Another 'Silent Spring' & More for Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Is it another 'Silent Spring'? (No, we're not referring to the late, great Rachel Carson's classic Silent Spring...). Well, actually its now summer, but we've noticed some missing residents around here in lower eastern Michigan. We were up - quite early this morning, before sunrise - and noticed a deafening silence. 'Where were the crickets?', we wondered. Any other year, this time of day and season, you could hear their chorus. We find the complete absence of one of our favorite insects a little disturbing and eerie. We have found a couple (two, exactly) of the smaller field-variety brown crickets - during this whole season... Is it a cause for concern?

Always silent and always appearing en masse, we missed another of our insect friends - Ephemeroptera or the Mayfly. Where have they been this year? Is it too cool and wet for them, this year? Or is it some other unknown reason? Is it linked to our disappeared Gryllidae? We don't know...

Another missing resident is the common Bufo bufo and some of our other Anuran friends. Last spring, we encountered hundreds of their tadpoles in drying tire tracks. Many of which we believe to have matured and survived as we heard their croaks and groans earlier this year. Now, the areas where we had encountered them just one year ago are nearly and/or completely silent. The tire tracks are still there. They are wet. But, inexpicably they are uninhabited. Is it too late in the season? Or is there some other, more ominous reason? We hope to post video evidence of this soon, but lacking funds, we must ask for donations to do this. Otherwise, the evidence may never be posted.

We had previously posted our concerns about the anurans and bufo previously (in another venue...) and received some derogatory comments regarding that. But, we expected that. However, we did not expect a complete disappearance. Believing that the little creatures form the ecological foundation for the rest of the biosphere, we wonder if the next phase of disappearance is coming. We firmly believe that what happens to our other earthling neighbors, happens to us...

How Evolution Can Allow For Large Developmental Leaps


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090720163716.htm


Strange! Humans Glow in Visible Light


http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090722/sc_livescience/strangehumansglowinvisiblelight;_ylt=AltqKv8tEQee4NHSatM8xE4PLBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTNkMGptdnJuBGFzc2V0A2xpdmVzY2llbmNlLzIwMDkwNzIyL3N0cmFuZ2VodW1hbnNnbG93aW52aXNpYmxlbGlnaHQEY3BvcwM0BHBvcwMxBHNlYwN5bl9oZ


Ultrasound performed on pregnant dolphin


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/8161416.stm

Tursiops


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottlenose_dolphin

Tursiops truncatus (EOL Link)


http://www.eol.org/pages/129548


Wolf Reintroduction Proposed In Scottish Highland Test Case


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090720134527.htm

Bangladesh rare leopard cub found


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8162981.stm

Neofelis nebulosa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clouded_Leopard

Neofelis nebulosa (IUCN Red List Link – Vulnerable)

http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/14519/0

Neofelis nebulosa (EOL Link)

http://www.eol.org/pages/328675

Cod expert: Don't boost harvest yet

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2009/07/22/cod-recover-722.html

Gadus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadus

Sea Lamprey Embryos Dramatically Alter Genomes

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090720163734.htm

Petromyzon marinus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_lamprey

Petromyzon marinus

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=2530

Return of the Giant Jellyfish

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6721081.ece

Echizen kurage

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echizen_kurage

Swine flu vaccine trials start in Australia

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/07/22/swine-flu-vaccine.html

H1N1 Influenza Pandemic Modeling For Public Health Action

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090720134227.htm

2009 flu pandemic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_flu_pandemic

H1N1 Deaths Double in Three Weeks

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/21/health/main5177820.shtml

Infection-Causing Amoeba May be Resistant to Multiple Contact Lens Solutions

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090721091841.htm

Acanthamoeba

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acanthamoeba

C. Difficile Spores Spread Superbug

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090720134522.htm

Clostridium difficile

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clostridium_difficile



Embryonic-like cells repair damaged mouse hearts

http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre56j51m-us-heart-stemcell/

Pre-chewed Food Could Transmit HIV

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090721163126.htm

Starve A Fever, Feed A Cold, Don't Be Stressed

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090720163719.htm

Evidence Of Clovis-age Comets Discovered

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090720190719.htm

Hunt hopes to find ancient trees

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8160881.stm

New Discovery Suggests Trees Evolved Camouflage Defense Against Long Extinct Predator

