WASHINGTON — The landmark U.S. law to fight water pollution will now apply only to bodies of water large enough for boats to use, and their adjacent wetlands, and will not automatically protect streams, the U.S. government said on Tuesday. Environmental groups said they fear the new policy will muddy the purpose of the federal Clean Water Act and put many smaller bodies of water at risk. Democrats in Congress have introduced legislation mandating protection of creeks, estuaries and other watersheds. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers wrote the new guidelines after the Supreme Court split a year ago in a case about which waters fall under the Clean Water Act. Because of the split decision, lower courts must decide on a case-by-case basis if the law applies to smaller water areas. Four justices said the law was restricted to protecting navigable waters such as lakes and rivers, and bodies connected to them, while four argued the law had a broader reach. The new guidelines were intended to help workers in the field determine if a waterway fell under the act, using the argument of Justice Anthony Kennedy, who did not […]
Power cables and even batteries might become a thing of the past using a new technique that can transmit power wirelessly to cell phones, laptops, MP3 players, household robots and other electronics. Scientists lit a 60-watt light bulb from a power source 7 feet (2 meters) away with their new technique, with no physical connection between the source and the appliance. The researchers have dubbed their concept ‘WiTricity,’ as in ‘wireless electricity.’ MIT physicist Marin Soljacic began thinking years ago about how to transmit power wirelessly so his cell phone could recharge without ever being plugged in. Scientists have pursued wireless power transmission for years - notably, eccentric genius Nikola Tesla, who devoted much energy toward it roughly a century ago. The problem with wireless power transmission is that broadcasting energy in all directions - say, as radio waves - can be tremendously wasteful, with a vast majority of power ending up squandered into free space. One could imagine focusing energy along just one or a few directions - say, using laser beams - but such approaches can readily prove dangerous and cumbersome, requiring an uninterrupted line of sight between the source and device as well as […]
Droves of cats and kittens are swarming into animal shelters nationwide, and global warming is to blame, according to one pet adoption group. Several shelters operated by a national adoption organization called Pets Across America reported a 30 percent increase in intakes of cats and kittens from 2005 to 2006, and other shelters across the nation have reported similar spikes of stray, owned and feral cats. The cause of this feline flood is an extended cat breeding season thanks to the world’s warming temperatures, according to the group, which is one of the country’s oldest and largest animal welfare organizations. ‘Cats are typically warm-weather, spring-time breeders,’ said the group’s president, Kathy Warnick. ‘However, states that typically experience primarily longer and colder winters are now seeing shorter, warmer winters, leading to year-round breeding.’ ‘Basically, there is no longer a reproduction lull with cat breeding cycles, and unfortunately, it seems more people are bringing boxes of kittens into our agencies during winter now,’ she added. Studies have shown that global warming is altering the breeding seasons of other animals, such as migratory birds and penguins. One possible solution to stem the tide of cats is to […]
HEILIGENDAMM, Germany — Leaders from the world’s eight major industrialized nations ‘accepted the latest scientific evidence’ of the dangers of global warming Thursday but set no targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. President Bush arrived at the Group of Eight (G8) conference Wednesday with a proposal that is similar to what the representatives embraced, despite a desire by German Chancellor Angela Merkel for hard targets. He proposed last week that the United States establish a new framework on global gas emissions to counter the effects of global warming. (Watch the leaders prepare to discuss climate change Video) ‘My proposal is this: By the end of next year, America and other nations will set a long-term global goal for reducing greenhouse gases,’ Bush said at that time. According to the communique agreed on Thursday, nations will stabilize, then reduce, greenhouse gas emissions and will ‘seriously consider’ plans by the European Union, Canada and Japan for halving emissions by 2050. Bush, who withdrew the United States from the 1997 U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, or Kyoto Protocol, feels every nation should set its own goals. More than 150 countries signed the agreement, which mandates limits […]
LONDON — British scientists plan to use stem cells to cure a common form of blindness, with the first patients receiving test treatment in five years. The pioneering project, launched on Tuesday, aims to repair damaged retinas with cells derived from human embryonic stem cells. Its backers say it involves simple surgery that could one day become as routine as cataract operations. They believe the technique is capable of restoring vision in the vast majority of patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness among the elderly that afflicts around 14 million people in Europe. Some drugs, like Genentech’s Lucentis, can help the one in 10 patients with so-called ‘wet’ AMD and U.S. biotech firm Advanced Cell Technology is looking at stem cells in other eye conditions. But there is no treatment for the 90 percent with ‘dry’ AMD. AMD is caused by faulty retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells, which form a supporting carpet under the light-sensitive rods and cones in the retina. The new procedure will generate replacement RPE cells from stem cells in the lab, with surgeons then injecting a small patch of new cells, measuring 4 by 6 millimetres, […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
