Category Archives: Environment

Panel that works in the dark puts solar on fast track to ubiquity

By doris | Published: April 18, 2011

Full Story at MNN.com First, the CleanTechnica item in brief: A company called New Energy Technologies has received some government funding to move forward with the development of a photovoltaic (PV) coating for windows. This is one of a host of “organic PV” and other nanoparticle technologies pursuing the promise of truly ubiquitous solar power. [...]

Also posted in Company, Goverment, Green, Home, Technology | Leave a comment

Controller, airline crew suspended over incident in Florida skies

By doris | Published: March 30, 2011

Full Story at CNN.com Washington (CNN) — An air traffic control supervisor and the crew of a Southwest Airlines jet have been suspended after the controller asked the Southwest Boeing 737 to fly in the vicinity of a small Cirrus aircraft in an effort to check on the welfare of the pilot, authorities said. The [...]

Also posted in Airplane, Business, Court, Criminal, Employment, Research | Leave a comment

Cities are going dark for the Earth

By doris | Published: March 25, 2011

Full Story at CosmicLog.msnbc.msn.com Cities around the world are going dark on Saturday night for the annual Earth Hour event, which aims to raise awareness about actions people can take for the environment’s sake. The campaign, now in its fourth year, boasting participation of more than 4,000 cities in 131 countries and territories around the [...]

Also posted in America, Earth, Home, Natural Events | Leave a comment

Weekend full moon the biggest in about 20 years

By doris | Published: March 18, 2011

Full Story at CNN.com (CNN) — If the moon looks a little bit bigger and brighter this weekend, there’s a reason for that. It is. Saturday’s full moon will be a super “perigee moon” — the biggest in almost 20 years. This celestial event is far rarer than the famed blue moon, which happens once [...]

Also posted in Change, Climate, Natural Events, Science, Space, Stars | Leave a comment

As U.S. damage is measured, man dies trying to photograph tsunami

By doris | Published: March 11, 2011

Full Story at CNN.com (CNN) — A 25-year-old man was declared dead Friday afternoon after being swept out to sea off a northern California beach while trying to photograph a tsunami launched by the massive earthquake near Japan, according to a Del Norte County, California, official. The man’s identity was withheld as authorities tried to [...]

Also posted in Accident, Change, Climate, Death, Natural Events, Weather | Leave a comment

Mass. company making diesel with sun, water, CO2

By doris | Published: February 27, 2011

Full Story at news.Yahoocom CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – A Massachusetts biotechnology company says it can produce the fuel that runs Jaguars and jet engines using the same ingredients that make grass grow. Joule Unlimited has invented a genetically-engineered organism that it says simply secretes diesel fuel or ethanol wherever it finds sunlight, water and carbon dioxide. [...]

Also posted in Business, Company, Gas, Research, Technology | Leave a comment

Canada’s Ice Hotel warms hearts

By doris | Published: February 12, 2011

Full Story atnews.Yahoo.com QUEBEC CITY, Canada (AFP) – A winter wonderland on the outskirts of Quebec City has become one of Canada’s hottest attractions and most sought out accommodations. Guests huddle for warmth in sleeping bags on beds of ice, bonnets pulled over their ears to prevent frostbite, while sipping cocktails in glasses also made [...]

Also posted in Business, Canada, Consumer, Home | Leave a comment

DOUBLE RAINBOW FOR GROUNDHOG DAY 2011

By doris | Published: February 3, 2011

Full Story at ireport.CNN I was out early in the morning on Groundhog’s Day here in Grafton, WV. Snapping some pictures of a few cloud formations that was moving in that morning at around 8:00 am. As I was clicking away on the clouds, I saw from the corner of my left eye something bright…….DOUBLE [...]

Also posted in America, Animal, Climate, Natural Events | Leave a comment

Panel calls for drastic steps to stop future deepwater oil spills

By doris | Published: January 11, 2011

Full Story at CNN.com Washington (CNN) — If the government does not take drastic steps, another deepwater oil spill like the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico could devastate the coastal areas of the United States, an oversight commission warned Tuesday in a long-awaited report to the president. More research, funding and oversight are [...]

Also posted in Bill, BP, Company, Golf, Goverment, Oil | Leave a comment

NYC welcomes 2011 with traditional ball-drop, revelers

By doris | Published: January 1, 2011

Full Story at CNN.com New York (CNN) — An estimated 1 million people marked the passing of one year and the beginning of another in New York’s Times Square with the descent of an iconic ball. With the help of Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Medal of Honor recipient Staff Sgt. Salvatore A. Giunta, the dazzling [...]

