EARTH PORTATION curated News December 20th

ANIMALS - Chimps Will Share Their Lunch but Only If They Like You

Two male chimps on a fig tree. Photo by Caelio via Wikimedia Commons Chimpanzees have a lot to gain from climbing the social ladder. It now appears that lower-ranking male chimps strengthen bonds with their friends in high places by alerting them to some good eats. Researchers experimentally captured this communication–amounting to “hey buddy, there’s some food over here”–for the first time among a society of wild chimpanzees in Uganda.
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/mind-guest-blog/2013/12/

ANIMALS - Loggerhead sea turtle nesting activity driven by recent climate conditions and returning nesting

http://phys.org/news/2013-12-loggerhead-sea-turtle-driven-cl

ART - Detroit considers alternative plans to save museum's artworks from auction

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/16/detroit-art-col

BOOKS - Book Excerpt: Seven Sins for a Life Worth Living

Roger Housden on being open to beauty and wonder in art and in life ..
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/books/excerpts.php?id

BOOKS - Isaac Asimov's 1964 predictions of life in 2014 are prescient

The great science fiction author got a lot right in this New York .

http://www.treehugger.com/gadgets/isaac-asimovs-1964-predict

BOOKS - Spiritual Quotation: Patience, Parenting, Caring, Hope

http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/quotes/quotes.php?id=

CLIMATE - Harsh Weather, Floods Challenge U.S. Weekend Holiday Travelers

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=harsh-weath

CLIMATE - How Mayor Michael Bloomberg Thought Big on Climate

The following is excerpted from the e-book Bloomberg's Hidden Legacy , by Katherine Bagley and Maria Gallucci. InsideClimate News, November 2013. [More] .. ...
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=bloomberg-c

CLIMATE - This Map Shows Where To Expect A White Christmas

NOAA's maps show the probability of a snowy Christmas in the lower 48 of the United States.
http://news.discovery.com/earth/weather-extreme-events/this-

EARTH - Mediterranean Sea Was Once a Mile-High Salt Field

About 6 million years ago, a mile-high field of salt formed across the entire Mediterranean seafloor .. ...
http://news.discovery.com/earth/oceans/mediterranean-sea-was

EARTH - These are National Geographic's favorite images of the year

After sorting through 7,000 images taken by photographers from over 150 countries, National Geographic has chosen the cream of the crop for it's annual photo contest. As always, the year's best are simply sensational... ...

http://io9.com/these-are-national-geographics-favorite-image

EARTH - 1st Antarctic Atmospheric River Found

http://news.discovery.com/earth/weather-extreme-events/first

EARTH - Discovery of 1.4 million-year-old fossil human hand bone closes human evolution gap

http://phys.org/news/2013-12-discovery-million-year-old-foss

EARTH - NASA: “The Arctic is not like Vegas. What happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic."

http://www.treehugger.com/climate-change/nasa-arctic-not-veg

ECONOMICS - Explaining the U.S. Growth Spurt in Five Charts

Inventories were the single biggest contributor to growth in the third quarter, government
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-12-20/explaining-t

EDUCATION - Beyond Mendel: Student DNA Barcoding Project introduces next-generation microbiology to classrooms

On a cloudless day in Dangriga, a coastal city in southern Belize, a group of students are hard at work. One wall of their sun-strewn lab is lined with the usual gear of modern genetics: thermocycler, gel electrophoresis system, micropipets, test tubes. Swathed in purple gloves, they measure samples, mix gels and fill pipets with the utmost concentration .. ...
http://phys.org/news/2013-12-mendel-student-dna-barcoding-ne

ENERGY - GTM Research’s 5 Most Popular Grid Reports of 2013

Yesterday we looked at the most popular solar reports published this year, so today we are featuring the top five most-read grid reports in 2013. 1.) Transformer Monitoring Markets, 2013-2020: Technologies, Forecasts, and Leading Vendors GTM Research forecasts the annual market for transformer monitoring hardware in the U.S. to grow drastically from $113 million in 2012 to more than $755 million in 2020. Utilities across the U.S.

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/gtm-researchs-5-

ENERGY - Year in Review: A Look at the Top Clean Energy Stories of 2013

We may not have been able to predict Time magazine's Person of the Year or Google's most-searched term of 2013. But the Energy Gang was on top of the big happenings in cleantech this year. In our year-end podcast, we'll outline our favorite stories of 2013 and make predictions for the coming year. Subscribe to the Energy Gang RSS feed for automatic updates on your computer and mobile device. You can also find our podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud a
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/year-in-review-a

ENVIRONMENT - DNews: Paper or Plastic: Which is Worse?

