http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/category/sci_tech sci_tech news from TucsonSentinel.com - Tucson's independent nonprofit online news en Copyright 2010 2010-09-06T13:41:40+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/083110_wildlife_energy/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/083110_wildlife_energy/#When: 21:22:24Z Grant Martin With its sharp talons, powerful beak and 7-foot wingspan, the golden eagle is one of Arizona’s fiercest and most imposing birds of prey. It’s no match, however, for the rotating blades of turbines in wind farms. To address this problem, Arizona Game and Fish recently issued guidelines for developers planning wind farms and solar facilities. news, business, environment, sci_tech, trans_growth, local, arizona, breaking 2010-08-31T21:22:24+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/082710_oil_grainofsalt/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/082710_oil_grainofsalt/#When: 23:35:25Z Marian Wang Earlier this week, major news outlets ran with headlines about how a new microbe has been found eating up BP’s oil, and how microbes have degraded the hydrocarbons so efficiently that the vast plumes of oil in the Gulf are now undetectable. No joke. news, politics, business, environment, sci_tech, nationworld, breaking, hub_headlines, propublica, analysis 2010-08-27T23:35:25+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/082410_gulf_fish_deaths/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/082410_gulf_fish_deaths/#When: 00:51:53Z Marian Wang Preliminary tests show that a lack of oxygen in part of the Gulf of Mexico caused thousands of fish to die, according to Louisiana authorities quoted by the Los Angeles Times. news, business, environment, sci_tech, nationworld, breaking, propublica 2010-08-25T00:51:53+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/082010_iran_war/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/082010_iran_war/#When: 20:38:15Z Michael Moran I can’t help feeling that we’re seeing the beginning of a campaign to railroad the United States, one way or another, into attacking Iran – or of cleaning up an unfinished mess created by a much smaller Israeli strike. Don’t be mistaken, air strikes against Iran means war with Iran, and that war will rock the world. news, politics, sci_tech, war, nationworld, breaking, globalpost, columnist 2010-08-20T20:38:15+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/082010_gulf_oil/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/082010_gulf_oil/#When: 20:17:58Z Marian Wang Just how much of the oil spilled in the Gulf is still there? Depends on what the meaning of “is” is. NOAA is hedging some of its estimates, and not in a good way. About three-quarters of the oil that spilled into the Gulf from BP’s ruptured well is still in the environment. news, politics, business, environment, sci_tech, nationworld, breaking, propublica 2010-08-20T20:17:58+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/082010_bp_catastrophe/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/082010_bp_catastrophe/#When: 18:54:25Z Morgan Smith The beleaguered BP Texas City refinery faces two lawsuits: “BP collects… fines like speeding tickets,” says an attorney who’s represented BP workers.  “A million dollars doesn’t register on the BP corporate books… They look at a million-dollar fine as a nuisance and the cost of doing business.” news, business, crime, environment, health, sci_tech, nationworld, breaking, hub_headlines 2010-08-20T18:54:25+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/081710_giffords_solar/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/081710_giffords_solar/#When: 23:41:21Z Gabrielle Giffords Having the largest solar power plant in the world in our backyard is not just a reminder of solar’s limitless potential. It is a testament to the fact that solar is a technology and economic driver that doesn’t need to wait for tomorrow. It already is here, bringing benefits to our state and nation. news, politics, business, environment, sci_tech, local, arizona, opinion, guestopinion, breaking, hub_headlines, lead_ok 2010-08-17T23:41:21+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/081110_netneutrality/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/081110_netneutrality/#When: 17:13:10Z Marian Wang Google and Verizon - which have historically been on different sides of the net neutrality debate - favor net neutrality on wired broadband, but “wouldn’t apply such limits to Internet use on mobile phones.” news, politics, business, sci_tech, entertainment, nationworld, breaking, propublica 2010-08-11T17:13:10+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/080910_raytheon/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/080910_raytheon/#When: 16:13:240 Dylan Smith Updated: The Air Force has selected Tucson’s Raytheon Missile Systems to build the next-generation small guided bomb - a $450 million initial contract. news, business, sci_tech, war, local, nationworld, breaking, hub_headlines, lead_ok Aug 10, 2010, 10:13 pm http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/080910_deepwater_drilling/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/080910_deepwater_drilling/#When: 16:41:05Z Marian Wang A decade-old environmental