As if ripped from the pages of some poorly written anteater-themed soap opera, the mystery surrounding a recent birth at a conservation facility in Connecticut is leading some to summon the phrase 'immaculate conception'.(Dun, dun, duuun.)Officials at the LEO Zoological Conservation Center in Greenwich say that a giant anteater under their care, with the totally made-up sounding name Armani, was somehow able to bear an offspring despite living without a male companion for nearly a year.According...

Exporting natural gas just got easier. This afternoon, the Department of Energy approved the second application for a facility to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) worldwide. Today’s approval to export up to 1.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day goes to Freeport LNG Expansion, on Quintana Island in Texas, for 25 years. The approval process now moves to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissions (FERC), so the company is not in the clear yet. Several companies have received nearly two doz...

Despite their name, rare earth metals aren't actually that rare, but they are important for a variety of green technologies. Since China controls most of the production and has been putting restrictions on exports in the recent past, engineers have been working on ways to reduce their use and recycle them more effectively.© HondaOne example of this is a new recycling process created by Honda. They basically close the nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) battery loop by extracting rare earth metals from o...

With over two billion pallets in circulation worldwide, it's no wonder that they keep turning up in eco-furniture, whether it's the do-it-yourself or commercial kind. Los Angeles-based company Palletso is of the latter, and was recently started up by Kevin McCorkle, who makes rustic-style furniture and other sundries from safely recycled pallets.© Palletso© PalletsoMcCorkle recounts how his inspiration first came during a friend's housewarming party, where several reworked pallet pieces (a bed, ...

Hemp, the THC-free cousin of cannabis, has recently been made legal in Colorado, but the feds still don't approve, even though the selling of hemp products is perfectly legal (about $500 million worth are imported from other countries every year).What's a would-be hemp farmer to do when faced with this dilemma? Ryan Loflin, of Springfield, Colorado, decided to take a chance and go ahead anyway. As of Monday this week, he planted the first official hemp crop in the United States in about 60 years...

When Coal Is Stupid activists blockaded a coal shipment in New England, some commenters immediately leveled accusations of hypocrisy based on the tenuous notion that these environmentalists' own reliance on fossil fuels meant that their protest at the excesses of Big Coal were simply a case of the pot calling the kettle black.Nothing could be further from the truth.After all, when socially conscious activists decided to fight the transatlantic slave trade, were only those pure souls who didn't h...

David Schmidt: Foaming Manure Pits from Iowa State University Extension on Vimeo.I'm no expert on hog farming, but it seems to me that when whatever you're doing is creating explosive poop foam that has destroyed barns and killed thousands of hogs you might be doing something wrong.Tom Philpott at Mother Jones reports on this disgusting phenomenon:As manure breaks down, it emits toxic gases like hydrogen sulfide and flammable ones like methane, and trapping these noxious fumes under a layer of f...

We often forget that great bike cities were not always so. They all had to start somewhere, work hard at it, and build up the infrastructure and bike culture, sometimes from a very low base. Even a great bike city like Portland had to evolve and grow into its current state, as these maps from the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) show. This should give hope to other cities that aren't yet bike-friendly enough: It might be hard, but it can be done!Below is an animated version, made by the ...

By Anh Phan, Guest Blogger and Mari Hernandez, Guest Blogger on May 17, 2013 at 1:56 pm Since last November’s Presidential election, immigration reform with a road map to citizenship for the 11 million unauthorized immigrants living in the country has been gaining momentum. On April 16 the bipartisan Senate “Gang of 8″ introduced their immigration bill, and diverse groups such as organized labor, evangelical Christians, and business leaders have lent their support for reform. Just last month,...

There's been a lot of news about artificial photosynthesis lately (here and here), and while I think it's probably more useful to generate electricity via solar photovoltaic and solar thermal technology, there will no doubt be some cases where it'll make sense to use the sun to split water into hydrogen and oxygen directly.Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has shown what they call the "first fully integrated nanosystem for artificial photosynthesis".DOE/Public DomainA key ...

