In 1994 MIT researchers built their first robotic fish. However, the 2009 version is a new species. It’s made of a single, soft polymer and modeled after both bass and trout. At 5 to 18 inches long, the new robofish is much smaller, with only 10 moving parts instead of thousands. It’s able to mimic the motions of real fish, be released in oceans and costs only a few hundred dollars. Plans for these fish include mapping the ocean floor, detecting pollution, surveying submerged pipelines and surveillance. When used in groups, robofish provide a new school of thought.
In 2009 Florida researchers are still using doughnuts to bait traps for black bears. However, after the bears are caught and tranquilized, they are fitted with GPS collars that use cell phone technology to text messages regarding their location every 15 minutes. To stay healthy bears need to travel to different locations and to different bear populations. As development has increased, the bears’ habitat has decreased and become fragmented by roads. The isolation causes inbreeding, which causes unhealthy bears. The GPS collars allow the researchers to know what habitat needs protecting and then land conservation decisions can be made using those “bearings”.
In 2009 the federal Cash for Clunkers program took 690,000 gas-guzzling cars off the road. Because only their engines had to be destroyed, everything else was available for recycling. Functioning car parts are stripped and reused in other cars. What's left of the car becomes reincarnated into different things. For example, tires become asphalt, mud flaps or fuel. Windshields become drinking glasses, lamps or counter tops. Oil filters become cans, refrigerators or structural beams. The remaining scrap metal is melted down and could become part of another car in 30 days. It seems that recycling devours almost 100% of the “car-cus”.
In 2011 NASA’s new office building, “Sustainability Base”, is expected to be finished. It will be the federal government’s greenest building. Costing $20.6 million, it will utilize solar panels, fuel cells and water recycling systems to power itself. A computer based on spacecraft technology will connect to local weather forecasts for environment control. It will access employees’ electronic calendars to adjust heating and cooling appropriately. Instead of air conditioning, water from geothermal wells will be piped to the building’s cooling panels. The computer will also control windows to take advantage of cool nighttime breezes. Obviously, this is cool technology.
Scientists have discovered that nitrous oxide, produced mainly in agriculture, is harming the ozone layer more than synthetic chemicals are. Synthetic chemicals are being phased out by the Montreal Protocol treaty, but nitrous oxide is a natural part of the atmosphere. It is produced by microbes in soil; and when fed nitrogen fertilizer, the microbes produce even more of it. Although it’s estimated that nitrous oxide will reduce the stratosphere’s ozone 4% by the end of the century, nitrogen is an essential part of protein and a source of our food. Nitrous oxide can’t be phased out – unless we phase out eating too.
However, the World Agroforestry Center in Nairobi wants to phase in Faidherbia trees. These trees capture nitrogen from the air through their roots and incorporate it into their leaves. Because these trees grow during the dry season, they drop their leaves in the rainy season, when nitrogen-needing plants start to grow. When a crop of corn was grown under Faidherbia trees, the yield was 3-4 times larger. These trees could help poor farmers throughout Africa, South America and much of south and Southeast Asia by providing free, organic fertilizer as a renewable “treetment” for soil.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, 163 new species were discovered in the Mekong River region of Southeast Asia in 2008. Among the 100 plants, 28 fish, 18 reptiles, 14 amphibians, 2 mammals and 1 bird was the Limnonectes megastomias, a fanged frog that eats birds and the Nonggang babbler, a bird that prefers walking to flying. The good news is that these new species were found in regions no longer involved in decades of war and political unrest. The bad news is that their diverse habitats are threatened by droughts and floods caused by climate change – which must change.
According to an editorial in the highly esteemed British medical journal “Lancet”, making contraceptives available in developing countries could help fight climate change by reducing population growth. More than 200 million women worldwide do not have access to contraceptives and that results in approximately 76 million unintended pregnancies a year. The world population is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050 – with more than 90% of the increase coming from developing countries. Increased need for food and shelter will increase carbon dioxide emissions and climate change. It’s hard to believe that there was a time when climate change just meant a vacation.
