Tag Archives: earth

Designers Rise to Meet the Earth Award’s Aspirational Challenge

From photosynthetic foam to sustainable shells, Kuala Lumpur-inspired sunglasses to butterfly houses, the 2010 Earth Awards honored the most innovative ideas for building a new economy. Setting an aspiration challenge—really more of a goal—for designers, the Earth Awards called on these innovato… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Designers Rise to Meet the Earth Award’s Aspirational Challenge

Researchers Cut 600,000 Names From Global Plant List

Photo via ~jjjohn~ You like to-may-toes and I like to-mah-toes Up until recently, botanists believed that there to be over one million types of flowering plants on Earth, but now about 600 thousand of those species my soon be cut from the list — but extinction’s not to blame this time. It turns out that after decades of cataloging plants from around the world, there… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Researchers Cut 600,000 Names From Global Plant List

A Mysterious Force Is Pulling Pioneer 10 Back Toward the Sun

I kind of dig space—especially the unexplained—so today I'm in a bit of a tizzy. Pioneer 10, you see—which left our solar system in 1983—is slowly being drawn back toward the Sun by an unknown force. No, it's not gravity, it's something else. Something mysterious. Something barely perceptible that is tugging at the probe with about 10 million times weaker force than gravity. Potentially a “new force of nature” (their words, not mine). Most of the obvious causes, including malfunction or gravity, have been ruled out, reports the Telegraph: Scientists initially suspected that gas escaping from tiny rocket motors aboard the probes, or heat leaking from their nuclear power plants might be responsible. Both have now been ruled out. The team says no current theories explain why the force stays constant: all the most plausible forces, from gravity to the effect of solar radiation, decrease rapidly with distance. Scientists tracking the distant probe (now some seven billion miles from Earth), say that the probe's speed, presently 27,000mph, is being reduced by the force by about 6mph per century. Not much, but entirely noticeable and worthy enough that scientists like Dr. Duncan Steel, of Salford University, who is speculating this cosmic tug could question whether we know enough about gravity, the universe, and everything. http://gizmodo.com/5642007/a-mysterious-force-is-pulling-pioneer-10-back-toward-… added by: pjacobs51

Lady Gaga Judges No One…Except the U.S. Military

Is there no end to the many talents of Lady Gaga, already recognized as the greatest Madonna impersonator of this century? Of course we all know her as a singer, musician, fashionista and female impersonator, but recently she has revealed herself as maven in two new areas: military expert and political advisor. It started at the MTV Video Music Awards. That is ironic in itself since I think that MTV stopped being a music channel sometime in the 1990’s. Ms. Gaga, (I don’t know if “Lady” is a title or simply the first part of her pseudonym) appeared in a costume made of meat. When asked the meaning of her get-up by Ellen DeGeneres, she explained it wasn’t a slam on vegans.   “As you know, I am the most judgment-free human being on the earth,” Gaga replied.   Wow! Did the irony of that statement knock anyone else down into their La-Z-Boy? That might be the truest thing she has ever said. It wasn’t too long ago that having judgment skills was considered a plus. Not anymore! Be that as it may, the whole idea was to call attention to the plight of gay folks in the military. If you don’t see the linkage between “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” narcissistic self- indulgence and wearing a Porterhouse, come on over and sit on the terminally un-hip bench with me while I try to figure it out.  Ms. Gaga went on to explain that her being accompanied by some disgruntled former employees of the military was a political protest: “For me this evening, if we don’t stand up for what we believe in and if we don’t fight for our rights pretty soon, we’re going to have as much rights as the meat on own bones. And, I am not a piece of meat.” I am not really sure what that means, either. I am a fairly hefty guy and I have a lot of meat on my bones. So are my rights safe? Perhaps Ms. Gaga is trying to tell us that DADT is somehow linked to anorexia in the fashion industry. Ahhh, now it’s all starting to come together. She went on to say: “It is a devastation to me that I know my fans who are gay . . . feel like they have government oppression on them.” Not that there “is” government oppression but that they “feel” there is oppression. Later she “tweeted” to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the Senator was smitten with Lady Gaga. They tweeted back and forth for days! That is, if you think they do their own “tweeting.” I believe that both have people who do this job for them and the job title is “Twit.”  There is probably a Head Twit and several Assistant Twits. I imagine Lady Gaga and Harry Reid are surrounded by Twits. Perhaps he is just looking for his next gig when he finds himself unemployed in November. Crossposted at Big Hollywood  

