Crisp Green

Another Off-Shore Oil Explosion in the Gulf

LiveOAK Staff — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 22:24:25 +0000

An oil and gas platform operated by Mariner Energy approximately 80 miles off the central coast of Louisiana burst into flames today. The fire which began at approximately 9am CDT is now out, and the 13 platform workers have been rescued. Still no word on what caused the fire but a Mariner Spokesperson was quick to announce that it was not a "blow out." Mariner is reporting that the fire started on the upper deck in or near the living quarters.

Check out CNN for more coverage.

Jerome Milgram Interview: Oil Spill in the Gulf

The Frozen Zoo aiming to bring endangered species back from the brink

The Guardian — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:00:20 +0000

This article was written by Paul Harris, for guardian.co.uk on Saturday 28th August 2010 23.05 UTC

The inside of a metal box filled with liquid nitrogen and frozen to -173C (-280F) is hardly the ideal habitat for a large African mammal. But, as a test tube is fished out of the frigid container amid a billowing cloud of white gas, a note written on its side is unequivocal about its contents. "This is a northern white rhino," says Scripps research scientist Inbar Ben-Nun as she reads out the label and holds the freezing vial with thick gloves that look like industrial-grade oven mitts.

Ben-Nun is holding no ordinary scientific sample. For the frozen cells in that test tube could one day give rise to baby northern white rhinos and help save the species from extinction. They would be living specimens of one of the most endangered species on Earth, who after a few months would be trotting into wildlife parks, and maybe, just maybe, helping repopulate their kind on the African grasslands. No wonder that the place where the sample came from is called the Frozen Zoo.

The Frozen Zoo was founded in 1972 at San Diego Zoo's Institute for Conservation Research as a repository for skin-cell samples from rare and endangered species. At the time that the first samples were collected and put into deep freeze it was not really known how they would be used and genetic technology was in its infancy. But there was a sense that one day some unknown scientific advance might make use of them and it was better to be safe than sorry. Now, thanks to a team at the nearby Scripps Research Institute, that day has come a lot closer.

Genetic scientists at Scripps, working from an anonymous-looking building in a business park in San Diego's northern suburbs, have succeeded in taking samples of skin cells from the Frozen Zoo and turning them into a culture of special cells known as induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells. Stem cells are a sort of all-purpose building block of life that can then become any other sort of cell. By creating IPS cells from a species it is now theoretically possible to use them to create egg cells and sperm cells. Those two could then be combined via in vitro fertilisation to form a viable embryo. And long-dead animals whose species are almost extinct could create new life. The breakthrough, so far, has come with creating IPS cells for the silver-maned drill monkey, a primate native to just a few parts of West Africa and which is the continent's most endangered monkey. On 1 June this year, the stem cells morphed into brain cells, proving their viability.

"The Frozen Zoo was a wonderful idea. They just thought: 'Well, something might happen, so we should preserve some samples for the future'," says Dr Jeanne Loring, who is leading the Scripps team of which Ben-Nun is a part. "This is the first time that there has been something that we can do."

The implications of Loring's breakthrough are clear for those trying to save endangered animals. If the technology is perfected and IPS cell cultures can be established for many of the species held in the Frozen Zoo, then conservationists will not just have to rely on preventing extinction by coaxing a few remaining individuals to breed. Instead, cell lines preserved in the Frozen Zoo can be added to the possible gene pool, increasing the chances of healthy reproduction.

"If we could use animals that were already dead – even from 20 years ago – to generate sperm and eggs then we can use those individuals to create greater genetic diversity. I see it as being possible. I see no scientific barrier," Loring says.

It has also raised another prospect among some observers: that of a Jurassic Park scenario. If viable cell samples could be harvested from the remains of extinct animal species, such as stuffed Tasmanian tigers in museums or the woolly mammoth corpses dug up from the Siberian tundra, then perhaps scientists would one day be able to reverse extinction. It is not a prospect that many scientists involved want to encourage. But ever since news of Loring's work with the drill monkey cells was revealed, the Jurassic Park headlines have been coming thick and fast.