Paper vs. plastic bags: You'd think this fight would have been settled by now. But as Trace explains, for cities around the world, the fight is more complicated than you'd think .. ...
http://news.discovery.com/earth/videos/paper-or-plastic-whic

ENVIRONMENT - How the Chevron Pollution Case Helped Wreck a Big Law Merger

Merger talks have ended between Locke Lord and Patton Boggs in part because of the latter's involvement in a pollution-liability suit in
http://origin-www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-12-20/patto

ENVIRONMENT - Japanese Government to Bear More Fukushima Cleanup Costs

By Kentaro HamadaTOKYO (Reuters) - Japan will chip in more taxpayer money and other financial support to help Fukushima plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co clean up the world's worst nuclear disaster in a quarter century, officials said on Friday, the latest government lifeline for the embattled utility.Criticism of the utility's handling of the massive clean-up from the March 2011 disaster had sparked calls to spin off Fukushima-related work ...
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=japanese-go

ENVIRONMENT - Win! New York City bans Styrofoam

Unless the foam industry finds a recycling solution, polystyrene containers will be history .. ...

http://www.treehugger.com/environmental-policy/new-york-city

FASHION - The biggest fashion moments of 2013

Which celebrities caught our eye in 2013?From Miley's onstage antics to Duchess Kate's chic, understated style, there certainly was a lot of fashion to talk about in 2013 .. ...
http://www.today.com/style/biggest-fashion-moments-2013-2D11

HOMES - Colorful Little Building Marries Nature, Community

http://www.earthtechling.com/2013/12/colorful-little-buildin

HOMES - Study claims "Energy saving homes often use more energy." Than what?

http://www.treehugger.com/green-architecture/study-claims-en

MOVIES - The Doctor finally meets a problem the Sonic Screwdriver can't solve

Check out the first clip from the Doctor Who Christmas special, "Time of the Doctor." In which the Doctor finally faces a problem too big for the sonic screwdriver. Read more...    ..
http://io9.com/the-doctor-finally-meets-a-problem-the-sonic-

MUSIC - Creative cultural connections: ‘A Conjoining of Ancient Song’ documentary now online

A special Yale documentary retraces the trajectory of a rapidly eroding form of congregational singing out of Scotland and into African-American, Native-American, and white-American religious song traditions .. ...
http://news.yale.edu/2013/12/20/creative-cultural-connection

PEOPLE - One in six fathers doesn't live with his kids: CDC

(HealthDay)—Almost one in six fathers doesn't live with his children, according to new research that looked at how involved dads are in their children's lives .. ...
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-12-fathers-doesnt-kids-cd

PEOPLE - ‘Empowerment Plan’ helps homeless get a new start

http://www.today.com/video/today/5388128

PLANTS - 91 new species described by California Academy Of Sciences in 2013

In 2013, researchers at the California Academy of Sciences discovered 91 new plant and animal species and two new genera, enriching our understanding of the complex web of life on Earth and strengthening our ability to make informed conservation decisions. The new species, previously unknown to science, include 38 different ants, 12 fishes, 14 plants, eight beetles, two spiders, one reptile, and one amphibian. In addition, Academy scientists
http://phys.org/news/2013-12-species-california-academy-scie

PLANTS - A gluttonous plant reveals how its cellular power plant devours foreign DNA

Researchers have determined an epic expansion of a plant's mitochondrial genome via of horizontal gene transfer, acquiring six genome equivalents of foreign DNA. It is the first time that an organelle has captured entire "foreign" genomes, those from other organisms, and the first description of a land plant acquiring genes from green
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131220115757.ht

PLANTS - Scientists finally know what created these mysterious rainforest structures!

After six months of waiting – followed by nine more days of waiting – we finally have an answer to one of the most baffling Internet mysteries of 2013: The mystery architect behind these beautifully complex Amazonian web-towers is....

http://io9.com/scientists-finally-know-what-created-these-my

SCIENCE - Biggest Scientific Breakthroughs of 2013

From intergalactic neutrinos and invisible brains, to the creation of miniature human "organoids," 2013 was an remarkable year for scientific discovery. Here are 17 of the biggest scientific breakthroughs, innovations and advances of 2013.

http://io9.com/the-biggest-scientific-breakthroughs-of-2013-

SCIENCE - How do you wash your clothes in zero gravity?