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090722083723.htm

Pseudopanax crassifolius

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudopanax_crassifolius

Dinornis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinornis

Warming Climate Threatens California Fruit And Nut Production

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090721214622.htm

Rice Defies Its Reputation As A Thirsty Crop

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090720102014.htm

Combating Iron Deficiency: Rice With Six Times More Iron Than Polished Rice Kernels Developed

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090721090129.htm

Oryza

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice

DNA Of Ancient Lost Barley Could Help Modern Crops Cope With Water Stress

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090721091822.htm

Hordeum

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barley

Too Many Trees Planted In Central Strip Of Roads Can Be Worse Than None; Can Trap Vehicle Exhaust Fumes

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090720105127.htm

Sea-level Rise and Rise of the Hippocampus & More for Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Hippocampus image licensed under Creative Commons by Tambako the Jaguar

Sonar Images Reveal Clues To Sea-level Rise

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090505072502.htm

Larter et al. Subglacial bedforms reveal complex basal regime in a zone of paleo-ice stream convergence, Amundsen Sea embayment, West Antarctica. Geology, 2009; 37 (5): 411 DOI: 10.1130/G25505A.1

http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G25505A.1

Better Water Use Could Reduce Future Food Crises

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090505061838.htm

Wildfires scorch parts of California, Arizona

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/05/06/western.wildfires/index.html

Prince, frog and friends fight for rainforests

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30599779/

The Prince’s Rainforest Project

http://www.rainforestsos.org/

http://www.rainforestsos.org/

Two Brown Bear Populations In Spain In Danger of Extinction Have Been Isolated For Past 50 Years


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090429125243.htm


Ursus arctos



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursus_arctos

Hyena's laugh actually a sign of frustration

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30588225/

Crocuta crocuta

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crocuta_crocuta

Ecosystem Gone Haywire: Cape Gannet Bird Threatened With Extinction

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090424114309.htm

Morus capensis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morus_capensis

Prosecutors: Smuggler hid 13 birds in his pants

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30593503/

'Sobering' Decline Of Caribbean's Big Fish, Fisheries: Overfishing Deemed Most Likely Cause

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090505200711.htm

Overfishing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overfishing

Seahorses 'stood up' 25 million years ago

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30600080/

Hippocampus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocampus_(fish)

Ants In Southern Hemisphere Richer And More Diversified Than Northern Hemisphere Ants

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090506094103.htm

Formicidae

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formicidae

How Social Insects Recognize Dead Nestmates

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090505124750.htm

Necrophoresis

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O8-necrophoresis.html

Sewage Treatment In The East May Be Enough To Reduce Baltic Algal Blooms

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090506093835.htm

How spicy foods can kill cancers

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6244715.stm

Capsaicin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsaicin

Scientists pinpoint fats danger

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8033205.stm

Great apes suffer setback in EU animal testing vote

http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre5443is-us-eu-animals-testing/

EU and US reach deal in beef row

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8036202.stm

Livestock traceback participation disappoints -USDA

http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre5446sw-us-livestock-tracking-study/

Car made from veg runs on chocolate

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8031737.stm

Astronomer To Search Space For Precursors Of Life

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090429151946.htm

Scientists hunt swine flu's mysterious origins

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/05/06/swine.flu.origins/index.html

Swine flu is same strain in Canada and Mexico

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/05/06/swine-flu-sequencing060.html

Does New Swine Flu Virus Kill By Causing A 'Cytokine Storm'?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090505174547.htm

Cytokine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokine

Flu virus kills Texan, European cases reach Sweden

http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre5430s8-us-flu/

Flu Pandemic In Prison?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090505174549.htm

Level 6 Alert? and Stabilize Warming and More for Monday, May 4, 2009

Pinus ponderosa image licensed under Creative Commons by cm195902

WHO head indicates full flu pandemic to be declared


http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre5431di-us-flu-who-pandemic/


More than 1,000 swine flu cases worldwide: WHO


http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/05/04/swine-flu-world-health119.html



Swine Flu Update: At Least 18 Countries Affected; Human-to-Pig Infection Reported In Canada


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090503190223.htm


Halving Carbon Emissions To Stabilize Warming?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090502092019.htm

Potentially Harmful Chemicals Found In Forest Fire Smoke

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090430091057.htm

Pinus ponderosa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponderosa_Pine

