03:45:00 GMT

New Snapper Species Discovered

Scientists have yet spotted a new species among the reefs of the South Atlantic Oceans Abrolhos region. Initially, the new species was mistaken as a popular game fish — a dog snapper.

The new study that spotted it reveals that the new species completes its life cycle in different marine habitats, which are interdependent like coral reefs and mangroves.

Rodrigo Moura of Conservation International (CI) and Kenyon Lindeman of Environmental Defense said,

This discovery that a large, popular fish is a species new to science shows how little we know about the oceans that surround us. It looks like other snapper species found in the Caribbean and eastern United States, as well as the dog snapper caught by fishermen here in Brazil, but it is a distinct species with different markings and color.

Including the new discovery, twelve species of the family Lutjanidae are now identified in the western Atlantic Ocean. Posted by: Irani      Read more     Source

March 12, 2007, 9:14 PM CT

Disease opened door to invading species

Plant and animal diseases can play a major and poorly appreciated role in allowing the invasion of exotic species, which in turn often threatens biodiversity, ecological function and the world economy, researchers say in a new report.

In particular, a plant pathogen appears to have opened the gate for the successful invasion of non-native grasses into much of California, one of the world's largest documented cases of invading species and one that dramatically changed the history and ecology of a vast grassland ecosystem.

The study, published recently in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a professional journal, should improve the understanding of invasive species and possibly suggest new tools to combat them, said researchers at Oregon State University.

"Even if we can't control all the diseases that help species invade, at least now we know to consider diseases when studying invasion," said Elizabeth Borer, an assistant professor of zoology at OSU. "In analyzing the ecology of exotic plant or animal species, it's clear that diseases are one part of the equation".

About 50,000 exotic species have been introduced into the United States, and the havoc they wreak upon agricultural crops, wildlife, ranch animals, forests and grasslands costs about $137 billion a year, scientists say. Invading species are also responsible for about half of all native species that go extinct, studies show......... Posted by: Ashley      Read more         Source