Ecology and the Environment

A device could be fitted to a rodents back. The device could hold a signal in front of the rodent so the rodent could see it (like a head up display). The signal would signal (for example light different colors) for different instructions such as. Look more left Look more right Look straight ahead go faster where you are looking slow down Pick up item near you in mouth jump Correctly following the instructions results in some food. At first just one instruction would be given, then gradually adding more, then getting fed at the end of a successful sequence instead of after each one. The device would be remote controlled and also have a small camera a…

I'm having an argument with a friend that I was hoping to get some scientifically-reasoned help on. Looking strictly at US domestic CO2 production for the sake of argument, I ask a hypothetical question: What would the cumulative effect on CO2 production be if all cars were immediately replaced with plug-in electrics? This is a complex question and I'm hoping for an answer that takes into consideration increased electrical production and the percentage of that production that would have to come from current "dirty" coal-fired plants. What I don't know is how much increased electrical production would be required. I've heard that the increase could come "withi…

I've read that there's two or three times the 'surface' biomass of Earth, living as micro-organisms, deep underground. Kilometer's deep, by some accounts. Most life is a mile deep? How true is this? (I'm not asking for web-links. I'm asking for people who know what they are talking about).

It seems several of you are ahead of me in your awareness. I did not understand what I just heard, that one-fourth of the US corn crop has been offered to the ethanol market. Am I correct that this is so, by government policy? It is crazy. (Mod note: This thread was split off from Virgin Atlantic to run 747 on Biofuel.)

Hi I am planning to write a story something along the line of BBC's Prehistoric Park. Except for one thing, the stars of the "zoo" are animals that we have directly and indirectly caused their demise. I am making a list of species that we should bring back to the present. The Dodo and the Tasmanian Wolf are among them. Since this is a "science" forum I feel that this place would suit such a topic, I do not have much knowledge on how zoos operate or how some of the animals in really can be kept in zoos in the first place without them escaping. Amongst such questions are" I got an Eagle who has a wingspan of over 3 metres, how am I going to make sure she doesn't…

Beyond intermittent sources, efficiency and conservation savings, we still have to have very solid base power. Given the coming emergence of primarily electric drive vehicles, a lot more electric power will be needed. My sense is that base power should come from two new sources. 1. Meltdown proof pebble-bed nuclear reactors are one viable answer that I'm amazed has not been "discovered" by the lawyers or others in Congress. They are about 50% efficient, truly meltdown proof, and because they use helium as the heat exchange medium they greatly reduce radioactive waste. It is a very elegant design. 2. Magma heat mining. 99% of our planet is above 1000C and m…

Ok, here's a lot of numbers. I'm sure you can all find comments. I am very interested to hear them. My idea is to make an artificial lake with a water level that goes up and down to store energy. We need to smooth out the differences between electricity production and consumption when we want to use. I've always heard that it's economically not interesting, or perhaps not even technologically feasible. I've done a simple back-of-the-envelope calculation to start some discussion. Please comment The artificial lake Area: 1 km2 10 meter deep (average), Total height = 10 meters Total volume: 1000x1000x10 = 107 m3, or 1010 kg. Height of the water = 10 m…

If these predicted cooling trends prove true, watching the fallout in the global warming community is going to be hilarious. I bet Hanson is "a little concerned." Concerned about his credibility. Natural fluctuations? So let me get this straight, warming is man made and cooling is natural fluctuations. That is what we call science these days? So why don't all you global warming enthusiast show me your hockey stick graphs again? http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/01/can-climate-campaigns-withstand-a-cooling-test/?hp http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/01/science/earth/01climate.html?em&ex=1209787200&en=ddd0094cc411eb2f&ei=5087%0A

G'day there peoples, First of all, if anyone here is actually a qualified climate scientist (or a scientist close to the realm of climate sciences), if you could please contact me via my Skype using JoshSHill, that would be really appreciated. I'm a freelance journalist, and I am continually coming across areas where I need someone's help in. The latest is this question; though carbon dioxide is found only in relatively small amounts in our atmosphere, does any increase exchange for a larger increase in temperature? Or, in other words, even though it's in such a small amount, can it still have the massive effect that some would have us believe? Hope to …

As a mad keen scuba diver, I have always been fascinated by sharks. One aspect of the human/shark encounter that has been very apparent is the extreme rarity of shark attacks. In spite of literally millions of humans swimming in many places in different parts of the world every day, and the fact that sharks must swim nearby and perceive these human swimmers with their very acute senses, only about 4 fatal shark attacks happen each year globally. Of course, there are many more attacks than that - most are non lethal. Almost never is the attack followed up by the shark actually eating the human victim. I have always thought that the real puzzle is not why sha…

http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/2008/Update69.htm

Hello, I am writing a book that involves a world where several different types of environments, that were never meant to coexist, have been thrust together into a single "earth" world. To get a better idea just think about if you had deserts, rainforests, tundras, etc. that were all pies. Now cut a piece from one of the pies and place it in a spot were you cut another piece from another pie. My question is, given these strange turn of events, what would happen to say a section of a mountain range that suddenly replaced a large area surrounded by desert, or grasslands? Or if a mountain sized glacier was dropped on a redwood forest. I am basically lookin…

Has the trial introduction of penguins into the arctic & polar bears into the antarctic ever been considered . Since both maybe threatened species could it not be a way of expanding their range ? Any speculations on how they might ( or might not ) survive ?