Colorado researchers have found high levels of micro-organisms capable of causing disease growing in mats called biofilms inside showerheads. The most worrisome of these pathogens are the non-tuberculosis mycobacteria. Unfortunately, chlorinated water doesn’t kill these bacteria. In tests of 45 showerheads in 6 locations across the United States, 20% contained mycobacterium avium. Because these bacteria can attach themselves to the aerosol droplets in shower spray, they can get deep into peoples’ lungs. This especially affects people with weak immune systems, which includes pregnant women. When it comes to staying healthy, this is a showerhead – ache.
Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have found that living near noisy traffic can raise blood pressure. Among 24,238 people interviewed, exposure above 60 decibels was associated with high blood pressure in the young and middle-aged. Middle-aged adults exposed to 64 decibels - just louder than ordinary conversation – were twice as likely to have high blood pressure. Of those adults 40 to 59, 28% had high blood pressure compared with 17% who lived in quieter areas. However, a similar pattern wasn’t seen among the elderly. The elderly have multiple risk factors for high blood pressure – and many can turn a deaf ear to noise.
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas have found that palmitic acid – a saturated fatty acid found in beef, butter, cheese and milk - suppresses appetite control signals. Palmitic acid molecules cause the brain to send messages to the body’s cells to ignore signals from both leptin and insulin – hormones involved in weight control. As a result, the brain won’t say to stop eating for up to 3 days. Because palmitic acid is very high in foods rich in saturated fat and because 67% of Americans are supposedly overweight, saturated fat seems to have us “in-fat-uated”.
Researchers at the University of Chicago’s Department of Medicine have discovered that not getting enough sleep causes metabolic changes in the body, which can lead to weight gain. Volunteers who slept only 4 hours for 2 nights had an 18% decrease in leptin – a hormone that signals the brain that the body has had enough to eat – and a 28% increase in ghrelin – a hormone that triggers hunger. As a result, the sleep-deprived volunteers experienced a 24% increase in appetite. Sleep experts recommend 7-9 hours of sleep nightly in a dark, quiet bedroom that is used only as a bedroom – but maybe they’re dreaming.
Men’s underwear sales supposedly predict the state of the economy. Usually sales are stable, with men buying an average of 3.4 pairs yearly; but during bad economic times, men put off buying new underwear. Sales began to slow in 2008 when the recession took hold. From 2004 to 2008 the number of men buying one pair at a time increased from 5% to 8%. Sales are expected to fall another 2.3% in 2009. However, in 2010 sales are expected to fall only 0.5%, showing the economy is moving in the right direction – in boxers and in briefs.
Alligators enjoy the recession because there’s less conspicuous consumption by people who can afford expensive accessories. The demand for alligator handbags and boots dropped approximately 40% worldwide between 2008’s first quarter and 2009’s first quarter. The demand for alligator watchbands dropped approximately 80%. Although alligator farmers previously took 500,000 eggs from swamps and marshes, in 2009 they’re expected to take only 30,000. Harvesting adult alligators is expected to be a fraction of 2008’s 35,500. In 2007 Louisiana alligator farmers and hunters made $71 million. In 2009 they’re expected to make $10 million. It’s their turn to be skinned.
Angela Logan was studying nursing when her house went into foreclosure. That’s when the 55-year-old, divorced, mother of 3 turned to her hobby of baking. She resolved to sell 100 Mortgage Apple cakes at $40 each in 10 days to meet her mortgage payment, pay bills and qualify for a federal program to lower mortgage payments. When the Hilton Hotel offered use of its 4 ovens, Logan baked 200 cakes. Now Internet retailer “Bake Me A Wish!” is developing a line of Angela Logan cakes, but Logan isn’t giving up nursing. She’s not putting all her eggs in one … cake.
The United States is no longer the world’s most competitive economy, a position it held from 2006 to 2008. The U.S. was ranked second by a 2009 survey of 131 countries by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum. The survey combined opinions of more than 13,000 business executives with economic statistics and government regulations. Switzerland, because its economic performance has been basically stable, is now the most competitive economy. Singapore ranked third, followed by Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan, Canada and the Netherlands. Of course, with the U.S. pressuring Switzerland for the names of Americans having secret bank accounts, Switzerland can’t bank on staying #1.
