When you think of lasers, you probably think of devices used by Luke Skywalker or the Starship Enterprise.  But if some scientists at EPA have their way, you'll soon think of lasers as weapons to fight air pollution.  This, according to the Junk Science home page, which recently reported that atmospheric scientists using NASA technology have been roving the streets of Boston, New York, and Manchester, New Hampshire firing lasers at the tailpipes of city buses –  not looking to destroy the vehicles, of course, but looking for evidence of air pollution.  The lasers produce low-powered light beams that [...]

Is a thinning ozone layer causing a decline in the number of frogs?  Well for years, some activists have been croaking about just such a connection by stating that increased levels of uv-b radiation caused by a thinning ozone layer are roasting the amphibians eggs in shallow ponds.  But now comes a new report by the University of Washington that challenges that assertion.  The study looked at 136 breeding sites in the Olympic and Cascade mountains and found that levels of organic matter present in the water which absorb uv-b radiation and shield vulnerable eggs were sufficiently high to [...]

Not only is global warming real, but the cost of preventing it would be small, and even beneficial.  So say many environmental leaders who believe we could easily meet world energy demand without relying on fossil fuels.  But now comes a major new report in Science magazine which ices this overheated claim.  According to the report, technologies simply do not exist at the present time which could meet the world's growing energy consumption without emissions of carbon dioxide.  Indeed, with 85 percent of the world's current 12 trillion watts now supplied by fossil fuels, the authors suggest that only [...]

Does America's war on obesity have some unnecessary rhetorical fat around the mid-section? Absolutely, according to Radley Balko of the CATO Institute who recently attended a national obesity summit and found the debate lacking some factual nutrients. Indeed, while anti-fat advocates were comparing obesity to the threat of global terrorism, cancer rates, which are often linked to excess weight, have actually declined since 1990, and coronary heart disease, an even closer link, is down 25 percent. This isn't to say that trim and fit isn't healthier, but since studies show that real health risks are generally confined to the [...]

Medical advances through biotechnology have long held much promise.  But now, that promise is becoming even more of a reality as a new vaccine has just been developed that could actually prevent over a quarter million female deaths per year.  According to science writer Michael Fumento, the biotech vaccine can protect against strains of the human papilloma virus which is thought to cause nearly three-quarters of all cervical cancer.  In the U.S., cervical cancer deaths have already declined dramatically due to pap smears and biopsies.  But in places which cannot afford expensive preventative care, cervical cancer kills over 250,000 [...]

In Hollywood, nature is often depicted whimsically as a circle of life devoid of mass suffering. But in reality, disease and death are often part and parcel of the natural world. This was on full display on the beaches of Mauritania, where more than a hundred dolphins, eight marine turtles, and five beaked whales recently washed up on shore dead from a probable virus. Meanwhile, veterinarians in Bangladesh are frantically seeking solutions to how they can stop the spread of anthrax that is threatening a large number of their nation's elephants before it spread to humans. While the natural [...]

It's hard to think about Australia without thinking about kangaroos. But residents of the land down under are sure having their hands full as recent droughts have been driving many of these marsupials out of the parched bush and into the suburbs looking for food and water. While kangaroos look friendly enough, they can actually be quite aggressive, and at 5 ½ feet tall, 150 pounds, and with very powerful hind legs, residents of the capital city of Canberra have been warned to avoid close contact with them. Indeed, one woman has already been attacked, while another kangaroo help [...]

Americans love their national parks. And according to Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico, much is being done to keep these natural treasures beautiful for generations to come. Comments Senator Domenici: "I am pleased with the strong progress we have made to improve our neglected national parks. I congratulate President Bush for his unwavering commitment to restore our cherished national parks to their former glory. I hope for my children and grandchildren that our national parks are as grand as they were when I was a child. More than 4,000 projects are underway at national parks in 49 states [...]

We're all familiar with the dangers from hurricanes, earthquakes, and more recently, tsunamis. But what about volcanoes? Well according to a recent report from the U.S. Geological Survey, threats from America's 169 volcanoes which have either erupted or recently quieted could be significant, with 18 of these fiery mountains posing a very high danger to people and aviation. The research notes that, very disturbingly, monitoring of volcanic activity is grossly inadequate, with only about a dozen peaks receiving the attention they deserve. The scientists are urging the creation of a comprehensive early-warning system for volcanic unrest, which might be [...]

Many today are shocked at the state of the environment as it existed under the old Soviet regime. But according to Jane Shaw of the group PERC, such pollution of the rivers and land was a natural consequence of a government managed economy. Comments Shaw: "In the old Soviet system, the state of the environment was directly connected to the absence of property rights. The authorities had refused to allow most resources to be privately owned and production was centrally planned, with land and other resources owned by the state, not individuals. This absence of property rights, which provides [...]

Home to the Blarney Stone and fields of clover, Ireland once sported numerous golden eagles which graced its skies. Featured in Celtic poetry and art, the golden eagles, with their yellowish- brown head and neck, were once common, until Victorian trophy- hunters drove the species to its demise on the island a hundred years ago. Now conservationists have intervened to change this feathery fate, and it appears to be working. Under a scheme to bring back these birds of prey, six were reintroduced into the remote Donegal hills in 2001, and now some nesting sites have been sited. With [...]

Ever since the 1960's, environmental groups have led the charge in opposing the widespread use of DDT. So it is a bit surprising to find that today, leaders of groups including Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund are doing an about-face and embracing its use to combat Third World malaria. In an interview conducted by the New York Times columnist, World Wildlife Fund spokesman Richard Liroff said "South Africa was right to use DDT" as it "prevented tens of thousands of malaria cases." A further interview with Greenpeace spokesman Rick Hind also revealed that as far as that group [...]

From calculators to DVD's, the cost of electronic gadgets always seems to go down. And while that's so far been the case with computers, you may end up having to spend more for your new hardware if a questionable campaign against lead soldering continues to gain gigabytes in the public debate. According to Environment News, some activists are seeking to ban lead from soldering that is critical for binding circuitry together because of concern about its effects in landfills. But with lead soldering representing less than 1% of lead disposal, more and more computers being sold or traded instead [...]

Will global warming devastate the planet's biodiversity? While some of its proponents claim this to be the case, others like Dr. Sherwood Idso of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide recently released a report on this issue, and believes otherwise. Comments Dr. Idso: "Plants in a CO2-enriched atmosphere generally prefer warmer temperatures than they do when exposed to normal air and it is likely they will move both poleward in latitude and upward in altitude, which will enable them to expand the territory they inhabit and actually make them less likely to experience extinction. Global warming will [...]