Monthly Archive

Courtesy of Bloom Energy

This past Wednesday, Bloom Energy, a start-up company, introduced its new fuel cell, which, if successful, could generate electricity at a fraction of its current cost and significantly reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

Heaven's Peak, Glacier National Park (courtesy NPS)

For people caught on the wrong mountain slope at the wrong time, avalanches can be lethal. But for wildlife, they can be a benefit, carving out habitat and increasing biodiversity.

Central Intelligence Agency

And the answer to yesterday's flag quiz is...

www.vancouver2010.com

Athletes that make it to the podium at the Olympic Games in Vancouver are obviously winners—but their medals are also a small win for the planet: For the first time they’re made with recycled metals salvaged from electronic waste. Read more about the medals, and helpful tips for recycling your own e-waste.

You reported 1.8 million American Robins Photo: almiyi on Flickr Creative Commons

With three days left to submit your 2010 Great Backyard Bird Count stats, contemplate these numbers for sec:

So far, you and your fellow citizen scientists have sent in almost 91,000 lists containing 597 species and 10.5 million birds. (If you haven’t yet reported, send Audubon and Cornell your info here.)

Click through for results, including the top 10 species reported.

When I became a serious biographer I encountered the litigious specter of the late J.D. Salinger.  The author’s spirit got touchy way before he died; since 1988 it has hovered around those who dare to write books about the lives of others.

Can you guess which nation corresponds with the flag below and name the bird that emblazons it? Add your guesses in the comment section, and stay tuned for a detailed answer, to appear after 5pm tomorrow.

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        Roseate spoonbills (Photo: U.S. Fish & Wildlife)

“Witches dance in the Pacific breeze, their long locks sending shards of moonlight across the forest duff,” writes Ted Williams, about Alectoria sarmentosa (better known as Witch’s Hair), in Earth Almanac from the Jan-Feb 2010 issue of Audubon. This lichen—food for woodland caribou and black-tailed deer—is extremely sensitive to airborne pollutants, “making long-term changes in its abundance an accurate indicator of air quality.”

Williams also describes elephant seals, the dark-eyed juncos you’ll see on your backyard feeder, the oar-like bill of the roseate spoonbill, where the harmless snow scorpionfly gets its name, and bayberries (food for tree swallows, grouse, quail, turkeys, woodpeckers, pheasants, and many songbirds). Find out more here.

Curious about a particular flora or fauna? E-mail your suggestions to editor@audubon.org with the subject line “Earth Almanac.”

BMW showed off its concept ActiveE, an electric vehicle based on the 1 Series coupe at the auto show in Detroit in January.

Think they’ll ever make another Bourne movie? You never know, CIA agent Jason Bourne could be called out of retirement. Perhaps he’ll find out that his mentor didn’t really kill himself and is out for revenge. Anyway, if they do decide on a fourth blockbuster, I’m hoping that the film will include our hero zooming around some European city in an electric BMW vehicle (the Bourne movies always feature BMWs). The German automaker announced this week that it’s modifying its Leipzig factory to manufacture electric vehicles.

As part of New York City’s Fashion Week, environmentally conscious designers put their runway collections in the spotlight and illuminated an eco component of the bi-annual event. Audubon was there to see the House of Organic show, where eight designers debuted their styles at 311 East 11th Street, a LEED-gold certified apartment building.