A microscopic marine alga is thriving in the North Atlantic to an extent that defies scientific predictions, suggesting swift environmental change as a result of increased carbon dioxide in the ocean, a study led a by Johns Hopkins University scientist has found.

What these findings mean remains to be seen, as does whether the rapid growth in the tiny plankton's population is good or bad news for the planet.

Published today in the journal Science, the study details a tenfold increase in the abundance of single-cell coccolithophores between 1965 and 2010, and a particularly sharp spike since the late 1990s in the population of these pale-shelled floating phytoplankton.

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Dow AgroSciences, which sells seeds and pesticides to farmers, made contradictory claims to different parts of the U.S. government about its latest herbicide. The Environmental Protection Agency just found out, and now wants to cancel Dow's legal right to sell the product.

The herbicide, which the company calls Enlist Duo, is a mixture of two chemicals that farmers have used separately for many years: glyphosate (also known as Roundup) and 2,4-D. It's Dow's answer to the growing problem of weeds that are resistant to glyphosate, which has become the weed-killing weapon of choice for farmers across the country.

The new formulation is intended to work hand-in-hand with a new generation of corn and soybean seeds that are genetically engineered to tolerate sprays of both herbicides.

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Mars is blanketed by a thin, mostly carbon dioxide atmosphere -- one that is far too thin to keep water from freezing or quickly evaporating. However, geological evidence has led scientists to conclude that ancient Mars was once a warmer, wetter place than it is today. To produce a more temperate climate, several researchers have suggested that the planet was once shrouded in a much thicker carbon dioxide atmosphere. For decades that left the question, "Where did all the carbon go?"

The solar wind stripped away much of Mars' ancient atmosphere and is still removing tons of it every day. But scientists have been puzzled by why they haven't found more carbon -- in the form of carbonate -- captured into Martian rocks. They have also sought to explain the ratio of heavier and lighter carbons in the modern Martian atmosphere.

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Avanzar hacia una empresa “sin papeles” o mejor dicho más eficiente en el uso de la tecnología y por lo tanto menos encaminada a imprimir, revisar y volver a subir al sistema tiene muchas ventajas, no solo ambientales sino también económicas y de organización, pero en un entorno clásico de oficina con carpetas, archivadores, impresoras y multifuncionales, el transitar hacia un entorno de trabajo digital puede ser una experiencia difícil en el que toda la empresa tiene que unirse a la causa y alta dirección tiene que “comprar” este nuevo paradigma de trabajo.

Para las generaciones anteriores puede ser más difícil deshacerse de su océano de copias impresas y acoplarse a llenar formularios en la pantalla además de que muchos documentos también deben ser leídos, analizados y corregidos en formato digital y el tener un documento impreso para ser corregido con una pluma se torna una práctica obsoleta y “cara”, desde el punto de vista de eficiencia de costos. Así que mientras el personal más joven experto en tecnología lo tomará con calma, para las generaciones anteriores se hace complicado, pero tarde que temprano llegará el cambio y bien dicen que quien pega primero pega dos veces, posiblemente tu competencia ya esté tomando cartas en el asunto y pronto te sorprenda con una mayor participación en tu mercado.

Algunos beneficios de una empresa sin papeles o “Paperless” son...

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It’s never been easier for us to get where we want to go, but our growing transportation systems mixed with development are taking a serious toll on wildlife, from tiny amphibians to large mammals, and pushing some who are already in danger of disappearing even closer to the brink.

A new report from the Endangered Species Coalition, No Room to Roam: 10 American Species in Need of Connectivity and Corridor, focuses on imperiled species who need just what the title says: room to roam.

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En menos tiempo del necesario para crear una planta de energía nuclear, las baterías de litio-aire podrían estar ayudando a las fuentes eólicas y solares a hacer obsoletos al carbón, al petróleo y a la energía nuclear, dicen los científicos de Cambridge. Cinco veces más ligero y cinco veces más barato que las baterías de litio actuales, las baterías de Li-aire abrirían el camino a nuestro 100% renovable futuro.

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