Bloomberg Announces Development, Remediation Plan For Willets Point In Queens

Sixty two acres of rough and tumble small businesses, auto repair shops and iron works in the shadow of Citi Field will be wiped off the map and replaced by a 1 million square-foot mall, hotel, market rate and affordable apartments and office space, CBS 2’s Tony Aiello reported Thursday.  http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/06/14/bloomberg-announces-development-remediation-plan-for-willets-point-in-queens/

Article courtesy of  CBS NYC by Stan Brooks

Sea level could rise 5.5 feet in California

Sea levels along the California coast are expected to rise up to 1 foot in 20 years, 2 feet by 2050 and as much as 5 1/2 feet by the end of the century, climbing slightly more than the global average and increasing the risk of flooding and storm damage, a new study says.  http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-adv-sea-level-20120625,0,7840116.story

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times by Tony Barboza

Rising sea level threatens Boston, entire East Coast

As temperatures are projected to climb, polar ice to melt, and oceans to swell over the coming decades, Boston is likely to bear a disproportionate impact of rising sea levels, government scientists report in a new study.  http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2012/06/25/sea_level_rising_3_4_times_faster_along_east_coast_than_globally_government_report_finds/?p1=News_links  Article courtesy of The Boston Globe by David Abel

Study predicts more hot spells in Southern California

By the middle of the century, the number of days with temperatures above 95 degrees each year will triple in downtown Los Angeles, quadruple in portions of the San Fernando Valley and even jump five-fold in a portion of the High Desert in L.A. County, according to a new UCLA climate change study. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-heat-20120621,0,1178174.story

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times by Louis Sahagun

Searing questions on massive solar experiment in Mojave Desert

IVANPAH VALLEY, Calif. — At what temperature might a songbird vaporize?

Will the glare from five square miles of mirrors create a distraction for highway drivers?

Can plumes of superheated air create enough turbulence to flip a small airplane?

What happens if one of the Air Force's heat-seeking missiles confuses a solar power plant with a military training target?  http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-solar-heat-plume-20120621,0,917543.story

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Time by Julie Cart

Earth may be near tipping point, scientists warn

A group of international scientists is sounding a global alarm, warning that population growth, climate change and environmental destruction are pushing Earth toward calamitous — and irreversible — biological changes.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0607-global-tipping-20120607,0,4125302.story

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times by Bettina Boxall

Underground carbon dioxide storage likely would cause earthquakes

The notion of mitigating harmful carbon dioxide emissions by storing the gas underground is not practical because the process is likely to cause earthquakes that would release the gas anyway, according to a commentary published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-carbon-storage-may-cause-earthquakes-20120618,0,5073255.story?track=rss

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times-Science Now by Jon Bardin, Los Angles Times /For the Science Now blog

Fear factor seems relevant in decomposing bug's effect on soil

The next time you kill an insect, you might want to do it quickly — for the sake of the environment.

New research shows that whether an animal lives in safety or is terrorized by a predator can change the biochemical trajectory of the local ecosystem where it dies. The findings point to an expanded role for both predators and prey in their local environments, and may affect which species conservationists believe are most important to keep around. http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-stressed-grasshoppers-change-soil-20120616,0,2176497.story

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times by Jon Bardin

Robot mimics infants' word learning

In an attempt to replicate the early experiences of infants, researchers in England have created a robot that can learn simple words in minutes just by having a conversation with a person http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-robot-learns-language-20120616,0,6160481.story

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times by  Jon Bardin

Plague confirmed in Oregon man bitten by stray cat

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Health officials have confirmed that an Oregon man has the plague after he was bitten while trying to take a dead rodent from the mouth of a stray cat.

The unidentified Prineville, Ore., man was in critical condition on Friday. He is suffering from a blood-borne version of the disease that wiped out at least one-third of Europe in the 14th century — that one, the bubonic plague, affects lymph nodes. http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/2012/06/18/plague-confirmed-oregon-man-bitten-stray-cat/f54fRE3OTbTzlm3KJ8JZ0L/story.html

Article courtesy of Boston.com by Nigel Duara/Associated Press

 

New Understanding of Traffic Congestion

A new report by the Arizona Department of Transportation found that residents of higher-density Phoenix neighborhoods drive substantially less than similar residents located in lower-density suburban neighborhoods. The study found that urban dwellers drive about a third fewer daily miles than their suburban counterparts. http://www.planetizen.com/node/57017