Loring's lab at Scripps holds samples from the northern white rhino and the drill monkey, but the real Frozen Zoo, just a few miles away, is on a much larger scale. Housed in a building inside San Diego Zoo, its freezers contain samples from 8,400 animals, representing more than 800 species. They include Gobi bears, endangered cattle breeds such as gaurs and bantengs, mountain gorillas, pandas, a California grey whale and condors. The entire gigantic menagerie is housed in four deep-freeze tanks, representing a staggeringly important slice of some of the world's most rare wildlife.

Dr Oliver Ryder, the geneticist who heads the Frozen Zoo programme, welcomes the news of Loring's work, which itself built on a breakthrough in 2007 by Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka. For Ryder it is confirmation that the zoo's founding as a sort of "bet" on the science of the future now has great prospects of paying off. "We wondered if one day pigs would fly. Well, now pigs are flying. I am very excited by the results," Ryder says.

But Ryder does not appreciate some of the wilder headlines that have sprung from the potential implications of the research. The words "Jurassic Park" get short shrift from the plain-spoken scientist. He has little time for those who advocate bringing back long-dead species or those fringe figures who dream one day of recreating a dinosaur just like in Steven Spielberg's movie. Apart from the fact that the science of extracting viable DNA for such animals is virtually impossible, he believes it distracts from the Frozen Zoo's primary aim: to stop species becoming extinct in the first place. "What would be the benefit of bringing back something that has been extinct for some 10,000 years? It is intriguing and evocative but it plays to human hubris. What's the motivation? Is this for personal benefit or society saying: 'We have arcane powers and the world is our oyster'?" he asks.

When it comes to species still on the brink, with perhaps just a few individuals left, however, Ryder is insistent that humanity has a duty to save them and that the Frozen Zoo can play a crucial role. Especially close to Ryder's heart is one of the species that Loring is working on: the northern white rhino. There are just eight of the animals left alive on earth and not all of them are viable breeders. To put it bluntly: the northern white rhino's gene pool is more accurately a rapidly drying-up gene puddle. But, if Loring's work succeeds in creating northern white rhino IPS cells and then turning them into sperm and eggs, that gene pool can be deepened again.

It is a race against time. Unlike with the drill monkey, Loring's efforts with rhino cells have not yet worked. But at least Loring thinks she knows why. The drill monkey samples were coaxed into becoming IPS cells using viruses loaded with carefully selected human genes that can trigger that reaction. Loring suspects it worked with drill monkeys because – as fellow primates – they are genetically close enough to humans for the introduced human genes to work properly. Rhinos, she thinks, may be too distantly related. However, she plans to try again, this time perhaps using genes from a closer animal relative to the rhino, the horse.

Ryder makes no secret of how emotionally attached he is to saving the northern white rhino while there are still living animals, rather than just reviving some later entirely from a test tube. He recalls witnessing the birth of a female northern white rhino more than 20 years ago and watching it being introduced to its herd: something that would be lost for ever if the last northern white rhino died before Loring's technology is perfected. "I saw her meet the rest of the rhino herd. There was a clear sense of how to meet the baby. If we wait until there are no white rhinos and then one is created from a test tube, to whom are we going to introduce it?" he says. "My feelings about the rhino come straight from the heart. I am not ready to give up on this rhino."

Sadly, it is already too late for other species. The Frozen Zoo already holds samples from animals that are now extinct. One such is the po'ouli bird, a species of honeycreeper that lived in Hawaii and was only discovered in 1973. Unfortunately, the last recorded sighting of the po'ouli was in 2004, and it is thought to be extinct, assailed by habitat loss and the introduction of disease by humans. Now it resides only in the Frozen Zoo in the form of its skin cells preserved and frozen. Ryder, sticking with his belief that there is no point in rescuing the already extinct, hopes instead that studying the po'ouli bird's genes will help conservationists prevent other related and endangered species from following the same path. "Maybe we cannot bring back the po'ouli, but we can use its secrets to help others," he says.

