Metrolink unveils new locomotives that could help improve the region's air

The Metrolink commuter railroad on Monday unveiled the first of 40 clean-air locomotives that will replace its aging fleet of diesel engines in an effort to reduce harmful exhaust emissions across the region.  http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-ln-metrolink-engines-20160718-snap-story.html
Article courtesy of the Los Angeles Times by Dan Weikel

Thumb Suckers and Nail Biters May Develop Fewer Allergies

Babies have been seen sucking on their fingers in utero weeks before birth. But the sight of an older child with his fingers constantly in his mouth, sucking her thumb, biting his nails, can drive parents crazy, bringing up fears about everything from social stigma to germs.

A new study suggests that those habits in children ages 5 to 11 may indeed increase exposure to microbes, but that that may not be all bad.  http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/07/11/do-dirty-habits-help-the-immune-system/?module=WatchingPortal&region=c-column-middle-span-region&pgType=Homepage&action=click&mediaId=thumb_square&state=standard&contentPlacement=2&version=internal&contentCollection=well.blogs.nytimes.com&contentId=http%3A%2F%2Fwell.blogs.nytimes.com%2F2016%2F07%2F11%2Fdo-dirty-habits-help-the-immune-system%2F&eventName=Watching-article-click

Article courtesy of the New York Times by Perri Klass MD

Lessons From the Tesla Crash

A recent fatal crash in Florida involving a Tesla Model S is an example of how a new technology designed to make cars safer could, in some cases, make them more dangerous. These risks, however, could be minimized with better testing and regulations.  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/11/opinion/lessons-from-the-tesla-crash.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&_r=0
Article courtesy of The New York Times by the Editorial Board

Climate Change Claims a Lake, and an Identity

LLAPALLAPANI, Bolivia — The water receded and the fish died. They surfaced by the tens of thousands, belly-up, and the stench drifted in the air for weeks.

The birds that had fed on the fish had little choice but to abandon Lake Poopó, once Bolivia’s second-largest but now just a dry, salty expanse. Many of the Uru-Murato people, who had lived off its waters for generations, left as well, joining a new global march of refugees fleeing not war or persecution, but climate change.  http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/07/07/world/americas/bolivia-climate-change-lake-poopo.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=mini-moth&region=top-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below&_r=0

This article courtesy of The New York Times by Nicolas Casey

Another Tesla crashes and Autopilot is blamed again

DETROIT — A Southfield, Mich., art gallery owner told police his 2016 Tesla Model X was in Autopilot mode when it crashed and rolled over on the Pennsylvania Turnpike last week.
The crash came just one day after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a report on a fatal crash in May involving a Tesla that was also in self-driving mode.  http://www.azcentral.com/story/money/cars/2016/07/05/owner-survives-tesla-crash/86729076/
Article courtesy of azcentral.com by Greg Gardner/Detroit Free Press

Scientists Devise New Way to Find an Elusive Element: Helium

You may not know much about helium, except that it fills birthday balloons and blimps and can make even the most stentorian voice sound a bit like Donald Duck.

But helium is an important gas for science and medicine. Among other things, in liquid form (a few degrees above absolute zero) it is used to keep superconducting electromagnets cold in equipment like M.R.I. machines and the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, which uses 265,000 pounds of it to help keep particles in line as they zip around.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/29/science/helium-superconductivity-tanzania.html?action=click&contentCollection=science&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0

Article courtesy of the New York Times by Henry Fountain

Years later, Arizona forest thinning 'just not happening'

An ambitious plan to clear away fire hazards and restore ecological health to Arizona's massive pine forest has so far failed to meet expectations set by the U.S. Forest Service.
Six years into a 20-year plan to thin overgrown ponderosa pines from northern and eastern Arizona, the Four Forest Restoration Initiative has treated just over 80,000 of the 1 million acres targeted for work.  http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2016/06/20/years-later-arizona-forest-thinning-just-not-happening/85706310/
Article courtesy of The Republic/AZcentral.com by Brandon Loomis