Alkaloid

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaloid

Climate Change Threatens Unique Ecosystems of World's Largest Lake, Lake Baikal

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090501090925.htm

Lake Baikal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Baikal

Global Warming Data Buried in Mud

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=7454828

Researchers flag increasing levels of fresh water in Labrador Sea

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2009/05/04/labrador-sea-504.html

Labrador Sea

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labrador_Sea

Brain Can Recognize Objects Much Faster

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090429132231.htm

Man chooses grizzly bear as 'best man' at wedding

http://www.yahoo.com/s/1066923

Ursus arctos horribilis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursus_arctos_horribilis

Wolves come off endangered species list in northern Rockies

http://www.yahoo.com/s/1066925

Canis lupus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canis_lupus

Mummified puppy found in Egyptian tomb

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30519834/

Isolated Birds Evolve 'Normal' Species Song

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090503132617.htm

Mexico to review flu restrictions

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8032582.stm

China denies flu discrimination

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8032157.stm

Mexicans defy swine flu advice

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8032248.stm

Swine flu: mapping the outbreak

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8021547.stm

China bans Alberta pork after virus infects pig herd: media report

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2009/05/03/china-haltspork.html


Can masks help stop flu spread?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8024605.stm

Rare raccoon roundworm blinds teen

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30558815/

Procyon lotor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procyon_lotor

Toxocaridae (Raccoon roundworm)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxocaridae

Matrix Protein Key To Fighting Viruses

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090429091336.htm

Toxic mercury levels in seal meat linked to melting Arctic ice

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/05/04/tech-090504-seal-meat-mercury.html

How Mercury Emissions Reach Tuna And Other Seafood, And Why Mercury Contamination Is Likely To Worsen

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090501195628.htm

Thunnus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunnus

Mercury

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_(element)

New Southern California Beetle Killing Oaks

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090501154147.htm

Agrilus coxalis

http://cisr.ucr.edu/goldspotted_oak_borer.html

Quercus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_(genus)

Date Palm Genome Drafted

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090501162809.htm

Phoenix dactylifera

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_dactylifera

Why Invasive Plants Take Over

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090502082952.htm

Euphorbia esula

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leafy_spurge

Pueraria lobata

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudzu

New Technique For Modifying Plant Genes Developed

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090429132233.htm

Analysis Finds Strong Match Between Molecular, Fossil Data In Evolutionary Studies

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090428171004.htm

Backyard scientists use Web to aid research

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/05/04/citizen.science.climate.change/index.html

Ducklings tour White House

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2009/05/03/vonat.white.house.ducklings.cnn

Dinosaurs Survived Extinction and More for Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Field Cricket image licensed under Creative Commons by TheNickster

WHO warns swine flu outbreak is moving closer to pandemic

http://www.yahoo.com/s/1064821

Swine flu outbreak tracked with Twitter

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30454631/

Fire Strongly Influences Global Warming

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090423142332.htm

New York City-sized ice collapses off Antarctica

http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre53r27v-us-antarctica-ice/

Satellite Imagery Shows Fragile Wilkins Ice Shelf Destabilized

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090428154833.htm

Wilkins Sound

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilkins_Sound

Can Living And Non-living Follow Same Rules? Unifying The Animate And Inanimate Designs Of Nature

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090428103104.htm

Scientists claim to have cloned glowing dogs

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30463427/

Baby hippo debuts in Peru

javascript:vPlayer('30477542','fe1b8a5b-a116-490b-967b-7c0300148c20')

Google Earth Aids Discovery Of Early African Mammal Fossils

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090428171006.htm

Evidence Of The 'Lost World': Did Dinosaurs Survive The End Cretaceous Extinctions?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090428092823.htm

James Fassett. New Geochronologic and Stratigraphic Evidence Confirms the Paleocene Age of the Dinosaur-Bearing Ojo Alamo Sandstone and Animas Formation in The San Juan Basin, New Mexico and Colorado. Palaeontologia Electronica, April 29, 2009

http://palaeo-electronica.org/2009_1/149/index.html

Alamosaurus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alamosaurus_sanjuanensis

Living Dinosaur (cryptozoology)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_dinosaur_(cryptozoology)

Remembrance Of Things Past Influences How Female Field Crickets Select Mates

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090421205321.htm

Gryllinae

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_cricket

Universal Flu Vaccine Holds Promise

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090427193238.htm

Comets Contain Key Ingredients For Life?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090428144126.htm