Ryder believes the importance of the Frozen Zoo cannot be overestimated in the face of the vast pressures that humanity is putting on the creatures with which it shares the planet. In fact the Frozen Zoo's collection of samples is so valuable that a secret duplicate collection has been established in case a natural or manmade disaster were to strike the original. "No time that people have kept something safe in just one place has it worked. This is a globally important depository and its importance is not going to decrease. Over time there is going to be a big disaster. So we have to insure against that," he says. He is also keen on reaching out to other, smaller frozen zoos that exist elsewhere, such as one at the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans and one at the University of Nottingham. He hopes one day a global network of frozen zoos will be established to provide the ultimate insurance policy to carry the earth's rarest animal species into the future. "Having a duplicate site is an important step but in the long run we need to have a global network," he explains. "The future will thank the present generation for saving what we can save. We have to look beyond the current moment. People who are not yet born will greatly appreciate what we can do."

That opinion holds true for Loring, too. Her success in creating IPS cells has the potential to unlock the whole Frozen Zoo as a powerful tool for breeding and conservation. She is already thinking of getting a third species from the zoo to add to the Scripps research on drill monkeys and the northern white rhino. She, too, is seeing the big picture and says there is a moral imperative to use the animals kept in the Frozen Zoo to preserve rare species as part of a living, breathing global ecosystem.

"The idea of doing it has become a reality," Loring says. "This is something that can be done and should be done. We should make up for the damage that we have caused."

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010

Image Credit: Flickr - John Whitworth Photography

Scientists Develop Urine-Powered Fuel Cell

Beth Buczynski — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:00:55 +0000

Have you been flushing the next renewable energy breakthrough down the drain?

Researchers at a British University are developing a system that could use urine to create energy via new, low-cost fuel cells. If successful, their idea could represent yet another alternative to dirty fossil fuels and expensive hydrogen or methanol fuel cells.

The Carbamide Power System involves far cheaper membrane and catalysts, and can be run on urea (also known as carbamide), a mass manufactured industrial fertilizer and a major component of human and animal urine.

Dr. Shanwen Tao of Heriot-Watt University and his research partner Dr. Rong Lan have been awarded over $200,000 in the form of an EPSRC grant to develop a prototype from their idea.

"Full cells are electrochemical devices which convert chemical energy into electricity with heat generated as a by-product, via an electrochemical process that does not require combustion" (Heriot-Watt).

Although fuel cells are one of the most powerful ways to generate clean energy, they have received only minimal attention from the auto and shipping industries because they are expensive and extremely flammable, prohibiting transportation.

As long as the world's fresh water supply holds out, there would be no shortage of raw material for these urea-powered fuel cells, and countries with booming populations would suddenly find themselves at the top of the energy game.

The meat industry, which contaminates millions of miles of streams and rivers every year when animal urine escapes from holding tanks and seeps down into the water table, would also find itself with a more profitable reason to control its waste.

"We are only at prototype stage at present, but if this renewable material can be used as a commercially viable and environmentally friendly energy source then we will be absolutely delighted, and many people around the world will benefit" said Dr. Tao.

Image Credit: Heriot-Watt University

First Wind-Powered Parking Garage Opens In Chicago

Beth Buczynski — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:00:14 +0000

The "Windy City" lives up to its name as Chicago’s newest parking garage becomes the first to generate it's own energy with spinning vertical wind turbines.

You might generally associate parking garages with the stark cement-c0lored monotony that most people despise about urban life. Thanks to a new design by the architects of HOK however, parking garages are being viewed in a whole new green light.

