Inhabitat: NASA announces chemical-sniffing phone

From the Pump Handle

• Energy Plant Explosion Kills Five
  Yesterday afternoon, a massive explosion at an under-construction Connecticut power plant killed five workers and wounded several more. Workers at the Kleen Energy plant in Middletown, CT were reportedly purging a natural gas line, and the explosion was so powerful that residents towns away reported hearing it and feeling tremors. About 100 firefighters work […]
  Liz Borkowski
• Random thoughts on CDC’s swine flu effort: epidemiology and surveillance
  by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure We still don’t know if we are experiencing a lull in flu or the virus has burned itself out for the season, but it’s as good a time as any to reflect a bit on where we’ve been and where we still need to go. Being otherwise occupied (I’m sure [...] […]
  revere
• Portland Models Cycling Planning
  Portland, Oregon is already a model city in many ways, including an impressive public transit system and a high rate of bicycle commuting. Now, reports Joseph Rose of The Oregonian/Associated Press, Portland’s City Council is poised to approve a $613 million plan that would build 681 new miles of bike lanes over the next two [...] […]
  Liz Borkowski
• More on the Importance of Agencies
  Following Tim Dickinson’s Rolling Stone article about what Lisa Jackson is accomplishing at EPA, John B. Judis publishes a piece in the New Republic about the Obama “revolution” going on as Obama appointees at multiple federal agencies enthusiastically enforce laws intended to keep our air, food, drus, and workplaces safe. Judis contrasts previous Republican […]
  Liz Borkowski
• Peer review problems: just in the Nature of things
  by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure The Nature blog, The Great Beyond, has an interesting although not surprising report of accusations on BBC that a cabal of researchers has been impeding publication of important stem cell research to help themselves or help their friends: Truly innovative stem cell research is being suppressed by a clique of peer [ […]
  revere