When politicians and environmentalists debate global warming emissions, man-made carbon dioxide emissions is usually the top item on their list. But what if one of the biggest culprits of global warming was... cow farts? We're not kidding. The slow digestive system of cows makes them a major producer of the atmosphere unfriendly gas methane.



According to Brittan's Telegraph.co.uk, Argentine researchers are strapping plastic tanks on the backs of cattle to better "understand the impact of the wind produced by cows on global warming."

What have they discovered so far? Methane from Argentina's 55 million cows accounts for over 30% of the country's total greenhouse emissions. And methane is 23 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.

As a result of these studies, scientists are already investigating alternate diets for cattle that won't make them as gassy.

That's one way to help knock the wind out of global warming.


methodshop

Labels: environment

Apparently the recent surge in gasoline prices has made many Americans rethink their transportation habits.

According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, "sales at Segway Inc. have risen to an all-time high," and CEO Jim Norrod says "he expects sales this quarter to jump 50% from a year earlier, versus a 25% year-over-year increase in the first quarter."

Where are these new Segway sales coming from? Several Colleges and Universities including New York's Syracuse University and the University of Kansas are saving gas money by purchasing Segways for their campus police. And the next time you get a parking ticket in Aurora, Ill. (you were planning on getting a ticket there right?), it will probably be by a parking enforcement officer on a Segway.

And that leads us to this photo of Mathew Mitnitsky and his pizza delivery Segway. Matthew owns Nonni's Italian Eatery in Concord, N.H. To help cut back on both gasoline and insurance costs, he customized a Segway and added a pizza box tray.

So are Segways cool again? No. But that won't stop some people from trying to fix the Segway's "geek" status. And people like the Lazy Segway Mom [pic] definitely don't help.




methodshop

Labels: environment, tech news

A dolphin has come to the rescue of two whales which had become stranded on a beach in New Zealand.
Conservation officer Malcolm Smith told the BBC that he and a group of other people had tried in vain for an hour and a half to get the whales to sea.

The pygmy sperm whales had repeatedly beached, and both they and the humans were tired and set to give up, he said.

But then the dolphin appeared, communicated with the whales, and led them to safety.

The bottlenose dolphin, called Moko by local residents, is well known for playing with swimmers off Mahia beach on the east coast of the North Island.

Mr Smith said that just when his team was flagging, the dolphin showed up and made straight for them.

"I don't speak whale and I don't speak dolphin," Mr Smith told the BBC, "but there was obviously something that went on because the two whales changed their attitude from being quite distressed to following the dolphin quite willingly and directly along the beach and straight out to sea."

He added: "The dolphin did what we had failed to do. It was all over in a matter of minutes."

Mr Smith said he felt fortunate to have witnessed the extraordinary event, and was delighted for the whales, as in the past he has had to put down animals which have become beached.

He said that the whales have not been seen since, but that the dolphin had returned to its usual practice of playing with swimmers in the bay.

"I shouldn't do this I know, we are meant to remain scientific," Mr Smith said, "but I actually went into the water with the dolphin and gave it a pat afterwards because she really did save the day."

[Read More: BBC]

Labels: environment

Recycle, schmecycle. These days, saving the Earth requires a lot more than just collecting cans.


1. Build Your House Out of Tires
Two decades ago, architect Michael Reynolds realized that a tree-hugging utopia would never be possible if homes weren’t inexpensive, easy to build, and environmentally friendly. His solution? The Earthship.




Earthships are built out of used tires that have been packed with dirt and then stacked in a brick-style pattern. Construction is almost obscenely simple, though time-consuming. It can take as long as half an hour to properly pack each tire. But what you lose in free time, you make up for in energy savings. Earthship walls absorb heat quickly and release it slowly, allowing the houses to maintain a natural temperature of around 60 degrees. They also use filtration systems to collect and recycle water so that, even in desert conditions, it doesn’t need to be pumped in.



While living in an Earthship may take more work than living in a split-level in the suburbs, the eco-friendly homes have become surprisingly popular. Several Earthship subdivisions have opened up in the past few years, including the Greater World Earthship Community near Taos, New Mexico, which was founded in 1994. Greater World residents build their own homes and, in an interesting twist on subdivision bylaws, are expressly forbidden from hooking up to public utilities or digging wells on their land. Here are photos of a few Greater World Earthships:

2. Fight Oil Spills with Mushrooms
In the war against ocean pollution, environmentalists have a new ally in mushrooms. As nature’s morticians, mushrooms have the unique ability to take dead things and make them pretty again by turning decomposed matter into nutrients. In fact, they’re so adept at tearing down and rebuilding chemical compounds that even oil spills are no match for their natural abilities.



