Slashdot Mirror

The crows have figured out how to deal with cane toads.

They started out by eating them alive, through the mouth, but figured out gutting them was easier.

Total mass of ice in the Antarctic continues to decline: http://www.skepticalscience.com/antarctica-gaining-ice.htm Temperature trends since the 90s indicate more gradual warming, not cooling. http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20121705-23396.html In the past, ice at the poles has never coexisted with atmospheric CO2 above 400ppm, a threshold that we just crossed. Time will prove you drastically wrong, but some of us are running low on patience for the trolling.

Son said the 2,000 kilometer (1,200 mile) nationwide power grid he proposed could eventually be expanded to all of Asia, in a massive grid that would run 36,000 kilometers and link Japan with countries including India, China, and Russia.

I have never heard of the idea of running power-lines on the ocean floor. For anyone interested, this idea has come-up before.
The benefits of an intercontinental energy grid
Solar Energy as a Major Replacement for Fossil Fuel

Also, I hope that if Japan does this, they don't become dependent on China for their power needs. They should always have enough to fill their own appetites, considering how easy it would be for a military power to cut them off.

I am linked to http://sciencealert.com.au/ and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ which post things to my facebook news feeds occasionally.

One of the authors doesn't even believe that CFCs affect the ozone layer

... which is true. The ozone hole (discovered when we first looked) is affected by changes in the sun, and follows a natural cycle.

1) we found it. AND IT'S GETTING BIGGER! must be our fault. Nature is static you know!!11
2) let's do something!
3) It's getting smaller! IT MUST BE THANKS TO US! (let's forget that it should've taken another 10-15 years for our changes to have any effect)
4) uh-oh .. it's getting bigger again .. let's keep quiet about that.

Yes, heard much about number 4 lately?

http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20081809-18171-2.html

Definitely. Every nation that takes sports seriously spends a ridiculous amount of money on improving the performance of their athletes, a fair bit of that is on sports-science. In Australia, the funds come from the AIS (Australian Institute of Sport,) they receive around AU$200M/y of government funding.

Oh'n, America is not the only country to use CFD. Australia also uses it: http://www.sciencealert.com.au/features/20082805-17396.html

The longetivity of the bits of plastic bags are the real killer to the world.

"Plastic bags turtle's biggest killer"
http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20081403-17043-2.html

And I'm sure you've heard of the massive meter thick soup of garbage the size of some entire countries floating in the pacific?

I've been carrying and using a single pair of tough plastic bags for 3 months, and they show no signs of being near the end of their useful life. (I'd rather use them because I can roll up and put them in my jacket pocket, so they are always available - I'm never sure when I'm going to be dropping by the grocery store.)

Go go gadget LCBO bags!

For science news from Australia check out:
http://www.sciencealert.com.au/

The site deliberately avoids posting/linking to anything that is mostly marketing spin and focuses on stories that have real science in it.