Looks like the sweet tooth will no longer be able to sustain the love for chocolates. As per the ‘Atlanta Journal-Constitution’, chocolate making companies are over-wrought building further on the qualities like energy-inducing, vitamin-boosting and celeb backing for their choco-babies.

Famous brand Snickers will not be known as just Snickers but as Snickers Charged. In its newest avatar, the chocolate promises as much caffeine as in a shot of espresso. Not only this, it also contains taurine and B vitamins plus chocolate, peanuts and caramel nougat. Next in line is Dale Jr.’s Big Mo’bar with rich caramel and peanut butter fillings, and it is aimed at Nascar fans in want of something sweet.

Other themed goodies available in the market are all-green M&M’s especially meant for Valentine’s Day, a coffee-flavored Twix Java and Starbucks’ candy bars from Hershey’s (it will be coming in March). The paper explains how candy companies are using limited-time offerings and twists on familiar names to grow sales. But the result isn’t out yet. Like I always say, let’s wait and watch!

Via TheDailyGreen

If the buzz is to be believed, nuclear power is coming back to the world but under the brand of a new, clean and green, low-carbon energy source for the 21st century. The agenda was in George Bush’s latest state of the union address. Britishers do not have much choice but to get a fifth of their electricity from nuke power due to an older generation of nuclear plants that are nearing the ends of their working lives. The question is, should that continue?

My biggest concern about such a prospect is the nuclear waste, particularly the hot radioactive material like spent fuel. Hiroshima and Nagasaki stand witness to the damage nuclear power can cause over a span of many years. We must not forget the planned giant repository in the US mean for spent reactor fuel at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. It was supposed to open for business in 1998. But it is still at least 13 years from completion.
I feel that if there are any secret plans, then it is dishonest not to reveal them. Ministers should not try and win over a skeptical public. Even George W Bush shouldn’t!

Via NewScientist

You can well imagine how surprising it is to see birds flying around the barren mountains of the Antarctic. The area is 250 km (155 miles) from sea and offers nothing in terms of food to these avians. Experts at the Norwegian Polar Institute suggest that the nesting snow petrels and Antarctic petrels fly all the way to the sea every time they are hungry. The shrimp-like krill dominates their eating habits. Other birds like skua prey on petrel and chicks during the summer and also fly to the sea in want of krill.

Researchers suggest one shouldn’t get too close to snow petrels as they are skilled at throwing up fowl-smelling pinkish goo of rotten krill. It takes weeks to clean off the poo. Interestingly, trawlers give more competition as the krill can be used as fish feed and as a health supplement for human beings due its richness in Omega-3 fatty acids.
Experts are of the opinion that Antarctica is abundant with krill and the handful 120,000 tonnes caught by humans are a pinprick. However, environmentalists feels that man should exploit the staple food for penguin, seals, whales and snow petrels. Don’t kill them!

Via Reuters

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I hope Mr. Steven Spielberg’s looking at this post. Well, it’s sci-fi (but naturally), however, one should not miss out on its eco-friendliness. Its good news for all you kids in awe of the famous Star War films. You can model you own “future folks” with the aid of electronic nonsense lying around the house. Yes, it is time to show off your recycling prowess. Of all you know, you may see these masks in a motion picture soon.
Picture this. The world is struck by aliens and is at the verge of annihilation, if it wasn’t for a bunch of garage robots. I am sure the world will thank you for your creativity and eco-friendliness when your electronic-garbage creatures take charge and help you save the world. Quite a fun sight that would be for you! So, what are we waiting for? Get hold of some electronic leftovers and let your imagination run wild. How else do you think Lucas and Spielberg thought of their sci-fi epic films? You have to experiment first and let your creativity loose. And what better way than this? Any takers?
Via GearFuse