Built to hold cars, bikes and maybe a collection of power tools, home garages aren't necessarily the most exciting of places, being more of utilitarian spaces. But students at Vermont's Green Mountain College have another vision for the humble garage: a solar-panelled powerhouse for charging electric vehicles, with a built-in mini-greenhouse to boot.The garage, which is currently located on the school's farm, is designed to optimize the performance of electric vehicles in frigid temperatures, an...

(Credit: NY Times) Gina McCarthy finally got a vote. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing yesterday to vote on McCarthy’s nomination to be the next EPA Administrator. This came after a week of obstruction from the Republican members of the committee, who boycotted the scheduled vote last week. As one of the most highly-qualified nominees to lead the Environmental Protection Agency in its history, McCarthy has understandably won plaudits from Republicans like Senator J...

EPA is legally obligated to issue rules regulating CO2 from existing power plants. Dave Roberts at Grist is (eternally) puzzled that folks don’t seem to know that. Since eternity is a very long time — only slightly longer than the lifetime of some CO2 molecules in the air — I’ll repost his key points: In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled in Mass v. EPA that CO2 qualifies as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act. In 2009, EPA issued an endangerment finding that deemed CO2 a threat to public health. Onc...

Today, May 17th, is Endangered Species Day. We are celebrating it by bringing attention to the diverse and beautiful felid species around the world that are in danger of becoming extinct. The following species are either currently listed as endangered or vulnerable. We hope that by learning about these amazing relatives of our well-loved domestic cats, readers will be encouraged to act to protect these species. First up is the well-known snow leopard. This iconic cat lives in the unbelievably ...

One key principle for positive change in the world has been stated as 'vote with your dollars' by supporting companies and products that are aligned with your principles, and avoiding those that help to fund causes that go against them.But doing the research on the ownership of each of these companies for everything you buy can be a bit overwhelming for most of us, so this new app could save you time while keeping your conscience clear by taking the guesswork out of shopping.Buycott helps you no...

Why do so many people still believe there's a scientific debate? A new meta-study by John Cook et al titled "Quantifying the consensus on anthropogenic global warming in the scientific literature" tells us what a lot of us already knew; that there's a scientific consensus on human-caused global warming in peer-reviewing scientific journals. Specifically, among 11,944 papers expressing a position on anthropogenic global warming, 97.2% endorsed the consensus position that it's real and humans are ...

Yesterday afternoon, Ernest Moniz was unanimously confirmed as the nation’s new Energy Secretary, earning praise from green groups and industry. [Greentech Media] Ernest Moniz, a former MIT physicist, is the new secretary of energy. The Senate voted to confirm Moniz this afternoon by a vote of 97 to 0. Moniz now takes over for Steven Chu, who left the Department of Energy in April after a tumultuous tenure in office. Faced with the sequester and a possible continuing resolution that would limit ...

There's something about roasted peppers that can add so much depth of flavor to recipes -- especially when you use them in unexpected ways. I had extra potatoes and a leek left over from other recipes cooked earlier in the week, so I thought I would make a potato leek soup, a simple recipe and a classic favorite. But I also had a couple poblano peppers sitting on the counter that I didn't have any plans for. I figured I would try something different and give my old-fashioned soup a bit of a kick...

Today, May 17th, is Endangered Species Day. We are celebrating it by bringing attention to the diverse and beautiful canid species around the world that are in danger of becoming extinct. We hope that by learning about these amazing relatives of our well-loved domestic dogs, readers will be encouraged to act to protect these species. First up is the Ethiopian Wolf. This is the world's most endangered canid with fewer than 500 individuals left on earth. Located way up in the highlands of Ethiop...

Relatively easy to grow and extremely versatile, nothing gets you in touch with your inner farmer faster than a juicy red tomato plucked right from the vine. When planning a garden, most people envision neat rows lined up in the back yard, but as we've reported many times, indoor growing through the use of hydroponic technologies is now affordable as well as convenient.If you're considering an indoor system, you may want to opt for one that features LED lights rather than fluorescent. Recent re...