In The News

US Moves Toward Teaching Climate Change; Britain Does Opposite

Christoper F. Schuetze April 12, 2013
Guidelines for US science educators in at least 40 states will emphasize climate change and the human contribution in middle school and high school. Political opposition to the notion of human influence over a warming climate is intense in the US. In the United Kingdom, administrators have urged educators to avoid the topic for students under age 14, and top scientists even suggest that students...

Warming Sign: 1600 Years of Ice in Andes Melted in 25 Years

Justin Gillis April 9, 2013
Researchers are documenting glacier ice in the Peruvian Andes. “Rapid melting there in the modern era is uncovering plants that were locked in a deep freeze when the glacier advanced many thousands of years ago,” reports Justin Gillis for the New York Times. “Dating of those plants, using a radioactive form of carbon in the plant tissues that decays at a known rate, has given scientists an...

What's in the Business-Labor Deal on Immigration?

Matthew Yglesias April 5, 2013
In the 2012 US presidential election, Latino voters threw their growing weight behind democrats and President Barack Obama. Chastened Republicans have now joined a new bipartisan push for immigration reform. US legislators, once polarized over immigration, must satisfy numerous groups: Americans who worry about competition for jobs; farmers, ranchers and managers in need of workers; and...

Experimenting on Good Governance in Latin America

Humphrey Hawksley April 3, 2013
Association Agreements are trade agreements between the EU and non-EU countries on bilateral relations, progressive trade liberalization, political and economic cooperation, while emphasizing human rights and democratic principles. A region-to-region agreement between the EU and Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama was signed in 2012. Putting the eurozone crisis...

Google Glass to Be “Made in USA”

Tim Bradshaw April 3, 2013
Google Project Glass is a wearable computer, much like a smartphone, that connects a user via voice-recognition software to an array of programs and apps, including maps, email, calendar and more. The company announced that the digital eyewear will be manufactured in California, near the company’s Silicon Valley headquarters with many Asian components. “Google is working with Hon Hai Precision...

Coffee Rust Plagues Farmers in Mexico

Frédéric Saliba April 2, 2013
Fungal diseases are a major challenge in farming, and coffee growers in Latin America must contend with coffee rust – a disease caused by the Hemileia vastatrix, an orange dust that causes the leaves on coffee bushes to fall away, reports Frédéric Saliba for Guardian Weekly. “The crisis seems particularly serious in Central America, with a state of emergency already in force in Honduras, Costa...

Oklahoma Earthquake Linked to Oil Extraction Wastewater

Jason Palmer April 1, 2013
Injecting millions of liters of water and chemicals into the ground for drilling oil and gas has been linked to seismic events, including a 5.7 earthquake in Oklahoma in 2011. A study in the journal Geology suggests that related seismic activity can occur years after wastewater injections begin. “The new study adds to an increasing body of evidence that the injection of wastewater is correlated...