Robin from Gabon is world’s newest species

 

Carlton Ward / AFP - Getty Images file

WASHINGTON – A red-breasted bird discovered by accident in the forests of Gabon is a new species, U.S. scientists said on Friday.

They have named the little bird the olive-backed forest robin, or Stiphrornis pyrrholaemus, but say they know little about it yet.

The Smithsonian Institution team found the bird while visiting the forest on a biodiversity project, said Brian Schmidt, a research ornithologist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26265168/

The Fall 2008-2009 Primetime Schedule

Some info for family members, most other blog readers probably don’t care.

http://tv.ign.com/articles/898/898385p1.html

Human Waste Being Transformed Into Hydrogen For Vehicles

The Orange County Sanitation District is about to begin converting human waste into hydrogen fuel in a first-of-its-kind attempt to turn sewage into a salable product.

The district, along with UC Irvine researchers and private companies, has agreed to install the new device in an $8 million demonstration project that could begin operating by May.

And if it takes off, sewage treatment plants around the country could one day double as gas stations – emphasis on the gas.

….The Sanitation District has used methane gas from sewage to power its systems for years. The new device, built by Air Products of Pennsylvania and FuelCell Energy of Connecticut, takes this much farther: it will use methane to provide three separate streams of energy.

The methane comes from the sewage plant’s ‘digesters,’ large chambers where sewage is heated, allowing bacteria to break it down into methane and carbon dioxide.

First, the methane will be used in the traditional way, to generate electricity. Second, waste heat from the fuel-cell device will be recaptured, and pumped back into the digester to help heat the sewage.

And third, hydrogen will be chemically separated from the methane and pumped into storage tanks, where it will be ready for use in hydrogen cars….

http://www.nextenergynews.com/news08/next-energy-news8.15.08a.html

Metabolix Breakthrough Produces Bioplastic From Switchgrass

Slight translation – Plastics are an oil based product, finding a way to make at least some of our plastics out of something other than oil would reduce the amount of oil we need to import.

Metabolix, Inc. has announced that in recently-completed greenhouse trials, switchgrass plants engineered using Metabolix multi-gene expression technology produced significant amounts of PHA bioplastics in leaf tissues employing Metabolix’s expertise in pathway engineering in plants. This result is the first successful expression of a new functional multi-gene pathway in switchgrass, and demonstrates the Company’s pathbreaking bioengineering capabilities as a powerful tool for maximizing the potential of biomass crops for both bioplastics and biofuels production.

http://www.nextenergynews.com/news08/next-energy-news8.15.08c.html

800 MW: PG&E to Build World’s Largest Solar Plant in California

A California utility company has signed a deal to build the world’s two biggest solar power plants in central California with solar panels covering 32.5 sq km and producing 800 MW of electricity.

Pacific Gas & Electric will use the massive solar facilities to help it meet state requirements to generate 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2010, according to the deal announced on Friday.

The company has signed a contract with two Silicon Valley firms to build the plants near San Luis Obispo, a city near the central California coast approximately equidistant from the state’s main population clusters around San Francisco and Los Angeles.

http://www.nextenergynews.com/news08/next-energy-news8.18.08c.html

First Build it Yourself Plug-In Hybrid,The 225 mpg XR3 Car Kit

The XR3 Hybrid is a super-fuel-efficient two-passenger plug-in hybrid that achieves 125 mpg on diesel power alone, 225 mpg on combined diesel and electric power, and performance like a conventional automobile. The design of the XR3 Hybrid focuses on existing technologies and a vehicle personality that makes conserving energy a fun driving experience. It showcases the design ideas explored in Robert Q. Riley’s book, Alternative Cars in the 21st Century.

http://www.nextenergynews.com/news08/next-energy-news8.18.08b.html

A Blueprint to Regenerate Limbs

In its own way, the axolotl salamander is a mighty beast. Chop off its leg, and the gilled creature will grow a new one. Freeze part of its heart, and the organ will form anew. Carve out half of its brain, and six months later, another half will have sprouted in its place. “You can do anything to it except kill it, and it will regenerate,” says Gerald Pao, a postdoctoral researcher at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, in La Jolla, CA.

http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/21265/?a=f

Congress might fail to renew a tax credit for

Frustrated with political deadlock, solar energy companies fear a big setback if Congress fails to renew a key federal tax credit set to expire at the end of the year.

The provision would extend a 30 percent break of up to $2,000 to homeowners. Businesses would qualify for the same percentage, without a cap.

While the U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill to extend the tax credit, the effort so far has failed eight times in the Senate–the latest defeat occurring on July 30.

“The delay in the ITC (investment tax credit) renewal has meant that large commercial jobs are being postponed” because of the risk that they can’t be installed by December 31, said Barry Cinnamon, chief executive of Akeena Solar.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10787_3-10018380-60.html?tag=nefd.lede