Dubbed the Greenway Self Park, this eco-friendly parking garage offers far more than just a column of dizzying vertical turbines up it's outer wall. The structures array of sustainable practices also includes:

local and sustainable building materials
a green roof and rainwater cisterns for irrigation
high-efficiency glass
recycling programs
energy-efficient lighting
programs to encourage the use of energy efficient vehicles
electric car charging stations
air quality initiatives
tips for Greener Living in the lobbies
Zipcar and I-Go car sharing vehicles

For the sake of public education, a “way-finding system” has also been incorporated at each elevator lobby to educate users on how to live more sustainably and protect the environment.A reversible meter has also been included to measure the amount of energy generated by the turbines and and piped back into the grid of the city each year. HOK is currently pursing LEED certification for the building (via EarthTechling).

Could a superbee from Swindon save the world?

The Guardian — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:30:14 +0000

This article was written by Alison Benjamin, for guardian.co.uk on Wednesday 25th August 2010 19.00 UTC

Will Swindon be remembered as the home of a major breakthrough in halting the global decline of the honeybee? Ron Hoskins, a 79-year-old beekeeper from the town, has spent the last 18 years looking for a bee that is resistant to the parasite blamed for killing billions worldwide. And yesterday he claimed that his superbee could assure the future of the insect that pollinates around a third of everything we eat.

Hoskins, a former heating engineer, claims to have bred a honeybee that "grooms" other bees in the hives to remove the blood-sucking varroa mite that spreads viruses and disease. It has killed billions of honeybees since it entered Britain in 1992 and has been implicated in the colony collapse disorder that has wiped out billions more in the US in the last few years.

Hoskins calls his strain the "Swindon honeybee". But any of Britain's estimated 40,000 beekeepers hoping to get their hands on his superbees will be disappointed. He says more research is needed and expects it to be some years before his bees could be available to buy.

Martin Smith, president of the British Beekeepers' Association, which will fund the roll-out of the research to Wiltshire beekeepers, says: "It may be rather premature to say Mr Hoskins's bees hold the answer to halting the number of bee deaths but it could well be a gem of an idea like this that will provide the solution to controlling the varroa mite."

Hoskins is not the only person trying to breed a varroa-resistant bee. In the US, scientists have developed hygienic bees that groom each other, and the UK's only professor of apiculture, Frances Ratnieks, is breeding "cleaner bees" at Sussex University. They remove dead pupae and larvae from hives where the female mite lays her eggs. But so-called superbees have a downside. According to US research, they can be more aggressive and less prolific honey-makers.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010

High Tech Alarms Could Save Whales From Shark Nets

Beth Buczynski — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:40:03 +0000

Last year, six whales became entangled in shark nets designed to protect humans on Australia's Gold Coast beaches. This year, authorities are launching nets equipped with high tech alarms to warn the whales before it's too late.

Referred to as 'pingers' these acoustic alarms are designed to make the nets stand out from the background noise of boats, swimmers, and waves, and alert the whales to their presence before they become caught.

Although all six of the whales caught in the nets last year were successfully freed by Marine Animal Release Teams, these operations cost the taxpayers thousands of dollars. "Prevention is certainly a better option,'' Department Of Primary Industries Minister Tim Mulherin said. "Pingers could save taxpayers money."

Fisheries Queensland said 90 pingers would be in the water at any one time - three on each net from Mackay to the Gold Coast. If successful, they will be fitted to the nets from May 1 to November 30 each year.

Image Credits: goldcoast.com/Brendan Radke | Flickr - StormyDog

Reverse ‘Tea Bag’ Cleans Polluted Drinking Water

Beth Buczynski — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:26:46 +0000

Access to clean drinking water is a BIG issue, but with the invention of a tiny-but-powerful personal water purification system, South African communities could reap the benefits of a small solution.

Working in a way that's exactly opposite to that of a normal tea bag, the nano filter created by scientists at Stellenbosch University, in Cape Town, South Africa is able to suck toxic contamination right out of the water.

Small enough to fit into the neck of a water bottle, these tiny sachets are made from the same inexpensive raw materials used to produce the rooibos tea bags that are popular in South Africa.

Instead of filling the bags with tea, however, the scientists have implemented ultra-thin nanoscale fibres, which filter out contaminants, plus active carbon granules, which kill bacteria.

