Car Connection Says Billboards Are Dangerous

The Car Connection, a website that reviews automobiles, recently published a list of the “7 Most Dangerous Things You Can Do in Your Car,” and reading billboards is listed among them as a “potentially deadly distraction.” Digital billboard technology is especially distracting, presenting a new array of challenges to drivers. These new digital distractions include bright screens that change every 6 to 8 seconds, and high-resolution signs that show video right next to the roadway. "The best advice is keep your eyes on the road," Car Connections editors say, but that can be easier said than done when it comes to out-of-car distractions. The human eye is designed to notice movement, particularly in our peripheral vision, so a bright, changing screen may in fact be nearly impossible to ignore.
www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=7870

Article courtesy of Smart Growth Network

Total lunar eclipse visible Monday night

A total eclipse of the moon will be visible throughout North and Central America from 11:41 p.m. PST Monday until 12:53 a.m. Tuesday, the first such eclipse in almost three years.

Weather permitting, observers will see the moon enter the Earth's inner shadow, or umbra, at 10:33 p.m., with a red-brown shadow creeping across the bright moon. This shadow has a curved edge, a fact that was taken as proof to at least some ancients that the Earth is round. The sky will get darker as the shadow progresses across the moon, and more stars will be visible as sunlight reflected from the moon fades.

The total phase of the eclipse will last 72 minutes, then the moon will begin to emerge from the umbra, coming totally out of the inner shadow at 2:01 a.m.

Article courtesy of the Los Angeles Times by Thomas H. Haugh II

Mudslides, flooding close roads including PCH; 'huge' storm expected Monday afternoon

Rain continued to pound Southern California overnight, prompting several major road closures due to flooding and mudslides.

The California Highway Patrol closed a 10-mile section of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu due to the rock slide on the road in Ventura County. The 710 Freeway was closed for several hours at Willow Street in Long Beach due to flooding.

Read more:   http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/12/mudslides-flooding-close-roads-pch-huge-storm-set-for-monday-afternoon.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+lanowblog+(L.A.+Now)

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times Metro Staff

Cold-Weather Comforts: Give a Coat

Rather than throwing out an old winter coat, or even just dropping it off at the local thrift store, try giving it to someone who really needs it. The national project One Warm Coat is a good place to start if you're interested in simultaneously sparing a landfill and clothing a neighbor.

Article courtesy of The Green Life (green.life@sierraclub.org)

 

The oceans' SOS

The planet's great communal resource provides protein sources and oxygen and is used for transportation, recreation and inspiration. It's time to put it at the center of the climate change discussion.

The ocean is our global heat reservoir and one of two major carbon dioxide sinks. If you agree that humans are trapping heat and carbon dioxide in the planet's atmosphere — and 53 years of rigorous observations at Scripps and other research institutions show that we are — then the ocean must be at the very center of the climate discussion. But it rarely is.
Read more:  
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-haymetdickson-oceans-20101213,0,956649.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fmostviewed+%28L.A.+Times+-+Most+Viewed+Stories%29

Article courtesy of Los Angeles Times by Tony Haymet and Andrew Dickson

 

Folic acid levels are high enough in most people -- except the right people

Folic acid has been added to grain products for more than a decade in order to boost intake among women of reproductive age. The supplementation was endorsed after studies showed adequate levels of folic acid are necessary to prevent spinal cord defects and other birth defects. But a new study suggests everyone except reproductive age women are getting plenty of the nutrient.   Read more :
http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-folate-20101213,0,7281493.story

 

Article courtesy of Los Angeles Times By Shari Roan

New England turbine project may dwarf Cape Wind

A larger and more expensive wind farm than the controversial Cape Wind project is proposed for an area off the coasts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Deepwater Wind, which has previously proposed building up to eight turbines, yesterday unveiled ambitious plans to build as many as 200 turbines in deep federal waters south of the two states.

The $4 billion to $5 billion project, which needs both federal and state approvals, would be located about 15 miles southwest of Martha’s Vineyard and 15 miles southeast of Block Island. Read more  http://bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view/20101209new_england_turbine_project_may_dwarf_cape_wind/srvc=business&position=also

Article courtesy of the Boston Herald by Jay Fitzgerald