New York: Bastion of Clean Energy!

Since the Climate March and because of Climate Week, there's been - thankfully - a lot of announcements about new clean energy initiatives and deals. In New York, two especially significant deals were announced. By NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio to reduce emissions in the city by 80% of 2005 levels by 2050, and (more practically) $100 million in funding new solar projects in New York state that will increase the total solar output by 68%. That's a lot of percent!

Isn't it nice to read some good news every once and a while?

Read more about both events at ThinkProgress.

People's Climate March: A Resounding Success!

My brother and I went to the People's Climate March in New York last Sunday. It was incredible. 400,000 people? After walking through it - I believe it. It was truly amazing to see all kinds of people from all walks of life (not just aging hippies and naive college students!) come together and support a cause we can all support. This is the defining issue of our time, and it's about time we started acting like it!

"Harry Potter" Helps Teen Readers Empathize

In case you needed another reason re-read Harry Potter or gift them to your little cousins or nieces and nephews, a new study suggests reading the HP books increases your ability to empathize with different people, particularly "out groups" vs "in groups".  From the Scientific American article on the study:

For decades it's been known that an effective means of improving negative attitudes and prejudices between differing groups of people is through intergroup contact – particularly through contact between “in-groups,” or a social group to which someone identifies, and “out-groups,” or a group they don’t identify with or perceive as threatening. Even reading short stories about friendship between in- and out-group characters is enough to improve attitudes toward stigmatized groups in children. A new study published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology found that reading the Harry Potter books in particular has similar effects, likely in part because Potter is continually in contact with stigmatized groups. The “muggles” get no respect in the wizarding world as they lack any magical ability. The “half-bloods,” or “mud-bloods” – wizards and witches descended from only one magical parent – don’t fare much better, while the Lord Voldemort character believes that power should only be held by “pure-blood” wizards. He’s Hitler in a cloak.

Intuitively, this feels right, but it's good to know it's backed by science and not just the innate yearnings of my heart.

How Caffeine Works

This video gives a quick and simple illustration (literally!) of how caffeine works in our brains by blocking a sleepiness-inducing chemical called adenosine.



Neat! I learned something new!!

You can watch more AsapScience videos on their YouTube channel.

Cosmos-politan and Naked Cosmos = 2 Things I'd Watch

There's been a lot of faux-Cosmos buzz lately and I just want to say that I would read/watch all of them because Neil deGrasse Tyson is such a boss.

Cosmos-politan

Naked Cosmos

Cosmos Drunk/Stoned

Such the boss.

Great News! Donating a Kidney Does NOT Affect Lifespan!

I'm pretty sure we already knew this, but another study has confirmed that donating a kidney - even in older patients - does not increase risk of death or heart disease.

Let's all go celebrate by donating a kidney*!

*Unless you already have donated a kidney or have a donated kidney inside of you.

ICYMI: Global Warming is a BFD and Obama is Starting to Do Something About it

The EPA announced rules to limit the amount of carbon power plants can release. This is a BFD and ThinkProgress has a great write-up on why.

Why Don't Girls Like Science? Spoiler Alert: They Do!

I'm no fan of commercials most of the time, but this is one where you can totally ignore the product and just absorb the message:



What we say and how we treat women matters in both the obvious and not-so-obvious ways. We're losing out as a world by not having more women involved in science and engineering. It's time we changed that.

[via ThinkProgress]

"Cosmos" Doesn't Appreciate Your Climate Denying BS

I love how Cosmos closed its final few episodes. For most of the series, I got about halfway through an episode and then fell into a nice, excellently-CGI'd sleep, but I stayed up for the last few episodes of the series once I heard they were about global warming. They were. And they didn't pull any punches. They reminded us of the importance of trusting in science and discovery, and how important it is to make the hard choices that better our future. Act Four at WaPo has a nice write-up on it you can read here.

