Flexible design enables body-morphing capability. CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(ENEWSPF)–August 10, 2012.  Earthworms creep along the ground by alternately squeezing and stretching muscles along the length of their bodies, inching forward with each wave of contractions. Snails and sea cucumbers also use this mechanism, called peristalsis, to get around, and our own gastrointestinal[Read More…]

 New algorithms allow an autonomous robotic plane to dodge obstacles in a subterranean parking garage, without the use of GPS. CAMBRDIGE, Mass.–(ENEWSPF)–August 10, 2012.   For decades, academic and industry researchers have been working on control algorithms for autonomous helicopters — robotic helicopters that pilot themselves, rather than requiring remote[Read More…]

Klingle Road — closed to motor vehicles since 1991 — is one step closer to becoming the hiking and biking trail approved by the D.C. Council in 2008 and supported by Friends of the Earth WASHINGTON, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–August 10, 2012.  Yesterday the U.S. District Court in D.C. dismissed a lawsuit that[Read More…]

Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–August 10, 2012.  A new study is the first to find a difference between how boys and girls respond to prenatal exposure to the insecticide chlorpyrifos. Researchers at the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health (CCCEH) at the Mailman School of Public Health found that, at age 7, boys[Read More…]

BOEM Commences Environmental Review of Demonstration Project, Provides Opportunity for Public Comment and Expressions of Competitive Interest WASHINGTON–(ENEWSPF)–August 9, 2012.  As part of the Obama Administration’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to expand domestic energy development, including renewable energy, the Department of the Interior announced today that the Bureau of Ocean Energy[Read More…]

Scientists find steady reduction in one type of air pollutant, although region still suffers bad air days Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)—August 9, 2012 Traffic in Los Angeles, Calif. (Credit: Puck90 via Flickr Creative Commons) In California’s Los Angeles Basin, levels of some vehicle-related air pollutants have decreased by about 98 percent since the[Read More…]

Updated outlook calls for near- or above-normal Atlantic season Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–August 9, 2012 Satellite image of Hurricane Ernesto taken on Aug. 7, 2012 in the Gulf of Mexico. (Credit: NOAA) This year’s Atlantic hurricane season got off to a busy start, with 6 named storms to date, and may have a[Read More…]

  Two tiny clams, members of the superfamily Galeommatoidea, attached to their host, a spiny sand crab. The clams, members of the species Mysella pedroana, are located near the base of the crab’s right eye. The superfamily contains about 500 described species of clams, most of which are less than[Read More…]

‘Toxic 20’ States: KY, OH, PA, IN, WV, FL, MI , NC, GA , TX , TN , VA, SC, AL, MO, IL, MS, WI, MD, DE  WASHINGTON–(ENEWSPF)–August 9, 2012 – Residents of Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania are exposed to more toxic air pollution from coal-fired power plants than in[Read More…]

Fisheries Service finds whales killed at unsustainable levels   Honolulu, HI–(ENEWSPF)–August 9, 2012.   On August 7, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued new data confirming that the Hawaiʻi-based longline fisheries are killing false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens, a large dolphin species) at unsustainable rates. The new information highlights[Read More…]