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Lady Gaga Judges No One…Except the U.S. Military

New York Green Fashion Week: Ashton Michael Black Label Shows Asexual and Seasonless Clothing (Slideshow)

Ashton Michael Black Label at New York Green Fashion Week. Credit: Emma Grady For anyone in a loving relationship, Ashton Michael Black Label ‘s spring 2011 collection is not for you: inspired by English rocker Morrissey and “broken relationships,” the distressed knits and bondage-esque clothing is asexual, with a rock n’ roll aesthetic. Click through for photos of the seasonless collection, and hear more from designer Ashton Hirota, who says, “saving Mother Earth can still be rock n’ roll.”

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New York Green Fashion Week: Ashton Michael Black Label Shows Asexual and Seasonless Clothing (Slideshow)

BBC Show Claims Home Working Produces More CO2 Than Going To Office

A home office setup in New York We just take it for granted at TreeHugger that working from home saves a huge amount of energy and is great for the environment. But Alex Johnson of Shedworking points us to Costing the Earth , a BBC radio show that claims otherwise, saying “a recent study by independent consultants WSP Environmental found that home workers typically produce almost a third more CO2 in a year than employees based in the office.” It is interesting listening, especially when Alex come… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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BBC Show Claims Home Working Produces More CO2 Than Going To Office

Man Claims Watching ‘Recycled News Shows on MSNBC’ Caused Him to Threaten Congresswoman

Can watching too much MSNBC affect a person to the extent that he acts in a completely irrational manner? According to a Tampa Tribune story , a Florida man convicted of threatening death upon a congresswoman for her opposition to ObamaCare believes the answer would be yes: TAMPA – A Spring Hill man who threatened U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite during the health care debate will spend more than two years in federal prison. Eric Lawrence Pidrman, 66, claims he was in an alcoholic blackout when he telephoned Brown-Waite’s office about 6:30 a.m. on March 25 and left a message saying he had 27 people who would make sure she “doesn’t live to see her next term.” “I’m terribly sorry that it ever happened,” Pidrman said this morning before he was sentenced. At the time of the morning he made the call, he said, “I very often watch the recycled news shows on MSNBC.” When agents questioned Pidrman in April, he said he was upset about threats reportedly made against Democrats during the health care debate. He said he probably thought, “Let me scare one of those righties.” “Righties.” And who frequently uses that term? I’ll give you a hint. It was the MSNBC host who recently made this “scorching” threat : “I’m going to torch this f***ing place!” he screamed during a meeting in the MSNBC newsroom according to the New York Post . “F***ers!” he added for good measure. Compare that irrational MSNBC host threat to the irrational threat left by Pidrman on the answering machine of the congresswoman: “Just wanna let you know I have 27 people that are going to make sure that this ***** does not live to see her next term.” Readers of this story have noted that there are not all that many degrees of separation between Erik Lawrence Pidrman and Keith Olbermann or…Ed Schultz: He’s right if i watched all the recycled news on MSNBC i might go nuts too. A looney leftnut was inspired by MSNBC to threaten conservatives for voicing their opinion. And this is news??? Here is just another example of where the threats and violence comes from. Not the teaparty folk etc. The union supported leftists have always been the violent ones. This guy is just typical of them. MSNBC is all I needed as they are all leftists. The big question now is if trial lawyers will begin using the “MSNBC defense” as an excuse for their clients’ threats against conservatives. 

