Tea Bird

Port Hope’s Nuclear Power Memorial

Nuclear power production is leaving behind monumental piles of radioactive soil as memorials of the heyday of nuclear power. Way back in the middle of the 20th century when everybody was giddy over nuclear power, the Canadian government set about mining and refining uranium and radium to power its massive nuclear power plants. [...]

Exxon Mobil Posts Record Profit (Again)

Of course. We’re in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, but Exxon Mobil still pumps out the dough:

Exxon Mobil Corp. set a quarterly profit record for a U.S. company Thursday, surging past analyst estimates.
Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500), the leading U.S. oil company, said its third-quarter net profit was $14.83 billion, or [...]

First Peek at Windows 7’s User Interface

Looking at the first screenshots and description of Windows 7 reaffirms my commitment to the Mac platform. On the bright side, the latest version of Windows is starting to look a lot like old versions of OS X. Of course, the marketing hype is out in full-force:

These UI changes represent a brave move [...]

Bisphenol A (BPA) Is Dangerous After All

A group of scientists has published a report stating that the FDA was wrong to assert that the common chemical in plastics is harmless. BPA, according to the report,
From can affect brain and behavioral development in infants and kids.

The Food and Drug Administration ignored scientific evidence and used flawed methods when it determined [...]

Pittsburgh’s National Aviary Expansion Plans Revealed

After 9 years, Pittsburgh’s National Aviary’s expansion plans will begin to be implemented this Spring. The
From Trib has details:

An indoor free-flight bird theater and an open-air rooftop theater for birds-of-prey highlight the long-awaited $23-million expansion plans the National Aviary revealed this morning.
…
The rooftop raptor theater will be 66 feet in diameter, according to [...]

Go Green Into That Great Good Night

From the Post-Gazette:

Starting Saturday, a Westmoreland County funeral home and owners of nearby Rose Memorial Park will begin offering green burials, an eco-friendly way of burying the dead.

Thousands flee fighting as Congo rebels seize gorilla park

This is awful news for gorilla conservation. The civil war raging in Congo has been terrible for Virunga National Park, but now rebels have taken over its headquarters.

The rebels also seized the headquarters of Virunga National Park in eastern Congo after intense fighting with the Congolese army, according to a statement by park [...]

Financial Meltdown Worsens Food Crisis

A big part of this problem is that the “Green Revolution” brought the need for synthetic fertilizer to the developing world. This is but one of the consequences.
From the Washington Post:

As shock waves from the credit crisis began to spread around the world last month, China scrambled to protect itself. Among the most [...]

Corps moves to dilute contaminants in Mon

The practice of local sewage authorities re-using water used in drilling deep natural gas wells has caused the amount of total dissolved solids in the Monongahela River to exceed EPA levels. These solids make the water smell and taste badly, and may be harmful to human health. We don’t know for sure, because [...]

Pittsburgh hires new sustainability coordinator

The City of Pittsburgh Hires Its First Sustainability Director:

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl announced Friday the city has hired a sustainability coordinator for the Office of Sustainability and Energy Efficiency.
The announcement comes as the ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) plans to open a project office in Pittsburgh next week, “to increase the momentum of the region’s [...]