Stanford to Divest its Endowment of Coal

Stanford University has officially announced it will divest from its $18.7 billion endowment of coal companies, becoming the first major university to do so. Divestment is a powerful and effective tool to bring change. If more universities follow suit, it will send a strong message to these companies that they need to get in the clean energy business or go out business.

[via Gawker]

Denver Zoo Has a New Baby Tapir!

Oh my goodness, check out this adorable baby tapir named Baku born at the Denver Zoo:

Little baby Baku may grow up to three feet tall and eight feet long!

What a cutie! I love his beautiful spotting-striping pattern, and that gorgeous schnoz!

You can read more about his species, the endangered Malayan tapir, and see a ton more pictures, are Zoo Borns.

Have you been watching "Orphan Black"?

If not, what are you doing with your life? Catch up via Amazon Prime and then check out this article about all the crazy science behind the show.

'Years of Living Dangerously' Full Premiere Episode Online!

File this under things I should be watching but haven't because I don't have Showtime: the groundbreaking climate change series on Showtime called Years of Living Dangerously.

But now I can! Because the first episode of Years of Living Dangerously is online right now and we can all watch it - access to Showtime or no. We should probably all watch this as soon as possible - who knows, it may be the next Inconvenient Truth (before the actual next Inconvenient Truth).



[via ThinkProgress]

Comedies in Space!

A couple of new comedies are boldly going where no sitcom has gone before. HBO and NBC each have space-themed comedies in development. HBO's is Women in Space (very direct title) about women who are sent off on a mission to colonize another planet. NBC's is Mission Control about a woman working at NASA during the space race in the '60s. Interesting that neither are set at NASA (or a private space company like Space X) right now. Or maybe there's one on the way to solidify the trend!

Cosmos: Taking Down the Creationists, One at a Time

I'm digging on the new Neil deGrasse Tyson hosted Cosmos. I love science. I love space. I love NdGT. I also love a calm, rational, reasonable approach to taking down the people who bash science over ridiculous claims like that the human eye is too perfect to have been randomly selected for or that the Earth is 6,000 years old. In addition to being a fun astronomy brush-up that's beautifully shot, Cosmos has systematically tackled creationists' most controversial and banal arguments. Read more about its take on creationism here, and also watch the show!

Fox's "Cosmos" Trailer

Seth MacFarlane may have produced something I'll actually like* in this new series - based on the old Carl Sagan series - Cosmos for FOX.



At the very least, we'll get some stellar (get it!?!) visuals and smooth jazz voiceover by Neil deGrasse Tyson. That's enough for me.

*Since Family Guy was reborn

[via /Film]

Alert! Possible Dino DNA in Existence!

A 2005 discovery of soft tissue from a T-Rex has been confirmed to be legit! And there may be dino DNA inside!! It's like time traveling to the past!! Without getting eaten by a T-Rex.

New Spoon for Parkinson and Tremor Patients

A new spoon designed by Lift Labs helps cancel out a person's tremor when eating meals.

Here's the promotional video demonstrating the product:



What a great invention! One of the best jokes from the new Michael J Fox Show last week was about how determined Michael is to serve eggs (as a personal victory) even though it's taking a long time and the rest of his family is extremely hungry. This invention could make that joke irrelevant! Not that I want jokes to be irrelevant, but you know what I'm saying.

[via Neatorama]

15 Things to Know from the IPCC's New Global Warming Report

The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) released a new report last week. The biggest news is that it specifies that scientists have a 95-100% certainty over humans' role in climate change which is, that we're causing it. ThinkProgress has a solid round-up of 14 additional highlights from the report.

Otter Conservation Does a Global Climate Good

Otters, who help manage kelp forests by keeping urchin populations in check, sequester an estimated $200-400 million worth of carbon, according to an analysis (of European carbon markets) by UCSC. So in case anyone ever asks why it's worth protecting animal species aside from their inherent adorableness? Boom. Answered.

[via ThinkProgress]