Aug 7, 2009

Hollywood is world famous for many things — celebrities, sunshine, and shopping among them. But a new Hollywood attraction is the first of its kind: Environmentaland, an eco-themed park that opened this month at Hollywood Boulevard and North Highland Avenue.

The park is expected to entertain adults and kids alike, with attractions including an energy-generating see-saw, alternative energy-fueled golf carts, recycled paper plane takeoff, mini-bin exhibit and designing station, desert mini golf, planetarium, organic pet treats, and “Portal Potties” — mini entertainment history museums encased in redesigned porta potties. As an added perk — and a strong hint toward sustainable travel — visitors who travel to the park via public transport pay no admission. (Students also get in free.) In addition to these year-round attractions, the park will host special events including art shows, film screenings, recycling drives, and design contests.

Environmentaland — Hollywood’s Newest Quirky Theme Park

Global Inheritance is the organization responsible for creating Environmentaland. The non-profit aims to bring about social, environmental, and community change by engaging young people. Global Inheritance runs a number of ongoing programs, including TRASHed — Art of Recycling (a recycling awareness campaign), Tour Rider (a traffic reduction initiative), The Bigger Picture film nights (which expose issues global warming and other issues), and Alternative Fuel RC Racing (which allows participants to race miniature-sized alt-fueled cars). Its past projects include the organizing of a free shuttle to Coachella Music Festival to minimize the event’s carbon footprint.

This article was reproduced with the kind permission of Triple Pundit.

Aug 7, 2009

Three major glaciers in Alaska and Washington state have thinned and shrunk dramatically, clear signs of a warming climate, according to a study released Thursday by the U.S. Geological Survey.

The three glaciers — Gulkana and Wolverine in Alaska and South Cascade in Washington — are considered benchmarks for those in alpine and maritime climates because they closely parallel other glaciers in their regions. They have also been the subject of close scientific scrutiny since 1957.

Alaska Glaciers Shrinking Fast

“These are the three glaciers in North America that have the longest record of mass change,” said Shad O’Neel, a United States Geological Survey glaciologist in Anchorage who was one of the study authors.

“All three of them have a different climate from the other two, yet all three are showing a similar pattern of behavior, and that behavior is mass loss.”

Scientists are keeping a close watch on melting glaciers, as a rise in sea-levels would threaten coastal and low-lying areas around the world.

The latest study compares records of snow and ice thickness and densities over the years, the factors used to calculate mass. The glaciers have lost mass as melting outpaced new snow and ice accumulation, and for all three, the losses were especially dramatic over the past 15 years, according to the USGS study.

Article continues: http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE57603W20090807?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews

Aug 7, 2009

WITHIN 60 years the Arctic Ocean could be a stagnant, polluted soup. Without drastic cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions, the Transpolar Drift, one of the Arctic’s most powerful currents and a key disperser of pollutants, is likely to disappear because of global warming

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The Transpolar Drift is a cold surface current that travels right across the Arctic Ocean from central Siberia to Greenland, and eventually out into the Atlantic. It was first discovered in 1893 by the Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen, who tried unsuccessfully to use the current to sail to the North Pole. Together with the Beaufort Gyre, the Transpolar Drift keeps Arctic waters well mixed and ensures that pollution never lingers there for long.

Arctic Ocean may be polluted soup by 2070

To better understand the dispersal of pollution in the Arctic Ocean, Ola Johannessen, director of the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center in Bergen, Norway, and his colleagues studied the spread of radioactive substances such as strontium-90 and caesium-137 from nuclear testing, bomb factories and nuclear power-plant accidents. Measurements taken between 1948 and 1999 were plugged into a high-resolution ocean circulation model and combined with a climate model to predict Arctic Ocean circulation until 2080.

Article continues

Aug 7, 2009

“The U.S. Senate voted 60-37 Thursday night to approve a $2 billion extension for the popular “Cash for Clunkers” program.

The U.S. House overwhelmingly approved the measure on July 31 after the program ran through its $1 billion fund in about a week. The measure would transfer money

from other parts of the federal stimulus package.

$2B 'Cash for Clunkers' extension passes

he Car Allowance

Rebate System, better known as Cash for Clunkers, offers a rebate of $3,500 to $4,500 for new-car purchases when buyers turn in older, less fuel-efficient models.

Article continues

Aug 7, 2009

I have seen the future, and it's terrifyingly convenient. Sitting behind the wheel of a Ford Taurus Lincoln MKS, I watched as its Active Park Assist system took over the steering, parallel-parking the car in a tight spot on a New York street as I worked the pedals. Ford was demo'ing the tech — which has just begun to hit the streets — in the company's promotional campaign for the 2010 Taurus. Of all the new technologies shown off, including an upgraded SYNC system, the Active Park Assist impressed me the most.

When I say it's terrifying, I mean it, but kind of in a good way. The first time you let go of the steering wheel while performing parallel parking, it's very disconcerting. But grabbing hold of it will instantly cause the system to abort, so I kept my hands clear. As the instructions appeared on the dash, telling me to back up slowly, I watched as the wheel turned itself over and over, then expertly turn the other way when it was time to straighten out. As the MKS backed toward the parked car behind us, the collision warning system — which visually and audibly lets you know how close you're getting — kept track of the whole maneuver with far more precision than I could.

More on the tech behind the system, and the key question about it, after the jump.

Aug 7, 2009

While the shrapnel created by a roadside bomb or improvised explosive device is lethal all on its own, the concussive force of a blast can seriously injure, incapacitate and kill the crew of a vehicle right through its armor.

To combat the effect of blast waves, a company called Survival Consultants International has developed a wall of airbags triggered by a light sensor. Light, the company maintains, is the only thing faster than a concussive wave caused by an explosion. In a split second, the triggered sensors confer with an on-board processor on whether or not to deploy the bags, which in turn combat the force of a blast wave.

Check out a video demonstrating the airbag armor tech down below.

Aug 7, 2009

The days of building your own flying replica of the Battlestar Galactica Viper have just begun. Even though the Estes model rocket version of the Viper met its untimely demise a couple of decades ago, now the enterprising do-it-yourselfers at Verna Rockets show you how to bring a flying Viper back to life.

The site helps you gather the necessary parts and instructions to fly those formidable fighters once again, with plans and instructions for a respectable custom build, right down to the realistic decals of the Red Squadron. And if you don't like Battlestar Galactica, you can also build the SR-71 Blackbird.

Go ahead — construct a single-engine version, but notice there's room for four engines in there, so you might be tempted to fill every one of them with solid rocket power on the bigger Hyper Viper. That's sure to be even more exciting. For extra realism, we'd like to see these babies launching through a tube.

Aug 7, 2009

Sony's teasing us with some simulated images, claiming that its upcoming EXMOR image sensor can snag a whole lot more light than any other. Sony explains that its new CMOS sensor technology is able to choose between the most relevant photons, ending up with a much better low-light image.

Expect to see the new sensors in the Sony CyberShot TX1 ($400) and WX1 ($350) still cameras when they ship next month. Those prices are a lot higher than most other comparably equipped point-and-shoots. But hey, if it can "cull ambient photons" as well as this faked and highly suspect shot implies, it might just be worth the extra dough. This we gotta see.

BBG, via CrunchGear