Solar flare to deliver 'glacing blow' to Earth's magnetic field
By Andy Soos, ENN The Sun unleashed an M-2 (medium-sized) solar flare, an S1-class (minor) radiation storm and a spectacular coronal mass ejection on Tuesday. The large cloud of particles mushroomed up and fell back down looking as if it covered an area of almost half the solar surface. A solar flare is a sudden […]
The next battle ground for oil: the rich Arctic region
By Andy Soos, ENN The potential for mineral, oil and gas deposits in the Arctic Ocean is not clearly known, but that doesn’t stop the countries that border the area from fighting over it. Russia, Canada, Denmark, and Norway are heating up discussions as ice melting in northern areas reveals more and more, allowing readier […]
Scottish university to introduce comic studies degree
In the Central Lowlands of Scotland, the University of Dundee is to become the first university in the United Kingdom to provide degrees in comic studies. The university has said that courses for its comic studies subject within the English section will commence in September 2011. The city of Dundee is known to be the headquarters for D. C. Thomson & Co., a publishing […]
Europe's new E.Coli scare takes hold
By David A Gabel, ENN It started with a few deaths in Germany from what were thought to be Spanish cucumbers. Then more people in Germany and around the continent got infected. Trade tensions mounted and vegetable producers from various other countries became affected by the new outbreak. Now there have been cases reported in […]
Geologists press for recognition of Earth-changing 'human epoch'
By Gaia Vince, guardian.co.uk These are epoch-making times. Literally. There is now “compelling evidence”, according to an influential group of geologists, that humans have had such an impact on the planet that we are entering a new phase of geological time: the Anthropocene. Millions of years from now, they say, alien geologists would be able […]
Could the Net be killing the planet one web search at a time?
By Alex Roslin, For Postmedia News It’s Saturday night, and you want to catch the latest summer blockbuster. You do a quick Google search to find the venue and right time, and off you go to enjoy some mindless fun. Meanwhile, your Internet search has just helped kill the planet. Depending on how long you […]
World must face 'inconvenient truth' of emissions rise, says UN climate chief
By Fiona Harvey, guardian.co.uk The fastest-ever rise in greenhouse gas emissions is an “inconvenient truth” the world must face, the UN’s climate change chief has said. But she added that the data should not lead to fatalism that the problem is impossible to tackle. The figures showing that efforts to control greenhouse gases have had […]
Police arrest train passenger for a 16-hour loud cellphone conversation
A 39-year old woman, Lakeysha Beard, talked for more than half a day while on an Amtrak train going from Oakland,California to Portland, Oregon. The loud cellphone conversation lasted sixteen hours last Monday, after which police stopped the train for 20 minutes at Salem, Oregon to arrest the woman. According to the British...
COMMENT: Reflections on the Israeli-Palestinian 'Peace Process'
First of all, the Israelis created Hamas. But before we explore that issue, let’s start with a more important one. Let’s be honest with ourselves. If we can look at the situation from beyond the confines of current political discourse, and look at the emperor without his “new” clothes, we all know that Israel does […]
Melting ice roads in Arctic could have big impact
By Timothy Gardner, Reuters Higher temperatures have already led to lower summer sea ice levels in the Arctic and the melting has the potential to increase access for fishermen, tourists and oil and natural gas developers to coastal regions in coming decades. The melting has also led to hopes that shorter Arctic shipping routes between […]