Feed: Celsias Expert Articles - AggScore: 51.6

Boxx Shaped Electric Bike - A whole new Sort of Scooter

Simply dubbed the Boxx, this electric vehicle rethinks the traditional design of motorbikes with a minimalistic and stylish approach. The square bike is built using light-weight aluminum and is strong enough to support 300 pounds of weight. It can travel up to 35 miles per hour and can go 80 miles with a single charge.

The Boxx weighs only 120 pounds and its compact design is perfect for urban dwellers. It takes up less space than a usual scooter and can be easily stored inside. It’s priced at dollarsignr4,000 and includes LED lighting, anti-lock brakes, traction control, all-wheel ...

Black Carbon Initiative Should Not Block Real Carbon Action-WWF

 WWF has welcomed a “black carbon” initiative announced today by the US, Canada, Mexico, Ghana, Sweden and Bangladesh – but warned that the primary effort in reducing dangerous climate changing emissions has to remain on achieving rapid and deep cuts to carbon dioxide emissions.

The substances highlighted in the initiative – black carbon or soot, methane and hydrofluorocarbons – are known as short-lived climate forcers since they do not stay in the atmosphere as long as CO₂. Major sources of black carbon include burning of biomass in traditional cookstoves and fires in some developing countries, as well as diesel exhaust. .

 ‘The fact ...

Tell Your Senators: Reject the Keystone Pipeline

More than 793,000 People Call on Congress to Reject Killer Keystone

Over the course of only 24 hours, more than 793,000 people from around the country sent a powerful message to Congress: Don’t build the Keystone XL pipeline. The Center for Biological Diversity joined more than 40 other environmental groups, led by 350.org, on Monday and Tuesday to galvanize public opposition to the project. More than 24,700 messages opposing Keystone XL came from the Center’s supporters.

“Americans want clean energy and a clean environment, not a pipeline that spills oil and pushes us closer to the brink of climate catastrophe,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species program ...

China's Coal-Power May Make Electric Vehicles More Polluting

Electric cars have been heralded as environmentally friendly, but findings from University of Tennessee, Knoxville, researchers show that electric cars in China have an overall impact on pollution that could be more harmful to health than gasoline vehicles.

Chris Cherry, assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering, and graduate student Shuguang Ji, analyzed the emissions and environmental health impacts of five vehicle technologies in 34 major Chinese cities, focusing on dangerous fine particles. What Cherry and his team found defies conventional logic: electric cars cause much more overall harmful particulate matter pollution than gasoline cars.

“An implicit assumption has been ...

Disease Spreading Mosquito Found in UK after 60 Years

A species of mosquito suspected of transmitting West Nile virus to humans in Europe has been discovered in the marshes of north Kent and south Essex.

West Nile virus (WNV) lives primarily in birds. Humans occasionally catch it from the bite of a mosquito that has previously fed on an infected bird or animal. Though it can cause severe disease, most infections are mild or produce no symptoms.

The mosquito, known only by its Latin name Culex modestus, can transmit WNV because it regularly bites both birds and mammals.

WNV has never been found in the UK and there is ...

The 2013 Energy Budget

,According to Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, yesterday's 2013 Energy Budget makes critical investments in innovation, clean energy and national security, and continues to emphasise  the President's commitment to an all-of-the-above energy strategy.

UK Policy and Business Leaders Discuss Low-Carbon Sector Collaboration with North America

British government and business leaders today discussed the economic and environmental benefits of the UK’s Green Deal – the no-cost-down program to retrofit 26 million British homes and businesses – during a Renewable Energy World 2012 conference panel. The panel focused on how government policies act as core drivers to develop a clean energy economy and spur global business opportunities.

“The UK has a world-leading policy framework which is revolutionizing the low-carbon business environment. Business-friendly policies are creating new markets, spurring sustainable business thinking and attracting innovators and customer service experts to enter the market,” said Dan Monzani, deputy director of ...

