earth

Japanese quake shortened day just a smidgen

Friday's magnitude 9.0 earthquake in Japan was big enough to shorten the length of Earth's day by 1.8 millionths of a second, a NASA scientist has calculated.

Richard Gross of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory projected the change based on calculations of how the distribution of Earth's mass changed. Moving mass toward the north or south poles, and thus closer to Earth's axis of rotation, can make the planet spin faster in much the same way an ice skater can spin faster by bringing arms and legs closer toward the body.

Gross also calculated … Read more

How big is your footprint?

A carbon footprint measures the amount of greenhouse gases that we put out into the atmosphere via transportation, electricity use, and other daily activities. Carbon Footprint Calculator is a Google Desktop Gadget that lets users easily tabulate their carbon footprints, as well as the number of trees that would need to be planted in order to offset it.

The program appears as an attractive rectangle within Google Desktop. The gadget's text invites users to calculate their carbon footprint by clicking on the word Start, and it then walks users through a series of questions about their energy consumption. Users … Read more

Google.org's human aims could be good business

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Some of Google's next big opportunities may not come out of its traditional product development organization; look out for the do-gooders.

It's been almost two years since Google announced a philosophy shift at Google.org to focus more on attacking "problems in ways that make the most of Google's strengths in technology and information," Larry Brilliant, the former head of Google.org, said at the time. One of the first successes from that shift--Google Earth Engine--may not only help developing countries get accurate data about their environments for the first time, but … Read more

Google launching Chrome, Earth, Picasa in Iran

Google is for the first time launching Chrome, Google Earth, and Picasa for users in Iran, according to the company's official blog.

The U.S. government recently lifted some of the restrictions prohibiting software downloads to Iran. Now, the search giant is looking to get its downloadable products into the hands of Iranian citizens while at the same time blocking access to the Iranian government.

"We're committed to full compliance with U.S. export controls and sanctions programs and, as a condition of our export licenses from the Treasury Department, we will continue to block IP addresses … Read more

Sensor network to collect and crunch greenhouse gas data

Having tracked traditional weather data for years, Earth Networks is taking on greenhouse gases.

Formerly named AWS Convergence Technologies and operators of the Weather Bug Web application, Earth Networks said today it will invest $25 million over five years to equip about 100 locations worldwide with sensors to measure the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, including carbon dioxide and methane.

The company will collaborate with the Scripps Institute for Oceanography in La Jolla, California to gather and analyze the data and combine it with weather-related data. Earth Networks CEO Robert Marshall and Scripps director Dr. Tony Haymet are … Read more

China cuts rare earth export quotas

China cut its first batch of rare earth export quotas for next year by more than one-tenth, in the face of a threat by the United States to complain to the World Trade Organization over the export limits.

China's Commerce Ministry allotted 14,446 metric tons of quotas to 31 companies, which was 11.4 percent less than the 16,304 metric tons it allocated to 22 companies in the first batch of 2010 quotas a year ago.

The ministry said in a short statement that it had added more producer companies to the quota list, but has cut … Read more

A voice mail from Santa

Links from Tuesday's episode of Loaded:

The FCC is set to vote on new Net neutrality rules today

An app that gives users access to WikiLeaks documents gets yanked from Apple's App Store

Google extends free Gmail calling through the end of 2011

Amazon is issuing a refund for the non-lighted Kindle cover for users who have problems with it. The refund number is 877-453-4512.

Google Earth and Google Maps will track Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve

Microsoft is none too amused by the 3D sex simulation use of Kinect by a company called ThriXXX

Hitachi and Molycorp plan rare earth joint venture

U.S. rare earth metal supplier Molycorp today said that it is planning a joint venture with Hitachi Metals to produce rare earth metals in the U.S.

No definitive agreement has been signed but the talks envision production of neodymium-iron-boron alloys and magnets, according to Molycorp. If conditions are met, the companies could start producing rare earth magnets in the latter half of 2011.

Molycorp is in the process or reopening a mine in Mountain Pass, California to extract and process rare earth metals, which would be the only mine in the U.S.

The supply of rare earth … Read more

U.S. at risk of rare earths supply disruptions

The United States risks major supply disruptions of rare earth metals used in clean energy products unless it diversifies its sources of the minerals, the Energy Department warns in a report released today.

The United States and other countries are worried that China, which controls 97 percent of the world trade in rare earth metals, will use those supplies as a political weapon and cut back their export when it is in a dispute with another country or to grow China's clean energy technology sector.

"The availability of a number of these materials is at risk due to … Read more