How does the alleged 'Global Warming' effect the increase of the range of malaria-carrying mossies? I have always heard it was temperature-related. But now I've heard there have been malaria epidemics in cold-areas, such as Archangel (tundra-Russia). What's the story here? Are malaria-carrying mossies temperature controlled? Or?

what kind of adaptations would the animals need on an environment I plan to make in a fiction. But it's rather believable as far as I can see. The island is rather small like the offshore islands of Singapore but the whole island is in fact a very big mangrove swamp. There are also wide spaces filled with seagrasses like those in Shark Bay. Every time the tide rises at least 90% of the island is submerged in water. The flowering plants here are mostly mangroves and small shrubs and saltwater grasses.

A thought occurred to me long ago, I asked opinions at work and of friends, but got little back of solid substance, so I will humbly seek your input: First, tires contain nasty substances, in addition to rubber. It has become illegal to throw tires away, burn them, even store used tires in some locales. Yet, millions upon millions of pounds of tire material must be annually worn away by the roadways of the world, probably, I surmise, deposited thereon and therein of the rough interstices of pavement. Relatively chemically stable, this "tire dust" must be washed away by rains, and blown away by winds. Do you suppose this contribution of finely divided rubber du…

Just some confirmation, but I believe humans are the only animals that can/do commit suicide? I dont believe any other animal or plant for that matter kills it self?

There appears to be a glitch in the general pattern of global warming. The ice that was lost at the Arctic is back, and ice in Antarctica is increasing. http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/global_warming_or_cooling/2008/02/19/73798.html?s=al&promo_code=457E-1

I read this article by Mike Hulme, a climate scientist as East Anglia University. I am interested in getting peoples responses to this article. I have read it, and I certainly have an opinion, but I don't want to paint others opinion before they read it. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2007/mar/14/scienceofclimatechange.climatechange

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/03/25/antarctic.ice/index.html Despite allegations by the climate change denialist blogosphere that everything's fine and dandy down in the Antarctic, 220 square miles of an Antarctic ice shelf has broken up and collapsed into the ocean, with an additional 5,282 square miles, comparable to the state of Connecticut or about half the area of Scotland, also on the verge of breakup.

Dec 2007 study shows that the vast majority of rain and snow precipitated out of vapor condensing around a micro organism, instead of organic or inorganic inanimate condensation seed. This organism has a density which allows it to float in air indefinitely and contains a gene coding for a protein that is a superior water vapor condensation nucleate. I read it and can not find it now. Does anyone know the study or have link? Jerry

Hi People, Apologies if this has been covered before, or is so stupid noone else would have bothered but I've had this thought for ages, accept that I must be wrong somehow, but can't figure out why..... Everyone seems to say, "when the ice caps melt, the water levels will rise, flooding us all." However my theory is that the water level if anything should FALL, or at least stay the same... Based on the following. 1) Ice is less dense than water 2) To float a body has to displace it's weight in water. Therefore for a ton of ice to float, it needs to displace a ton of water.... Ice takes up more space than water (so the tip of the iceberg with be ou…

http://www.dailytech.com/Researcher+Basic+Greenhouse+Equations+Totally+Wrong/article10973.htm According to one physicist/ climate modeler, there was a grievous error made some time back that propagated throughout modern global warming models. Is this story accurate? What's the deal? Hopefully some physics people can take a look and explain it to the rest of us.

Friends of the Earth convinced the press to make a big deal last week out of a very routine thing -- a major airline having to fly a jet only partially full. In this particular case, a Boeing 777 flew its regular hop from Chicago to London, but there were only five passengers on board. The FotE was certainly correct in pointing out the wastefulness of this flight, but they mislead the public (and more importantly mislead a major newspaper, its editor, and millions of readers) by ignoring significant factors. 1) The airline was contractually bound to fly that airplane. 2) The airplane was scheduled to make a return flight the next day, in which it could (and gen…

http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/federal-lab-says-it-can-harvest-fuel-from-air/index.html?ref=science This is probably the most interesting scheme I've seen yet. Los Alamos claims it has the means to produce a carbon neutral fuel infrastructure, producing biofuels and other organic compounds from CO2 and water using electrically-driven chemical processes. The process seems ideally suited to work hand-in-hand with nuclear power plants, which would provide a carbon free source of electricity, and also hot air, from which CO2 can be extracted. The waste heat of the nuclear plant can also be harnessed for the process (or so I gather from the article).…