The Decreasing Price of Solar in India

Solar energy may have a reputation to be more expensive in most parts of the world, but not in India. In the world's second most populous nation, electricity stemming from solar energy is now cheaper than oil-based energy. The Indian government also has an objective to inaugurate 20,000 megawatts of solar panels by 2022. India's solar success may have positive implications for other developing countries to show a new and inexpensive alternative energy source for use in not only for basic heating, but to also use for new and innovative technology.

According to the Bloomberg New Energy ...

Canadian PM Looks to Asia to Export Dirty Tar Sands

Canadian Prime Minister Shills Alberta Oil Sands in China

Canadian Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper is in the midst of an official visit to China.

His mission?

To convince Beijing's mandarins to buy Canada's Alberta oil sands hydrocarbon production, now that Republican Congressional overreach has effectively sidelined the Keystone XL pipeline, designed to transit the oil to U.S. Gulf of Mexico refineries, for the foreseeable future.

Harper faces an uphill struggle, as China is questioning the delays in implementing the Northern Gateway pipeline, to transit Alberta's oil to Canada's western coast for transshipment to China ...

Offshore Wind Projects Soon to Make an Appearance Along US East Coast

The Obama administration has announced plans to make areas along the U.S. mid-Atlantic coast available to wind-energy developers by the end of the year.  Wind farms off the coasts of Maryland and New Jersey would be the first under a program allowing The U.S. Department of the Interior—along with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)—to fast-track offshore wind energy development.  According to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. gets approximately three percent of its electricity from land-based wind farms but does not yet have any offshore turbines.  Wind blows harder and less erratically over ...

Canadian Environmentalist Tells it How it is in a Letter to Celsias

Celsias,

I am writing to express two deep concerns.

1.       I am beginning  to feel we are losing our “ freedom of peaceful expression,  freedom to raise our objections to our Canadian Government when we feel they are not acting in our best interests.”

Is signing petitions or writing letters to and freely expressing our concerns for the environment becoming a dangerous thing? Based on Globe & Mail news reports, Prime Minister Harper and Mr. Oliver will be “closely monitoring” environmental groups and its members. My concern comes from several recent comments in various articles in the Globe & Mail, which indicate environmentalists ...

The Pygmy Nile Crocodile

A new study from researchers at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has uncovered secrets of the mysterious pygmy Nile crocodile. Once thought to be a unique population of the more well-known Nile crocodile, the pygmy Niles are in fact a very distinct crocodile species of West Africa. A couple of years ago, their existence was confirmed within the nation of Uganda. The recent WCS study found that their habitat extends into more areas, shedding insight upon this beautiful rare creature.

The WCS field team were composed of Ugandan researchers, trained by the late John Thorbjarnarson, who succumbed to malaria in ...

Advancing the Use of Healthy Cells or Stem Cells to Treat Disease

In a discovery that may help speed use of “cell therapy” — with normal cells or stem cells infused into the body to treat disease — scientists are reporting development of a way to deliver therapeutic human cells to diseased areas within the body using a simple magnetic effect. Their report appears in ACS’ journal Langmuir.

Rawil Fakhrullin and colleagues explain that cell therapy aims to replace damaged or diseased cells in the human body with normal cells or stem cells. To do so, medical personnel need a way to target these cells to diseased organs or tissues. So-called superparamagnetic iron oxide ...

Love and Diamonds

 “There was a time when love didn’t equal diamonds,” I explain to a girlfriend whose boyfriend is all but guaranteed to be her fiancée soon. She’s freaking out about whether he’s going to pick the right ring. I’m freaking out because I didn’t think my girlfriends did this.

“But everyone asks to see the ring,” She protests, “It’s the first thing they ask.” This is a disgusting and true statement.

“That’s totally untrue,” I lie. “Not all women like diamonds. Not all women should like diamonds. They’re not exactly good for ...