In November 2007, when an oil tanker sprang a leak in San Francisco Bay, 58,000 gallons of oil seeped into the water and beaches. A group of local activists decided to take the cleanup into their own hands, using a technique originally developed to dispose of used motor oil. They headed for the shore and laid out mats made of human hair that were covered in oyster mushrooms. The hair quickly soaked up all the oil, while the mushrooms digested the dangerous chemicals. Within 12 weeks, only harmless compost remained. Although technically illegal (the EPA and the Coast Guard prefer leaving toxic waste to trained cleaning squads), the hair-and-mushroom technique was a success. Actually, the process is so simple and cost-effective that grassroots organizations and local governments are encouraging federal officials to use it as a way to clean up contaminated soil on old factory sites and hurricane-damaged areas of New Orleans.

3. Dumpster-Dive for Dinner


Once upon a time, environmental idealists could make a statement simply by giving up steak. But today the ante has been upped. And freeganism has answered the call.

As the name suggests, freeganism is an off-shoot of veganism, meaning that most practitioners avoid all products made from animals. But the “free” part refers to how freegans get their victuals. Method No. 1? Digging through the dumpster.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans pitch 245 million tons of waste a year, much of which is salvageable. In addition to unfashionable furniture and clothes, plenty of edible food ends up in the garbage. According to unofficial freegan spokesman Adam Weissman, that waste is directly tied to capitalism, which freegans see as an oppressive economic system. To avoid contributing to it, they become scavengers—collecting the vast majority of what they eat, wear, and use from other people’s garbage. Often, these “urban foragers” will meet in designated locations at designated times to rummage together in a group, typically focusing on dumpsters behind retailers, offices, schools, and other places of high-volume disposal.



[Check it Out: MentalFloss]

methodshop

Labels: environment

Joao Diego Schimansky, a student at Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Parana in Brazil, is one of eight finalists in the Electrolux Design Lab 2007 annual global competition. Schimansky designed a concept called "Fog Shower", a showerhead that consumes much less water than conventional showerheads. Conventional shower heads consume 26 liters of water for a five minute shower. By creating a fog of microscopic water droplets, the Fog Shower consumes only 2 liters of water for a 5 minute shower.



Schimansky believes that his eco-design manages to provide comfort and convenience while reducing negative impact on the environment. He points out that the Fog Shower is different than existing devices, which have to compensate for the inconvenience of the reduced water flow by increasing the water flow's aeration.

The Fog Shower can utilize renewable energy sources, such as solar or wind power. In addition, the device saves energy simply because less water needs to be heated.


Read More: tfot.info | digg story | methodshop

Labels: environment

The band takes center stage, the fans surge forward and the sheer power of the crowd’s excitement amplifies the sound of their favorite songs - providing enough energy, in fact, to move a train.

It could happen in the Crowd Farm, a conceptual design by two graduate students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that seeks to milk the mechanical movement of hundreds or thousands of assembled people to produce electrical power.



In principal, a large-scale version of the setup could harness the collective energy of commuters bustling toward subway stations, shoppers marching through mega malls or fans dancing at a rock concert. Already, the students have shown how the simple act of sitting on a stool can generate enough power to turn on four LED lights.

The Crowd Farm team takes inspiration from an old anecdote about Thomas Edison and a simple but effective turnstile.

When visitors toured Edison’s summer property, the inventor allegedly asked them to pass through a peculiar turnstile. In response to their bemused queries, Edison would tell them good-naturedly that they had just helped him pump several gallons of water from his well into his storage tank.


Read More: msnbc.com

Labels: environment

As part of TODAY’s historic broadcast from the “Ends of the Earth,” exploring the extraordinary diversity of life on the planet and the limits of human exploration, anchor Ann Curry traveled to the very bottom of the globe, Antarctica, broadcasting from such extreme locations as the McMurdo Research Station. Her team's ultimate goal: the South Pole.

Twelve thousand miles away from Matt Lauer, who was reporting live from the North Pole Monday, Curry proudly announced it was the first time NBC News was reporting live from Antarctica, calling it a stunningly beautiful continent.

Antarctica, which is one and a half times the size of the U.S. is often called the coldest, driest, windiest place on earth. With 90 percent of the world's ice, it is the planet's cooling system regulating temperatures worldwide. The coldest temperature ever recorded on earth was in Antarctica at minus 128 degrees Fahrenheit.

Read On:TodayShow.com
Click Here to Check out Ann's Photos!!

BeSocial: digg story methodshop

Labels: environment, tv