A quieter version of the biodegradable SunChips bag.
Frito-Lay hopes to make some big noise with a quieter version of its biodegradable SunChips bag. The company introduced a biodegradable bag for the snacks in April of 2009 with a big marketing effort to play up its environmentally friendly nature as it was made from plants and not plastic and could break down in compost.
Bendable graphene battery concept
Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) may be on the cusp of creating something special: Bendable batteries that could have better performance than their stiff, inflexible cousins.
New discovery could lead to new treatments for other types of cancer.
Researchers believe they have found a key gene involved in Ferguson-Smith disease, otherwise known as multiple self-healing squamous epithelioma (MSSE), a skin cancer that grows rapidly but then a few weeks later, inexplicably, heals itself.
The Rockville Central, a community news site in the Washington D.C. area, will move all its operations and news coverage to its Facebook Page starting on March 1. This risky move by the site’s editor, Cindy Cotte Griffiths, highlights Facebook’s growing role as a platform for journalists to use for social storytelling and reporting.
Continue reading… “Facebook’s Growing Role in Social Journalism”
Scientists Nathan Putman and Ken Lohmann have determined that turtles can navigate across entire oceans by using the earth’s magnetic fields to determine their longitude and latitude. To test this hypothesis, they used a special water tank that permitted them to alter the magnetic fields inside. They then placed the turtles in the tank to see how they would respond to simulations of different locations…
Continue reading… “Turtles Use Earth’s Magnetic Fields as a Navigational System”
Some chemicals are more detrimental than others.
This week Europe proposed to add seven more chemicals to the list of substances of very high concern (SVHC). The addition of a chemical to the SVHC list enables European regulators to ban the chemical from the market unless it is proven that the risks are adequately controlled, or there is not a feasible substitute and the socio-economic benefits justify the risk. The proposal contains more of the usual suspects such as phthalates, glycol ethers, and a chromate (the “Erin Brockovich chemical”), as well as some potentially difficult to replace chemicals like a widely used reducing agent and a common universal solvent…
Continue reading… “Europe Proposes Seven New Chemical Substances of Very High Concern”
Inspired by the UK Uncut movement, Americans are taking to the street, asking why they’re being asked to tighten their belts when the largest corporations in the country are paying no tax at all…
Continue reading… “Why Are America’s Largest Corporations Paying No Tax?”
Matt Alaeddine World’s Fattest Contortionist
With the ability to press his soles to his cheeks, turn himself into a human dart board, and dislocate his shoulders to escape from a straitjacket, Matt Alaeddine’s resume reads more like a medical examiner’s report. Couple that with his sizable mass — well over 400 pounds — and the Edmonton comic and contortionist has found a ticket around the world, securing him a place in the infamous Jim Rose Circus…
Continue reading… “Canadian Man Claims to be World’s Fattest Contortionist”
IRS says breastfeeding expenses are tax write-offs.
Breastfeeding is easier on the planet because formula takes energy to produce, transport, and it wastes space in landfills. Not to mention that breastfeeding is the most natural means of giving your baby the best possible start. Michelle Obama even promoted breastfeeding as a means of reducing childhood obesity down the line. And most recently, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced tax breaks for breastfeeding moms.
Continue reading… “IRS Gives Tax Breaks to Breastfeeding Moms”
NASA Scientists have tested the climate effect of what a small, regional nuclear war would do to the world and have come up with a few revealing (and quite scary) conclusions. For the purpose of the exercise, NASA termed a small, regional nuclear war as 100 Hiroshima-level bombs.
Continue reading… “Regional Nuclear War Could Reverse Global Warming According to NASA”
Researchers worked with mice and found that if a portion of the heart was removed within the first week of life, the heart grew back completely.
An adult zebra fish can regenerate a damaged heart with no scar formation. This remarkable phenomenon has been seen in other fish and amphibians as well, but never before in a mammal.
Continue reading… “Study Finds Newborn Mice’s Hearts Can Heal Themselves”
Most U.S. adults wished people practiced better mobile etiquette and found the lack of cellphone manners extremely annoying.
Whether is it texting during dinner, talking on a cellphone in a public restroom or using a laptop while driving, most people think mobile etiquette is getting worse, not better.