Scribbles on the margins of science.
On the record
“We are not recommending you import alligators into California. That would not be a good idea.”
Zoologist Gordon Rodda from the US Geological Survey in Colorado pours cold water on a tactic to prevent a feared invasion of Burmese pythons in San Francisco.
Scorecard
GOING UP: The Galapagos
Ecuador's president Rafael Correa has pledged to stamp out the use of fossil fuels on the Galapagos Islands by 2015, starting with a huge wind farm that will halve their diesel requirements.
GOING DOWN: The Amazon
Ecologists say that the 60-metre-wide protected rainforest corridors flanking many of the Amazon's rivers are too narrow to conserve biodiversity. They are calling for government action to raise the minimum width to 400 metres.
Overhyped
Gravity lamp
The inventor of a gravity-powered lamp — Clay Moulton from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg — has been forced to admit that his device would be too weak to power current light-emitting diodes.
Robot news
Java Justine
A coffee-making robot has been developed by Italian (of course) scientists. Sceptics who argue that coffee machines already have the automated-coffee-making market sewn up should note that the robot, called Justine, can also tidy clothes off the floor.
Sources: EurekAlert, Conserv. Biol., San Francisco Chronicle, Virginia Tech News, Spiegel
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Sidelines. Nature 451, 1037 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/4511037c
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/4511037c