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Man Claims Watching ‘Recycled News Shows on MSNBC’ Caused Him to Threaten Congresswoman

D.C. ABC Reporter Doug McKelway Fired for Argument Over Anti-Obama, Anti-Greenpeace Bias

The Washington Post reported Friday that WJLA-TV, the local D.C. area affiliate of ABC, has fired longtime anchorman Doug McKelway for “insubordination and misconduct” after (or during?) an April report on left-wing oil spill protesters (video here ): In his piece, McKelway said the sparsely attended event attracted protesters “largely representing far-left environmental groups.” [He cited Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth.] He went on to say the protest “may be a risky strategy because the one man who has more campaign contributions from BP than anybody else in history is now sitting in the Oval Office, President Barack Obama, who accepted $77,051 in campaign contributions from BP.” After a brief taped segment updating efforts to cap the BP well, McKelway added that the Senate was unlikely to pass “cap-and-trade” legislation this year, because “the Democrats are looking at the potential for huge losses in Congress come the midterm elections. And the last thing they want to do is propose a huge escalation in your electric bill, your utility bill, before then.” [Station manager and news director Bill] Lord took exception to McKelway’s reporting and asked to meet with him, according to several station sources who were granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive personnel matter. A shouting match between the two men ensued, leading to McKelway’s suspension, sources said. McKelway has alleged liberal favoritism in news reporting before; when he left his anchor chair at WRC after nine years to join WJLA in mid-2001, he blasted the station’s lack of “balance,” in a newspaper article. WJLA is owned by Allbritton Communications, which is also the owner of the liberal Politico website (and newspaper). Aside from whatever words McKelway and Lord had, it’s quite clear that McKelway was summoned for a scolding over conservative bias. Allbritton apparently expects all of its reporters to toe an Obama-friendly, Greenpeace-friendly line. Earlier: Liberal bosses may have also hated McKelway’s forceful disapproval of a gay-left “outing” advocate

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D.C. ABC Reporter Doug McKelway Fired for Argument Over Anti-Obama, Anti-Greenpeace Bias

Jay-Z/Eminem LP Would Be ‘Up There With Thriller,’ Fans Say

‘It would be impossible to find that album,’ says one fan of a potential collabo after historic Yankee Stadium concert. By MTV News staff Eminem and Jay-Z perform at Yankee Stadium on Monday Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage Jay-Z and Eminem just finished their Home and Home showcase, with each MC headlining two nights at baseball stadiums in their respective hometowns, New York and Detroit. But now that they’ve wrapped, is there the potential for the two to join forces again soon? MTV News hit the pavement in the Bronx just outside of Yankee Stadium to pose the question to the people: Do you want to hear a joint Jay-Z and Eminem project? “Eminem and Jay-Z together,” Karyn responded. “What a phenomenal duo — who can top that?” Jay-Z has had his share of collabo albums in the past, including two with R. Kelly and a mash-up project with Linkin Park. Now, however, the Roc Nation boss is working on a joint LP with Kanye West . But most fans seemed to agree that a record with Jay-Z and Eminem would be historical. “If Jay and Em did a record together, it would be off the hook,” Dot said. “If God can bless this earth with Jay-Z and Eminem doing an album together, all hell would break loose,” Armaan told MTV News. “It would be impossible to find that album.” Music-industry insider Eddie Blackmon agreed the project would move quickly off shelves. “They’re two of the greatest lyrical artists of our generation,” he explained. “I think if they got together and collaborated on a project, it’d sell millions and millions of records.” New Edition’s Michael Bivins also attended the event and afterward, he told MTV News he was enthusiastic about the idea of the two superstars coming together. “The expectations might be really, really high,” Bivins said about a potential LP. “Up there with Thriller. ” Do you think Jay and Em should extend their joint-tour idea to the recording studio? Tell us in the comments! Related Photos Jay-Z And Eminem Make History In New York City Jay-Z And Eminem Make History In Detroit Related Artists Jay-Z Eminem

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Jay-Z/Eminem LP Would Be ‘Up There With Thriller,’ Fans Say

New Study Pinpoints 42 Key Conservation Areas for Saving Tigers

Photo via Jaymi Heimbuch It might seem like an obvious connection: figure out the key areas where tigers breed best and conserve those areas, rather than large swaths of general landscapes. Yet, it still isn’t being done. According to the authors of a new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society, only about one third of the roughly 3,200 tigers left in the wild are breeding females. This means protecting where they live — only about 6% of the available habitat — should be the highest priority. The new study pinpoints 42 key areas where all conservati… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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New Study Pinpoints 42 Key Conservation Areas for Saving Tigers