Also posted in America, Change, Entertainment, Holiday, Worders, World | Leave a comment

Moonwatchers treated to total lunar eclipse

By doris | Published: December 22, 2010

Full Story at news.Yahoo.com NEW YORK – Skywatchers got an early holiday present this year: A total eclipse of the moon. Hanging high in the sky, the moon slowly turned from bright silver into a red disk early Tuesday. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth casts its shadow on the full moon, blocking [...]

Also posted in Change, Climate, Natural Events, Science | Leave a comment

Strangers in the night: Lunar eclipse, solstice meet again

By doris | Published: December 21, 2010

Full Story at news.blogs.CNN.com It’s not every lifetime that you get a chance to celebrate a solstice with a total eclipse of the moon. Weather permitting, a lunar eclipse will be visible from 1:33 to 5:01 a.m. ET Tuesday, with the total eclipse starting at about 2:41 a.m., according to NASA. The eclipse happens to [...]

Also posted in Climate, Natural Events, Science | Leave a comment

San Jose to outlaw plastic bags at checkouts

By doris | Published: December 16, 2010

Full Story at msnbc.com The newspaper said the ordinance would outlaw disposable plastic bags being given out at checkouts. Paper bags will be available, but only with a charge. San Jose has a population of more than a million people. “This is a great step,” Councilman Sam Liccardo told the Mercury News. “It’s an opportunity [...]

Also posted in Business, Law | Leave a comment

How important is a nickel?

By doris | Published: December 11, 2010

Full Story at mnn.com My husband handed me a receipt and a nickel as we were walking out of Target Saturday morning. I had handed him a ChicoBag to use while he made our purchases and I handled another task. For bringing his own bag, he was given a nickel. It made a big impression [...]

Also posted in Business, Cleanup, Money | Leave a comment

Banned: Plastic bags on way out in parts of L.A. County

By doris | Published: November 17, 2010

Full Story at  msnbc.com LOS ANGELES — Parts of Los Angeles County have joined other California communities in banning stores from using single-use plastic bags. County supervisors approved the measure 3-1 on Tuesday in hopes of preventing billions of bags from polluting neighborhoods and waterways. It bans stores from giving customers single-use plastic bags and [...]

Also posted in Business, Cleanup, Consumer, Money | Leave a comment

Vietnam partners with Japan to build nuke plant

By doris | Published: October 31, 2010

Full Story at msnbc.com HANOI — Vietnam has chosen to partner with Japan in the construction of a nuclear power plant and in mining rare earth minerals in the southeast Asian country, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan told reporters on Sunday. “I understand that becoming partners in these two issues means that the two countries [...]

Also posted in Business, Company, Jobs, Nuclear, Technology | Leave a comment

Halliburton admits skipping test on Gulf well cement

By doris | Published: October 30, 2010

Full Story at msnbc.msn.com Halliburton Co. acknowledged late Thursday that it skipped doing a critical test on the final formulation of cement used to seal the BP oil well that blew out in the Gulf of Mexico. The company, which was BP’s cementing contractor, said that BP at the last-minute increased the amount of a [...]

Also posted in Business, Cleanup, Company, Fuel, Gas, Water | Leave a comment

Huge solar plant to bring green jobs to Ohio

By doris | Published: October 7, 2010

Full Story at blogs.CNN.com. A huge solar power plant will be built on a former coal strip mine in Ohio, creating 300 permanent “green” manufacturing jobs and 300 construction jobs, Gov. Ted Strickland announced Tuesday. New Harvest Ventures and Agile Energy will develop the 49.9-megawatt project, and American Electric Power has agreed to negotiate a [...]

Also posted in America, Business, Company, Jobs | Leave a comment

Igor lashes Canada; Georgette heads toward Mexico

By doris | Published: September 22, 2010

Full Story at CNN.com (CNN) — The storm known as Igor was moving farther away from Canada on Wednesday morning, but could still produce hurricane-force winds in the area. As of 12:30 a.m. local time (11 p.m. ET), Igor was about 445 kilometers (277 miles) east of St. Anthony, Newfoundland, according to the Canadian Weather [...]

Also posted in Canada, Cleanup, Climate, Flooding, Mexico, Natural Events, Weather | Leave a comment

The well is dead, but Gulf challenges live on

By doris | Published: September 20, 2010

Full Story at msnbc.msn.com The “nightmare well” is dead. But the Gulf coast’s bad dream is far from over. Federal officials declared Sunday that the well where the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded had finally been killed. Workers drilled a relief well into the damaged one and sealed it with cement. Its official end came 11 [...]

Also posted in BP, Business, Cleanup, Company, Fuel, Golf, Money, Safety, Water | Leave a comment