EarthScape

An oil spill from a leaking underwater well grew to cover 1,900 square miles of the Gulf of Mexico on Monday as the U.S. Coast Guard scrambled to keep the slick from reaching the fragile Gulf Coast shoreline. The well, 5,000 feet under the ocean surface off Louisiana’s coast, is leaking about 1,000 barrels of…

The brain, in some ways, is simply the biological device that keeps a body running and the mind thinking. In that way it is like a computer. An international team of scientists has discovered striking similarities between the human brain, the nervous system of a worm, and a computer chip. The finding is reported in…

Wireless network company Verizon Communications has been listed on the Maplecroft Climate Innovation Benchmark Index (CII), among 300 of the largest companies in the US, for its efforts in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In the reportAccording to the report, Verizon’s strengths include policies and procedures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; programs to encourage innovation related…

Scientists have discovered a fast-moving deep ocean current with the volume of 40 Amazon Rivers near Antarctica that will help researchers monitor the impacts of climate change on the world’s oceans. A team of Australian and Japanese scientists, in a study published in Sunday’s issue of the journal Nature Geoscience, found that the current is…

An oil well on the ocean floor beneath a drilling rig that exploded and sank into the Gulf of Mexico began spewing oil on Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The well, 5,000 feet beneath the ocean surface, was leaking about 1,000 barrels per day of oil, a Coast Guard spokeswoman said, in what the…

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter on Monday signed into law the Colorado Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act–legislation that requires Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL) to cut nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 80% from several Front Range coal plants by the end of 2017, most likely sooner. Xcel will work with the Colorado Department of Public Health and…

What is time? One of the earliest concepts proposed is that is simply the fourth dimension, another direction. Humans travel daily one way into the future. Science fiction writers have long been obsessed with the subject from the legendary “The Time Machine” by HG Wells to the the Doctor Who series about the last time…

The New Jersey cities of Trenton, Jersey City, Newark, and Camden are set to receive a total of $2.3 million dollars from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help them assess and clean up contaminated and abandoned sites. The funding will be channeled through the EPA’s Brownfields Program. The clean up projects will help…

Indo-Pacific lionfish, an invasive carnivore equipped with venomous spines, are spreading—and eating their way—through the fishes of the Caribbean Sea. In an effort to stop, or at least slow down, these fearless invaders, the National Science Foundation has awarded a 3-year, $700,000 grant to scientists at Oregon State University (OSU), Corvallis. The lionfish are normally…

The annual MerleFest, presented by Lowe’s takes place next week in Wilkesboro, NC. MerleFest has been an annual event since 1988. It attracts attendees from a wide area, and generates significant economic benefit to the region. This year MerleFest is making increased environmental efforts to reduce the potential environmental impacts of such a large-scale event.…