How do you wash your clothes in zero gravity? It's a bigger problem than you'd think at first, and there are some very complicated solutions for what you could do on a long interplanetary voyage.Read more...    .. ...
http://io9.com/how-do-you-wash-your-clothes-in-zero-gravity-

SCIENCE - How math helps stop oil spills and plane crashes

Jason Merrick, Ph.D., says that his daughters tell people that their father stops oil spills, plane crashes and terrorist attacks with math. That's one way to describe Merrick's research, which at its core involves developing complex mathematical models to help people make difficult decisions about risk – those involving significant uncertainty and trade-offs .. ...
http://phys.org/news/2013-12-math-oil-plane.htm

SCIENCE - Researchers develop new device to help image key proteins at room temperature

A group of researchers from Arizona State University are part of a larger team reporting a major advance in the study of human proteins that could open up new avenues for more effective drugs of the future. The work is being reported in this week's Science magazine .. ...
http://phys.org/news/2013-12-device-image-key-proteins-room.

SCIENCE - Smooth or grainy? New paper reviews research on the grain of space-time

Smooth" or grainy? Is space-time continuous or is it made up of very fine (10-35 metres on the "Planck scale") but discrete grains, if we look at it very close up ? If the latter were true, scientists think, this would lead to deviations from the theory of special relativity formulated by Albert Einstein more than 100 years ago .. ...
http://phys.org/news/2013-12-smooth-grainy-paper-grain-space

SCIENCE - Space has an 'animalistic' sound according to artist in residence

University of Leicester Leverhulme Scholar provides unique insight into the sounds of ...
http://phys.org/news/2013-12-space-animalistic-artist-reside

SCIENCE - The 12 days of Pascal's triangular Christmas

One of the most magical aspects of mathematics is the ability for complex and intricate structures to emerge from the simplest of rules. Few mathematical objects are simpler to create – and few weave such a variety of intricate patterns – as Pascal's marvellous triangle ..
http://phys.org/news/2013-12-days-pascal-triangular-christma

SCIENCE - Yes, electrons are perfectly round -- and that's a problem

Bad news, everyone! New measurements show that electrons are perfectly round. This is a problem because it means something's still seriously wrong with a critical theory that's supposed to tell us why the universe exists.Read more...    .. ...

http://io9.com/yes-electrons-are-perfectly-round-and-thats-a

SPACE - Astronomers once thought there was life on the sun

We think we live in the age most obsessed with the discovery alien life. In fact we missed that time by several hundred years. In the 1700s, astronomers thought life existed everywhere - including the sun

http://io9.com/astronomers-once-thought-there-was-life-on-th

SPACE - Birth of black hole kills the radio star

Astronomers have discovered a new population of exploding stars that "switch off" their radio transmissions before collapsing into a Black Hole. These exploding stars use all of their energy to emit one last strong beam of highly energetic radiation -- known as a gamma-ray burst --
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131220114041.ht

SPACE - Real-life 'Gravity'? Drama builds over spacewalks to fix space station

Imagine a movie where astronauts are one failure away from abandoning the International Space Station, and have to deal with toxic chemicals during a spacewalk while facing the risk of drowning in their spacesuits. Oh, and it's just before Christmas .. ...
http://www.nbcnews.com/science/real-life-gravity-drama-build

SPACE - Spacewalk Likely Needed to Fix ISS Coolant System

http://news.discovery.com/space/spacewalk-likely-to-fix-iss-

SPACE - Video: NASA testing modified "pumpkin suit" for asteroid mission spacewalks

http://phys.org/news/2013-12-video-nasa-pumpkin-asteroid-mis

URBAN - 2013: The state of modern gingerbread architecture

The industry is picking up, according to McSweeney .. ...

http://www.treehugger.com/green-architecture/2013-state-mode

URBAN - New method for reconstructing long-gone historic buildings in 3D

Researchers from Murcia and Valencia (Spain) have recreated the palace that belonged to Ambassador Vich, a Gothic-Renaissance jewel that was demolished in the 19th Century. The technique, which uses historical and archaeological data of the building, can be utilised to learn more about other architectural monuments that have been destroyed .. ...
http://phys.org/news/2013-12-method-reconstructing-long-gone