Category: Science
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
A 2,000 acre organic farm in central Oregon is facing what could be a be an existential threat to its operations after county weed control authorities sent notice mandating that the farm use chemical herbicides, such as Roundup, to eradicate weed growth.
The mandate would bring to an end nearly 18 years of organic farming, placing a significant loss of organic food to the public.
Azure Farms is a certified organic farm located in Moro, Sherman County, Oregon. The farm produces almost all the organic wheat, field peas, barley, Einkorn, and beef for Azure Standard.
Sherman County could issue a court order on May 22, 2017 to quarantine Azure Farms and possibly to spray the entire farm with poisonous herbicides contaminating them with Milestone, Escort, and Roundup.
Such a unilateral action on the behalf of the few individuals representing county government could set a precedent in damaging perhaps one of the few remaining healthy alternatives to mass-market agribusinesses.
Continue reading “Oregon County Mandates 2,000 Acre Organic Farm Sprayed With Chemical Herbicides”
At first I thought it was really gross that people in South Korea were wiping out river rats for food. Then I found out that the rats are being sought for their bile. With bear bile in the short supply due to the overhunting of bears and new national protections, Koreans are turning to river rats as a source of ursodeoxycholic acid. Rats have an even greater amount of the acid than bears.
Continue reading “South Koreans Hunting River Rats As A Source Of Bile For Traditional Medicine”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
We have now another novel example concerning the use of seemingly private data being used against criminal defendants and potentially in the future other members of the public.
A Middletown, Ohio homeowner is accused in the arson of his own home, reportedly causing four hundred thousand dollars in damage and the loss of a personal pet. Arson investigators became suspicious about the cause of the fire from inconsistent statements made along with finding multiple origins of the fire. Police retrieved the recording of the 9-1-1 call the defendant made reporting the conflagration. During this he made mention of having an “artificial heart.” But what probably seemed ordinary for the defendant led to a trove of information used as incriminating data.
His pacemaker telemetry data became a source of incriminating evidence.
Continue reading “Pacemaker Data Used To Charge Alleged Arsonist”
I thought some of the viewers might be interested in this fascinating, if not hypnotic, video of a balloon falling on a bed of nails and explaining why it does not burst.
There is a hopeful report out this week that the cost of solar energy has dropped so dramatically that it is not cheaper than wind power in emerging markets like China and India. Indeed, Popular Mechanics is now calling solar energy the “cheapest energy” option. In Chile, electricity is being produced by solar power for $29.10 per megawatt hour–half the price of power produced by coal. These countries are seeing the benefits in the investment into alternative energy sources in both cost and the environment. The pledge of the Trump Administration to expand drilling and “clean coal” use runs against the trend in other countries.
Continue reading “Cost of Solar Power Dropping Globally As “The World’s Cheapest Energy””
Germany has introduced the hydrogen-based Coradia iLint which will be the world’s first zero-emission passenger train. It will only release steam and represents another towering victory for the Germans in reducing pollution and fighting climate change.
Continue reading “Not Your Grandfather’s Steam Engine: Germany Introduces The Coradia iLint”
In a discovery that should have been the lead story on most networks this week, scientists at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee have discovered an incredible chemical reaction that not only turns CO2 into ethanol but does so with few contaminants and using common materials. It could prove a critical means for combatting climate change. For those who resist new pollution curbs, this type of technology is the type of advance that should warrant bipartisan support.
Continue reading “Discovery: C02 Can Be Turned Into Ethanol Using Common Materials”
There is a fascinating study out this week where scientists at the University of Sydney in Australia have found that Tasmanian devil milk contains a remarkable collection of antimicrobial compounds. These compounds can kill some of the most deadly bacterial and fungal infections known to science including golden staph. While I would not want the job of milking Tasmanian devils down under at the farm, scientists are hopefully isolating these powerful compounds.
Continue reading “Study: Tasmanian Devil Milk Found To Kill Drug-Resistant Infections”
It is good to see, after hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars and thousands of U.S. lives, Iraq is in stable governmental hands. We have previously discussed the rampant corruption in the Iraqi government where billions of our aid has simply disappeared. However, there is also the problem of sheer lunacy. That would be the problem with Kazem Finjan, Iraq’s Transport Minister, who has claimed that the ancient Sumerians travelled to Pluto in spaceships thousands of years ago. It appears that Finjan was not content with the claim of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan that Muslims discovered America. He had to go beyond the Earth to the farthest reaches of the solar system. Continue reading “Space Cadet: Iraqi Transport Minister Proclaims That Sumerians Traveled To Pluto Thousands of Years Ago”
The World Health Organization has released the latest global report on air pollution and it is highly disturbing. Nine out of 10 people worldwide now live in places where air pollution exceeds health standards and face higher risk of heart disease, strokes and cancer.
Continue reading “WHO Study: 9 Out of 10 People Live In Unhealthy Polluted Environments”
I will testify this morning before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology on the controversy over dueling state and federal investigations involving the climate change debate. After various state attorneys general announced investigations of Exxon Company over its opposition to climate change theories (including subpoenas either to or concerning conservation public interest groups), the Committee issued its own subpoenas to the prosecutors and environmental public interest groups involved in the campaign. That has triggered a confrontation as the prosecutors and environmental groups raised constitutional objections to the House subpoenas. The full committee hearing will start at 10 am in 2318 Rayburn House Office Building.
Continue reading “TURLEY TESTIFIES IN HOUSE SCIENCE COMMITTEE ON CLIMATE CHANGE CONTROVERSY”
In another disgraceful move related to environmental damage, the Australian government has stripped out any reference to the Great Barrier Reef, the Northern Territory’s glorious Kakadu national park and Tasmania’s forests in a report on climate change. Equally disgraceful was the willingness of Unesco to knuckle under to any country that objected to such references in the report entitled “Destinations at Risk: World Heritage and Tourism in a Changing Climate.” The massive “bleaching” of the Great Barrier Reef has horrified people around the world as we watch the loss of this natural wonder to climate change and poor governmental policies, as we previously discussed.
Continue reading “Problem Solved? Australia Succeeds In Stripping All References To The Great Barrier Reef From Climate Change Report”
Adidas, the German maker of sportswear and equipment, is moving back to Germany after shifting its operations to Asia for cheap labor. However, wages are increasing even in Asia so Adidas has found workers even cheaper: robots. Adidas will be making shoes again in Germany by 2017 but will employ relatively few actual Germans.
We have been discussing the scourge of graffiti and destruction by vandals in our national parks. The lack of deterrence was vividly shown by the laughable fine given to actress Vanessa Hudgens for defacing a rock wall. An exception to this dismal enforcement may be the case of three men who were caught on video drunkenly vandalizing Death Valley National Park and possibly causing the death of an endangered Devils Hole pupfish. Steven Schwinkendorf, Edgar Reyes and Trenton Sargent are all facing felony charges including killing of an endangered species, destruction of habitat, trespassing, and destruction of property. One is charged with the crime of an ex-felon possessing a firearm.