Article coutesy of Planetizen posted by Todd Litman

T invites commuter rail riders to sign up for updates on smartphone ticket app

The MBTA’s plan to allow commuter rail customers to purchase and display tickets on their smartphones took a step closer to becoming a reality over the weekend, when the MBTA launched a website for customers to sign up for project updates. T officials said the website is the first step in a process that will also involve a pilot program this fall. http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2012/06/11/invites-commuter-rail-riders-sign-for-updates-smartphone-ticket-app/Awugi69Z6Pb8W12aT4ZjgK/story.html

Courtesy of The Boston Globe -Metro Desk by Colin A. Young, Globe Correspondent

Diesel engine exhaust linked to increased risk of lung cancer

The world’s most prestigious cancer research group on Tuesday classified diesel engine exhaust as carcinogenic to humans and concluded that exposure is associated with increased risk of lung cancer.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer — part of the World Health Organization — made the announcement at a meeting in France, finding, in part, “that diesel exhaust is a cause of lung cancer, and also noted a positive association with an increased risk of bladder cancer. The Working Group concluded that gasoline exhaust was possibly carcinogenic to humans.” http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-diesel-engine-exhaust-linked-with-risk-of-lung-cancer-20120612,0,7726895.story

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Time –Science Now by Julie Cart

 

 

Hubway bike-sharing program is on a roll

If you’ve been seeing a lot of sturdy silver bikes rolling past lately, you’re not imagining it. The Hubway bicycle-sharing system in Boston had its busiest day yet last Sunday, recording 2,531 station-to-station trips. On Tuesday, it eclipsed the 250,000 mark for total rides.

“It’s absolutely incredible. It’s blown away what we thought projections would be for the system,” said Kris Carter, interim director of Boston Bikes, the city program overseeing Hubway. “To hit that mark this early is really phenomenal compared with [other] bike-share systems across the country.” http://articles.boston.com/2012-06-03/metro/31979067_1_bike-sharing-bicycle-sharing-stations

Article courtesy of The Boston Globe by Eric Moskowitzt

 

 

 

Tsunami debris: Huge dock washes up on Oregon coast

SEATTLE — Authorities have confirmed that a 66-foot-long dock that floated onto a beach near Newport, Ore., this week came from Japan — the latest in a growing wave of debris from the earthquake and tsunami that ripped through the Japanese coast in March 2011. http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-huge-dock-tsunami-20120606,0,7550444.story

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times-Nation Now by Kim Murphy

MBTA to give free rides from Logan airport

Passengers taking Silver Line buses from Logan Airport will ride for free starting Wednesday, a move that also means free transfers to the subway system at South Station and appears to make Logan the first major airport to provide free public transportation for travelers heading downtown.

Article courtesy of The Boston Globe by Eric Moskowitz

Why don't mosquitoes die in the rain? They're too small

Mosquitoes thrive in rainy climates, even though a typical raindrop can weigh up to 50 times as much as the insect. Scientists have thus long pondered how mosquitoes can fly through a rainstorm without getting killed by such collisions, the impact of which is comparable to a human being hit by a bus. The short answer is that the mosquitoes are so light that they simply hitch a ride on the raindrop without any significant force being transferred to them  http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-mosquitoes-rain-20120604,0,2743358.story?track=rss

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times-Science Now by Thomas H. Maugh II

 

Controversial Malibu Lagoon project to begin Friday

State contractors are to drain and reshape the polluted Malibu Lagoon. Activists, who say the project would destroy the salt marsh and flatten Surfrider Beach's waves, pledge to stand in the way. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-malibu-lagoon-20120526,0,2289147.story

Article courtesy of the Los Angeles Times by Tony Barboza

SpaceX capsule completes historic mission

The Dragon capsule is recovered after splashing down in the Pacific. The SpaceX vehicle is the first privately built and operated spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station.

 

About 563 miles west of Baja California, SpaceX's Dragon space capsule successfully splashed down after spending nine days in outer space.

When the unmanned cone-shaped capsule hit the water at 8:42 a.m. Pacific time Thursday, it marked the end of a historic mission carried out by the Hawthorne company officially known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp. It was the first privately built and operated spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-spacex-splashdown-20120601,0,4389865.story

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times by W.J. Hennigan