science!spam
EDIT: screw it. LJ cuts are refusing to work so you're just going to have to look at the whole thing because I give up after 3 attempts
Nature and the environment:
The first big cost/benefit analysis of ecosystem restoration. Big surprise, it's a good thing: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=does-ecosystem-restoration-pay-off&sc=CAT_BIO_20090803
Yucca Mountain is officially dead. Alternatives are discussed here: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=is-there-a-place-for-nuclear-waste&sc=CAT_SP_20090803
The history of Cap and Trade: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Presence-of-Mind-Blue-Sky-Thinking.html
The Cahaba River, one of the most biodiverse sites in the country: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/River-of-Riches.html
An article about the future of high-speed rails in the US. It would be nice, but what it won’t be is cheap: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=high-hopes-for-high-speed-rail&sc=DD_20090804
Green supercomputers ftw!!! http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=power-hungry-supercomputers-going-g-2009-08-03&sc=DD_20090804
Why different people have different opinions regarding global warming: http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=global-warming-beliefs-09-08-02&sc=CAT_SP_20090803
And honeybees are under threat again, this time by ants: http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=honeybees-face-new-threat-in-texas-2009-08-07
A prototype solar tower is up and running in Cali that can supply power to 4,000 homes (full-size ones will have 8 times that capacity) but there are some questions about cost and maintenance: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=first-us-power-tower-lights-up-california&sc=DD_20090807
Engineers for 68 miles out of a kilo of hydrogen (which costs about $2.50 USD): http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=toyota-highlander-gets-68-miles-per-2009-08-07&sc=CAT_INNO_20090807 (very cool, but those tanks are going to have to be insanely shielded to be safe in the event of a crash) (the Administration is not impressed, btw, citing a lack of infrastructure)
Smithsonian’s 10 most spectacular geological sites in the US (I’ve only been to one but several of the others are on my list): http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/The-Ten-Most-Spectacular-Geologic-Sites.html
Or just the image gallery if you prefer: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/multimedia/photos/?articleID=52687892&c=y
The quest for better bug repellent: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=itch-slap-the-quest-for-b&sc=CAT_HLTH_20090804
Once again proving that birds in the Corvus genus are the coolest birds ever: http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=aesops-fable-not-so-fantastical-roo-2009-08-06&sc=DD_20090807
Medicine and psychology:
Yay, one more strain of HIV to contend with: http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=new-hiv-strain-originated-in-gorill-2009-08-04&sc=DD_20090804
Brain differences between “regular” people and “psychopaths” convicted of rape, murder, and false imprisonment: http://www.scientificamerican.com/video.cfm?id=32656630001
Perfectionism can be a good thing. Or a bad one. Or both: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=can-you-be-too-perfect&sc=DD_20090805
Big drug companies aren’t playing above-board. Imagine that: http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=spooky-medicine-drug-companies-hire-2009-08-05&sc=DD_20090806
DNA testing of children. Somehow, what the Chinese are doing with it doesn’t freak me out nearly as much as what some Americans are wanting to do with it: http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=chinese-childrens-camp-tests-dnagat-2009-08-05&sc=DD_20090806
Seriously, this is so not cool: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=6998135&page=1
Monogamy rates are up: http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=monogamy-is-all-the-rage-these-days-2009-08-07&sc=DD_20090807
Reading about an activity triggers the same brain regions that actually doing the activity does: http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=brains-moving-experience-when-readi-09-07-30&sc=WR_20090804
History/archaeology/paleontology:
The exploration of Dunwich, England (this totally reminds me that I wanted to do underwater archaeology back in the day): http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Ancient-Cities-Lost-to-the-Seas.html?utm_source=historynewsletter0808&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MonthlyHistory
A little blurb about the Leakeys 50 years later (just for the record, I always want to grind my teeth when people attribute Lucy’s discovery to Louis instead of Mary): http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2009/07/23/hominids-african-origins-50-years-later/?utm_source=historynewsletter0808&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MonthlyHistory
A bed of 505 million year old fossils: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Phenomena-Evolutions-Big-Bang.html
Okay, I’ll let you get back to your lives now ;p