assessment by offshore drilling regulators called for more research on Corexit dispersant, warned that deepwater spills were difficult to stop, and cautioned that such spills could “permanently cover water bottoms and wetlands.” news, politics, business, environment, sci_tech, nationworld, breaking, hub_headlines, propublica 2010-08-09T16:41:05+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/080610_net_neutrality/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/080610_net_neutrality/#When: 17:36:39Z Marian Wang The principle of net neutrality — the idea that Internet service providers must treat all traffic equally, and not privilege certain content by giving it more, or less, bandwidth — is one the FCC has been more aggressive about implementing under the Obama administration. news, politics, business, sci_tech, nationworld, breaking, hub_headlines, lead_ok, propublica 2010-08-06T17:36:39+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/080210_epassports/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/080210_epassports/#When: 16:53:01Z John Solomon A decade after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks brought to light the dangers of fake IDs, federal undercover agents are still able to easily obtain genuine U.S. e-Passports using clearly fraudulent information that should have raised red flags at the State Department. news, politics, border, crime, sci_tech, nationworld, center_for_public_integrity 2010-08-02T16:53:01+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/072610_oilplumes/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/072610_oilplumes/#When: 17:19:21Z Marian Wang Scientists from the University of South Florida announced on Friday that they have “definitively connected” the underwater oil plumes to BP’s ruptured and still slightly leaking well in the Gulf. nationworld, news, business, environment, sci_tech, breaking, propublica 2010-07-26T17:19:21+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/072510_chinainternetporn/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/072510_chinainternetporn/#When: 14:11:03Z Thomas Mucha Since May, Chinese web users have had access to internet pornography. With no word from the government, people are speculating about what’s behind this apparent loosening of regulations. nationworld, news, politics, business, media, sci_tech, breaking, hub_headlines, lead_ok, globalpost 2010-07-25T14:11:03+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/072010_gulf_cleanup/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/072010_gulf_cleanup/#When: 17:31:50Z Sasha Chavkin Oil cleanup workers on offshore vessels will begin receiving longer and more thorough safety trainings Tuesday, fulfilling a pledge by OSHA to improve training after it acknowledged that the previous course was inadequate. nationworld, news, business, environment, health, sci_tech, breaking, propublica 2010-07-20T17:31:50+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/071710_cereus_blooms/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/071710_cereus_blooms/#When: 16:17:08Z Emily Jones The night-blooming cereus is a remarkable sight - one revered by those who live in the desert because the bloom is rarely seen. The “Queen of the Night” only flowers on a single night per year. flags, news, environment, sci_tech, local, entertainment, todo, breaking, hub_headlines 2010-07-17T16:17:08+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/071310_monsoon_monitor/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/071310_monsoon_monitor/#When: 15:42:57Z Dylan Smith Watching the clouds build up around the Rincon and Catalina mountains, Tucsonans spend early July wondering where and when the summer rains will finally fall. Track the rain’s progress with the UA’s new website, Monsoon Monitor. flags, news, education, environment, sci_tech, local, arizona, breaking, hub_headlines, lead_ok 2010-07-12T15:42:57+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/070910_laserlightshows/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/070910_laserlightshows/#When: 17:29:25Z Dylan Smith Those who appreciate an altered consciousness rejoice. Laser light shows are returning to Flandrau planetarium after 10 years. flags, news, education, sci_tech, local, entertainment, celebs, todo, breaking, hub_headlines 2010-07-09T17:29:25+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/070710_norway_seapower/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/070710_norway_seapower/#When: 07:04:02Z Marcus Oscarsson When Norwegian researchers started the hunt for new and revolutionary power sources more than a decade ago, they turned to their country’s 155,000 miles of coastline. In 2009, Crown Princess Mette-Marit inaugurated the world’s first seawater power plant. nationworld, news, environment, sci_tech, breaking, globalpost 2010-07-07T07:04:02+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/070610_canada_nuclear/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/070610_canada_nuclear/#When: 06:17:44Z Colin Woodard The effort to refurbish Atlantic Canada’s only nuclear plant isn’t going well. The 25-year-old reactor was supposed to be refreshed last September. Today, nobody knows when the plant will be back online, except that it won’t be any earlier