A new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists claimsthat ExxonMobil has adopted the tobacco industry’s disinformation tactics to cloud the scientific understanding of climate change and delay action on the issue.

According to the report, between 1998 and 2005, ExxonMobil funneled nearly $16 million to a network of 43 advocacy organizations that try to confuse the public on global warming science.
read more

An African Gray parrot named N’kisi seems to have a vocabulary of 950 words, as well as a sense of humor. He is currently being studied by chimp expert Jane Goodall, as well as by researcher Rupert Sheldrake. Alex Kirby reports in BBC News that when Nikisi first met Goodall, he asked her "Got a chimp?"

Goodall says that N’kisi exhibits an "outstanding example of interspecies communication."

read more

What if victims of terrorism, who have had their limbs hacked off, could grow a new one? What if a paralyzed person could grow a new spine?or someone with heart disease could grow a new heart? This might be something that actually comes true, in the not-so-distant future.

Scientists are studying zebrafish to see how it’s done. If a zebrafish loses a chunk of its tail fin, it’ll grow back within a week. Like lizards, newts, and frogs, a zebrafish can replace surprisingly complex body parts. A tail fin, for example, has many different types of cells and is a very intricate structure. It is the fish version of an arm or leg.
read more

We recently wrote about how an island nation is drowning in India. Here in the US, Alaska is facing major weather changes. Now, due to the rise in the ocean levels, an island off South Carolina is disappearing.

A photo taken in 2003 of the Isle of Palms resort shows a large beach. Another photo, taken in December in the same place, reveals that the beach and its dunes have disappeared. Instead, there are rows of sandbags, that have been put there to keep nearby buildings from flooding.

In the Daniel Island News, Tom Ratzloff quotes Charleston Mayor Joe Riley as saying, “We?re facing some tough, difficult issues?the responsibility for us in this country and other developing countries is that we have responsibility for planning regionally.”
read more