They only have 300 students. There is only one major to study. But don't be fooled, they are doing big things. The College of the Atlantic, in Bar Harbor is the first college to be carbon neutral.
According to CNN, "The private college said it has offset emissions of 2,488 tons over the past 15 months by investing in a greenhouse gas reduction project in Oregon. The cost: about $25,000." The plan in Oregon optimizes traffic lights to reduce car emissions while on the road, which I think is pretty amazing.
What does it mean to be carbon neutral? I had no idea until I read this article. But apparently if you are carbon neutral than you are offsetting carbon by as much as you release. So you are trying to reduce you total greenhouse gas footprint to zero.
The College of the Atlantic has been an inspiration to other educational institutions. There are now over 450 colleges and universities participating in "net-zero" pledges.
You have to wonder what prompted the scientists to say "Hey, let's see if we can clone a cat and make it glow in the dark." But apparently, somewhere in South Korea are scientists who not only want to mess with evolution by cloning cats... (perhaps for dinner?) they also want to further play high and mighty by changing their genetic make-up and set them aglow.
"The ability to manipulate the fluorescent protein and use this to clone cats opens new horizons for artificially creating animals with human illnesses linked to genetic causes," the Ministry of Science and Technology said in Wednesday's report.
I don't care if you have the flippin' ability to do such things. What in the world is the purpose of making a cat glow and how is that going to cure human illnesses? You can argue with me and talk about how this means you can transfer and change genetics in people, but glowing, come on, seriously, those poor cats. Watch their life expectancy will be cut in half because of whatever crap is making them glow. Or worse they will be sold only to later attack their owner and cause some sort of freak break out disease in humans.
Believe it or not this tiny little car has over 1,000 pounds of torque. It's almost like riding a motorcycle when you think about the size, but this car is much safer. And though it doesn't look like even I could fit inside, the side protection is estimated at 4 times higher than a typical SUV.
To run the "Tango" all you need is a battery...the same battery that pulls freight trains. Before bed just plug it into a 110 volt outlet and by morning you'll be able to drive 80 miles.
Along with all the aforementioned pluses, I'm pretty sure you could park this car anywhere.
There are three models, the cheapest is $18,700 with a $500 deposit. Once you put your deposit down it takes about six months before you get your purchase. The deposit is fully refundable.
If Al Gore drove an SUV do you think he would have been presented with a Nobel Peace Prize this morning? Or if people found out that the Gore family property has been mined for zinc and germanium for decades. He and his dad, the late Senator Albert Gore, Sr., obtained the land in a favorable deal with the late Armand Hammer of Occidental Petroleum. Gore, Sr. was heavily supported by Hammer financially, and carried his water in the U.S. Senate.
As many politicians or government officers, there is a lot of dramatization and exaggerations involved with Al Gore. I don't think he is worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize. I don't put him up on a pedestal with other winners. I wonder where he will put his plaque...maybe next to his Academy Award or his Emmy. Maybe we'll see a picture of it on the site he founded CurrentTV. (It is a website for peer-to-peer views on important news...yeah...sure.
In his acceptance speech this morning he said, "We are what is wrong, and we must make it right ... We never intended to cause all this destruction, just as Alfred Nobel never intended that dynamite be used for waging war..."
Please Mr. Gore, don't go there. That comparison might be as bad as his statement several years ago when he claimed to have created the Internet. He told CNN on March 9, 1999: "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet." Sure it is probable and possible that he had a hand in this, but to assert such an egotistical statement bothers me.
And the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Al Gore, but I bet down the road he'll make it seem like he did it all on his own.
There are tons of people trying to promote global awareness of the climate crisis. Al Gore wasn't the first and he won't be the last. I'd like to see how much of the campaign money he spent on bettering our country to improve the climate. Or did those funds go to travel, book publications and concerts.
Now that he won this prize which awards $1.5 million, he is saying he will donate his share to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a non-profit organization devoted to conveying the urgency of solving the climate crisis. I am pleased by that announcement and I hope it comes to pass.
Forgive me for being skeptical, I'm normally not that way, I just don't think of Al Gore when I think of the Nobel Peace Prize. I think of Jimmy Carter, Jr. who won the prize in 2002 and Mother Teresa who received it in 1979. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the recipient in 1964. Those people are who I perceive to be bonafide winners. Ah well, what do I know anyway?
Due to the fact that I kill all plants I try to raise, I have never been much of a gardener. My family has gardened my whole life, we're talking everything from garlic to asparagus and lima beans. Not to mention all the flowers, fruits and yes they even have a walnut tree. Yet somehow the green thumb did not make it into my genetic makeup.
However, this little miniature garden by Pylones is so cute I just might need to give it a try. It was designed by Bernard Vuarnesson and is made in France.
"Sprout the seeds of our easy-to-grow Miniature Garden in just three days. Four reusable felt pads, seed packets and water are all it takes to grow edible clover, cress, lettuce and mustard."
Sounds like it should be pretty easy, I wonder if you can choose something other than edible clover though because I don't fancy myself a rabbit.