than 2011. nationworld, news, business, sci_tech, breaking, globalpost 2010-07-07T06:17:44+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/070310_solana/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/070310_solana/#When: 10:00:54Z Dylan Smith The “world’s largest solar plant” planned near Gila Bend will receive a $1.45 billion loan guarantee, President Obama announced Saturday. “This plant will be the first large-scale solar plant in the U.S. to actually store the energy it generates for later use – even at night,” he said. nationworld, news, politics, business, sci_tech, local, arizona, breaking, hub_headlines, lead_ok 2010-07-03T10:00:54+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/070110_rain/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/070110_rain/#When: 02:44:00Z Dylan Smith Rain? We don’t mind. And neither did the Beatles. If you want to see a repeat of the brisk rainfall we saw Thursday, you might have to do a rain dance. What’s your favorite song about the rain? flags, news, sci_tech, local, arizona, entertainment, music, breaking, hub_headlines, lead_ok 2010-07-02T02:44:00+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/063010_solar_schools/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/063010_solar_schools/#When: 17:25:21Z Gabrielle Giffords Those of us who live in Arizona know that if there’s one resource we have in abundance, it is sunlight Given this plentiful resource, it only seems natural that we should harness its energy to power our homes, schools and businesses. flags, news, politics, business, education, environment, sci_tech, local, arizona, opinion, guestopinion, breaking 2010-06-30T17:25:21+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/062910_russian_spies/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/062910_russian_spies/#When: 17:14:19Z Miriam Elder From afar, it looks like the spy scandal of the decade — 11 alleged Russian agents busted by the FBI on suspicion of infiltrating American society to feed policy secrets back to their spymasters in Moscow. Yet a closer look at the FBI’s investigation shows a sloppy operation that appears to have gathered little solid information. nationworld, news, politics, crime, sci_tech, breaking, hub_headlines, lead_ok, globalpost 2010-06-29T17:14:19+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/062810_bodies/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/062810_bodies/#When: 19:13:42Z Dylan Smith “Bodies… The Exhibition,” a display of plasticized human bodies and body parts, has extended its Tucson run through Sept. 12. flags, news, business, downtown, education, sci_tech, local, breaking, hub_headlines, lead_ok 2010-06-28T19:13:42+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/062510_solar/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/062510_solar/#When: 16:23:20Z Doug Isbell Many of the world’s leading amateur astronomers, dark-skies advocates and solar science experts are gathered at a joint meeting in Tucson this weekend, and the public is invited to experience their talents and hardware. flags, news, education, sci_tech, breaking 2010-06-26T16:23:20+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/062310_gulf_health/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/062310_gulf_health/#When: 16:36:27Z Kaiser Health News Medical researchers are this week meeting in New Orleans to discuss how the major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will affect human health. nationworld, news, politics, environment, health, sci_tech, breaking, hub_headlines, lead_ok, kaiser_health_news 2010-06-23T16:36:27+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/062210_telescope_mirror/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/062210_telescope_mirror/#When: 16:00:33Z Doug Isbell Fulfilling decades of promise, the international Large Binocular Telescope on Mount Graham is now capable of delivering the sharpest images of the universe ever taken. flags, news, education, sci_tech, local, arizona, breaking, hub_headlines, lead_ok 2010-06-22T16:00:33+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/0618_epassports/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/0618_epassports/#When: 18:09:33Z John Solomon Key electronics for millions of American e-Passports, the crown jewel of a new U.S. border security system, are put together inside a little-known factory in Ayutthaya, Thailand - a city that’s been subjected to terrorist attacks. nationworld, news, politics, border, business, sci_tech, war, breaking, hub_headlines, lead_ok, center_for_public_integrity 2010-06-18T18:09:33+00:00 http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/061610_nyt_afghan/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local|sports|arts|opinion|nationworld/report/061610_nyt_afghan/#When: 04:04:53Z Jean MacKenzie The New York Times’ lead story Monday about “nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan” was the kind of journalism that seemed at first glance to be a game changer. Was the Times played by the U.S. military to see the value of the mineral deposits when Washington appears to be increasingly concerned about the public losing confidence in the war? nationworld, news, politics, business, sci_tech, war, breaking, globalpost 2010-06-17T04:04:53+00:00