The FCX is completely clean and produces no carbon emissions. The car only expels water. Japan’s biggest automaker will lease a “few dozen” vehicles this year and expects to up the number to 200 units within three years.

Although Honda received 50,000 applications for the Clarity it only considered applicants who lived near Hydrogen Fueling stations in Torrance, Santa Monica, and Irvine California.

The FCX Clarity weighs 3,600 pounds, can reach speeds up to 100 miles per hour, and has a range of 270 miles.

At the American Astronomical Society (AAS) researcher David Bennett announced the finding of an extrasolar planet called MOA-2007-BLG-192Lb. It’s located 3,000 light-years away from Earth and has three times the mass of our planet. The lightest extrasolar planet discovered weighed in at five-Earth masses and was discovered in April.

The host planet’s star is anywhere from 3,000 to 1 million times fainter than our sun so the planet may be colder than Pluto, but based upon the findings in this discovery astrophysicists suggest MOA-2007-BLG-192Lb could have a thick atmosphere that blankets the planet by trapping in heat. They also go on to theorize this planet may also be covered with a deep ocean.

Once the Kepler Mission is under way (NASA mission to hunt for Earth sized planets. Kepler will launch in February 2009) news like this will occur much more often and bring many exciting possibilities with it.

A report released from industry experts and Energy Department Labs stated we can achieve this within the next two decades. Currently 20 percent of the electricity in the United States is generated through nuclear reactors. Combined this would greatly reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.

Wind energy also currently accounts for only 1 percent of the USA’s electricity but there has been a 45 percent leap from the previous year’s production. Today wind power in the states produces about 16,000 megawatts, estimated forecasts would have 75,000 more wind turbines producing 300,000 megawatts of power by 2030.

Not only would this alleviate our complete dependency on oil but it would reduce carbon emissions by 825 million metric tons a year. Executive director of the American Wind Energy Association, Randall Swisher, said “This is the equivalent of taking 140 million cars off the road.”

This report does not account for other technological advancements that may emerge in wind power or through other forms of clean energy production.

Artificial colors look great. They make food look vibrant and appealing. The majority of food colors are made with petroleum. They are a derivative of Petrochemicals and Coal tar. These chemicals are in no way made to be ingested by humans or any other animal. In fact, food dye is pulled off of the market regularly because of health concerns. Yellow #2 food dye will likely be the next to go. It’s be shown to cause ADHD, multiple types of cancer, male sterility, and many other issues.

Artificial Colors aren’t just in junk food or sodas. Some salmon farms actually add red food dye to their salmon to make them appear more appetizing. It works. When looking for fish a customer always wants the freshest they can buy. A pink/red salmon is much more appealing to eat than one that’s gray or just darker.

There have been petitions to ban these chemicals and dyes, but most of them still remain on the market. It will really take a lot more research and widespread awareness to ban these chemicals from making their way into our food.

In fact, rising carbon dioxide are making the plants become toxic because they start producing “anti-nutrients” which interfere with the digestion of regular nutrients. Some species of Eucalyptus contain a high protein content, but when higher levels of anti-nutrients are present they bind to them and make digesting protein not possible by the Koalas.

Koala’s only eat the leaves from about 25 Eucalyptus species out of the 600 species in Australia. If carbon dioxide emissions continue to be released in the atmosphere at the current rate then there will be a significant loss in Australia’s Koala population within 50 years.

]]> http://science-news.org/global-warming/australias-koalas-threatened-by-global-warming/feed/ http://science-news.org/earthquake/tokyo-shaken-by-68-earthquake/ http://science-news.org/earthquake/tokyo-shaken-by-68-earthquake/#comments Wed, 07 May 2008 23:11:19 +0000 Mike Monahan http://science-news.org/?p=371 A magnitude 6.8 earthquake off the coast of Japan hit Tokyo early Wednesday morning.

Seismologists said the epicenter of the quake was 100 miles northeast of Tokyo, and struck at 16:45 GMT. A half an hour later a second quake hit the same area with a magnitude of 5.3.

No injuries have been reported, and power/communication lines are all running normally.

Basically while browsing with “SearchScan” a warning sign will pop up next to malicious links identified by McAfee. Once marked as dangerous or harmful, Yahoo will block that Web site from showing up in their search results. If a website is not blocked, warning labels will appear next to the links to caution people before clicking through.

This may eventually eliminate the need for browser-based plugins that monitor the net from your pc (and also slow down your connection).

Ford Sync allows users to integrate their cell phones and mp3 players into their cars by controlling many aspects of them through voice commands. It’s a fully automated system that requires minimal physical input to access and relay information for safe driving.

The system in the Hyundai and Kia cars will be similar to the Sync and will be placed in models starting in 2010. These 2010 models may also come with a “low-cost” type of navigation system. Instead of using LCD screens, navigation may be done with indicator lights in the dashboard that signal the driver to make different driving maneuvers.

The Roadster costs $110,000 but comes with oodles of features. It accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in under four seconds and tops out at 125 mph. The Tesla Roadster has a 225 mile range after charging its lithium-ion battery pack for three and a half hours. This is really the first time a commercially viable electric sports car has been released. There are skeptics though.

Some have argued that the 6,831-cell lithium-ion battery pack (gives off ZERO emissions) weighing in at 1,000 pounds is a major safety issue. Although it does account for 1/3 of the weight of the vehicle it is completely safe. The battery has numerous safety features and auto power cutoff switches in the event of an accident or someone simply pulling the power chord during a recharge. The carbon fiber vehicle has passed all the required safety tests.

The car is a beauty, is safe, has incredible torque, and a fantastic range for an electric car with a small recharge time.

If you want to purchase this baby get in line. The production line is limited to just 1,500 cars for 2009 and the cars are being claimed quickly. If you are living in California don’t be surprised if you pass by a Celeb in one of these. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Kelsey Grammer, and Flea have each ordered the Tesla Roadster.

The volcano has already covered much of the town with a thick layer of ash even though it’s located 6 miles away. Residents have been evacuated to schools and churches in the nearby cities of Puerto Montt and Castro. Chaiten has about 4,500 residents and by the end of Saturday only about 45 residents remained in the village.