Details Of Bacterial 'Injection' System Revealed

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090426175651.htm

New Details About Mysterious Giant Virus

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090427203701.htm

Acanthamoeba polyphaga mimivirus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimivirus

More on the Pandemic with the Potential for Food Riots and More for Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Yes, we know some of the media attention to the Pandemic is overblown, and we voted as such on CNN.com's website today. But, our senior editor did happen to lose an aunt during the 1918 flu pandemic - whom he was too young to know, and consequently never met. But the impact of the swine flu is very real, and pandemics present a very real issue of mass fatalities - sometimes in the millions. Supposedly, the 1918 pandemic took 25 million lives, maybe more, maybe less. We're hoping this flu mutates quickly into a non-lethal version (see the link below), and peters out with minimum loss of life. But, pointedly, Dr. Fukuda - is his amazingly boring public statement on the level 4 Pandemic - did not mention that possibility. Or was that simply left out?

Of course, as pointed out by Jack Cafferty on CNN yesterday (sigh, we admit to actually watching Mr. Cafferty from time to time, out of shear boredom...) that 36,000 deaths/fatalities occur each year due to the flu out of an infection rate of some 200,000/annum. The point being, we guess, that the situation is serious, not dreadful. But then, we keep reviewing in our mind, Dr. Fukuda's utterly dreadful video presentation of yesterday regarding the level 4 alert. And we wonder, does the WHO know something we don't?

But, something else that really troubles us is the potential for food riots in the near term. Is the world actually facing a $ 100 million (+ or -) shortfall in world food supplies? Will the pandemic balance out this problem? Or, what exactly should we be hoping for? Remember the news/media stories on food shortages before the global economy went bust? That story just didn't go away - it is still a very serious, real issue.

Swine Flu: Public Health Emergency Declared

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090427155739.htm

Public Health Emergency (United States)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_health_emergency_(United_States)

Canadian health officials warn against travel to Mexico

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/04/28/health-canada-mexico865.html

Best swine flu strategy: Stay away, everyone

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30442914/

U.S. flu victims may not just be travelers

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30398682/

Health chief to be confirmed amid crisis

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30450143/

Kathleen Sebelius

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Sebelius

More Countries Confirm Swine Flu

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8022437.stm

As Swine Flu Scare Unfolds, Virologist Underscores Need For Research On Animal Pathogens

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090427170304.htm

NZ reports first swine flu cases

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8021915.stm

UK prepared for swine flu - Brown

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8021916.stm

Europe braced for spread of flu

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8022958.stm

Israel finds first swine flu case

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8022340.stm

Swine flu spreads to Asia, Middle East

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30398682/

Some Mexican ill say doctors turned them away

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30434921/

N.B. not prepared for swine flu pandemic: Moncton microbiologist

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2009/04/28/nb-pandemic-microbiologist-548.html

Mathematical Model Used To Explain Viral Extinction

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090424073905.htm

Salmon Virus With Potential For Change

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090421091737.htm

Infectious salmon anaemia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infectious_salmon_anaemia

DNA Of Uncultured Organisms Sequenced Using Novel Single-cell Approach

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090422103739.htm

Engineered maize's vitamin boost

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8020925.stm

Zea mays

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zea_mays

Science cash 'to beat food riots'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8020589.stm

Food security

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_security

UK funds sea acidification study

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8021459.stm

Ocean acidification

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_acidification


How Ear Translates Vibrations Into Sounds

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090423132955.htm

Human ear

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_ear


Biological Basis For The Eight-hour Workday?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090423132952.htm

Eight-hour workday

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-hour_day

Oldest known Sumatran tiger dies at zoo

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30386447/

Panthera tigris sumatrae

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panthera_tigris_sumatrae

Identifying Hyenas By Their Giggle

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090426094329.htm

Crocuta crocuta

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crocuta_crocuta

Large Sponges May Be Reattached To Coral Reefs

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090427144825.htm

Anthozoa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthozoa

Porifera

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porifera

Live-in Domestics: Mites As Maids In Tropical Rainforest Sweat Bee Nests

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090420121348.htm

Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_mite

Chihuahua blown one mile by wind gust

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30448774/

Chihuahua

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chihuahua_(dog)

Cell phone found in belly of 30-lb cod

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2009/04/28/klekamp.cod.cell.news12nj

Gadus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadus

Zero Emissions Motorcycle Gears Up For The Big Race

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090424073909.htm

Zero emissions vehicle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-emissions_vehicle