"What is new about this idea is the combination of inexpensive raw materials, namely activated carbon and antimicrobial nanofibres, in point-of-use water filter systems," Marelize Botes, researcher in the university's department of microbiology, told SciDev.net.

When water purification facilities are in efficient, or non-existent as is the case for most rural South African villages, waterborne diseases can spread quickly and have deadly effects.

Each tea bag filter can make one liter of the most polluted water completely drinkable in a matter of minutes. Once discarded, the bag's nanofibres disintegrate in liquids after a few days and will have no environmental impact. The raw materials of the tea-bag filter are not toxic to humans. Amazingly, each bag is slated to cost around three South African cents (just under half a US cent).

Professor Eugene Cloete, a microbiologist at the University of Stellenbosch said that the nano filter is a major step towards helping South Africa fulfil its millennium goal of eradicating poverty.

"One of the major problems of meeting the millennium goals is that there is not sufficient infrastructure to pipe water to everybody in the world - so this really is something which addresses the need right now," Cloete said.

Image Credit: Flickr - agirlwithtea

Amazing Electric Van Runs On Sun and Wind! (Video)

Beth Buczynski — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 14:37:03 +0000

An electric powered van that uses on-board wind and solar generation to charge it's batteries. Related posts:

Sewage Treatment Device Doubles As Electric Generator

Beth Buczynski — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:00:14 +0000

Sanitary sewage treatment and access to reliable power are still serious problems for both urban and remote areas in developing countries, but a new household processing device filled with bacteria might be the solution for both issues.

Researchers at Oregon State University may have found a way to not only reduce the need for human sewage treatment plants, but also generate electricity for residents of developing countries.

Hong Liu, co-author of the groundbreaking study, has helped developed a household device that when populated with Shewanella oneidensis, one of several types of bacteria that can break down organic matter in sewage, can produce electrons and protons.

When sewage is placed between the device's electrodes with the bacteria present, this process can be harnessed to generate an electrical current, according to SciDev.net.

This idea has been around for several years but, so far, microbial fuel cells have not been able to produce enough current to power even basic appliances. Now researchers have created a more efficient cell by designing electrodes that can capture more electrons from the bacteria. The new type of electrode, coated in gold nanoparticles can boost the amount of electricity to useful quantities.

Findings of the study are being written for publication in Biosensors and Bioelectronics, and include the discovery that nanocoatings can increase the performance of the cells 20-fold, generating enough current to power a light bulb or a small fan.

Acknowledging the fact that this is far from sufficient for most households, the researchers maintain that they will be able to improve the efficiency of the system and develop it to a commercial scale within 3–5 years.

For countries like Thailand and Lebanon, that routinely dump raw sewage into oceans and rivers used for drinking and cleaning, this technology could represent a much-needed solution for both environmental and population crises.

Image Credit: Flickr - Eddie~S

Soul Cell Collapsible Solar Lantern

Matt Embrey — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:32:17 +0000

Designer Jesper Jonsson came up with this beautiful photovoltaic powered portable canvas lantern as part of his BFA Thesis at Växjö University. The lantern fold up into a complact square that can easily be stowed away to taken on the go.

A simple twist and pull opens it up into an illuminated canvas cube. There's a strap on the top that attaches with magnets, either as a loop or as a handle to make it easy to hang whether in the open or closed position. It's a good blend of aesthetics and utility, and while it would make a great fixture on a patio, Jesper envisions the portability of the lamp to empower people get outside more...

"It is designed to provide mood lighting in an outdoors environment, to let us continue social activities outside when it gets dark. For example on the balcony, on a boat, or hang it on your bikes handlebar when having a picnic."

For me this would be perfect for camping. Leave it hanging on a branch in the sun all day and use it as lighting in your tent or around the camp site. There is no word yet on when the Soul Cell will be available on the market, but Jesper says he's working on it. We'll enlighten you as soon as we hear anything.

via David Raport