Looks like the noble intentions of the scientists trying to save Antarctica are adding to the poor continent’s troubles. Right now, the sun is shining high in the cold continent and 4000 scientists are lodged there to research on the condition of polar ice and are surveying the population of the new born penguin chicks. All this is being done to protect the fragile Antarctic environment but studies show that these scientists are contaminating Antarctica by their very presence.
PBDEs have been found in the wildlife living near the McMurdo base where the wastewater is discharged as per a member of the U.S. National Science Foundation Researchers. Rob Hale of the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences, Stacy Kim of Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and their teams have brought to light the unexpected environmental impact of human habitation on Antarctica. They have focused their energies towards PBDE flame retardants, these bear a structural similarity to thyroxine, a thyroid harmone known to interfere with early neurodevelopment. Many PBDE compounds have been included in the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).
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This is the latest news on global warming. The Icy Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic is no longer half as icy as it used to be 50 years ago. And the warming temperatures are to be blamed. The latest research on the same by University of Colorado at Boulder claims that the island will vanish by the middle of the century. Geological sciences Professor Gifford Miller of CU-Boulder’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research said: “Even with no additional warming, we are sure the ice caps will disappear in 50 years or less.”
Lying above the Arctic Circle, this island is located on the west of Greenland and is the fifth largest island in the world with an area of 196,000 square miles. The study also indicates two significant bursts of Baffin Island ice cap around 1280 A.D. and 1450 A.D. These findings prove that these eruptions were responsible for the Little Ice Age, which was a period between 1250 to 1850 and resulted in the cooling of Northern Hemisphere.
The Arctic’s temperature has been rising in the recent past due to the greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere. Apparently, the temperature has risen by seven degrees Fahrenheit since 1991.
Via NewsWire

It is difficult to imagine a camera in a shape other than the conventional rectangular shape. If you notice, even the digicams are soap-box shaped. The time has come when the world will be struck by the brilliance of the Flying Stick Camera. Apparently, news is that it has no technical specifications to whiz your mind. It is only about simple, clean and green digital photography. So what else are we waiting for?

The gadget is cool and is designed to redefine aerial digital photography in the coming times. True, imagination has no limits and the Flying Stick Camera precisely proves that. The flying stick is energized by kinetic energy. Just rub it between your palms and release it. While in air, the device will automatically take pictures at set intervals and return back when the fuel discharges. There is absolutely no word on resolution yet or when will it be launched. But who minds waiting for a revolutionizing device like this one. How easy will it be now for all the photo-journalists to do their job? The camera will do the needful!

Via GadgetsBlogs

Mothers with toddlers will be more than happy reading this article. Reason? Because a mother will share her joys of having found safe toys that her kids can play with. And tips will follow too (how could you imagine a space about kids without any)! Yes, they are good quality toys and without today’s toxin scares. These are wholesome playmates that children can interact with, nibble, drag, pummel, hug and so on. THEY ARE ORGANIC and ECO-FRIENDLY!!!

I know you must be worried about the cost factor. But remember, sometimes you have to pay a bit more to buy quality goods and it is always better to have a few good toys than hundreds of pieces of landfill fodder. The dragon from Lana Organic is both colorful and well-made. It is also available at the Tiny Bird outlets.

Another brand that can be trusted is Under the Nile. It produces toys and clothes last forever and even survive many washings. The stuffed grapes that they make easily live through the baby’s growing years and still remain ‘fresh’. Under the Nile also makes fundu organic swaddling blankets that make for real cool baby burritos.

Via EcoChick

So, what does it take to bring on a new geological age? Members of the Stratigraphy Commission of the Geological Society of London give the following steps:

1. Change the atmosphere’s composition, thus modifying plants
2. Change the distribution and diversity of species, thereby changing the future fossil record
3. Acidify the oceans, which will modify mineral deposits on the ocean floor
Now does it sound familiar? Ah, you wouldn’t have to be Albert Einstein to know that the current times is the new geological age. This suggestion of planet Earth being taken over by one species (humans, of course, who else could be so inhuman,) was first made by Paul Crutzen in 2002. Crutzen, a Nobel Prize winner, then said we are now living in the Anthropocene, an age dominated by human activities.

I can’t understand why Crutzen’s study is not being taken seriously. Formalise the theory of the Anthropocene please. Most scientists and researchers agree and the others will that human activities are making widespread environmental changes. So much so that the bottom of the seas, highest layer of the atmosphere, and the poles are being affected. I am sure there will be n number of counter arguments and objections; let’s see what is in our fate…

Via NewsScientist

We have heard about mild and strong coffee but what about those who enjoy sipping on tea but have a poor tolerance for caffeine. Good news is finally here. Cafedirect has come up with a new range of ethical teas called ‘Teadirect Gold’ with mild caffeine content in them.

Tea leaves from Kenya, Rwanda and India have been mixed in the right proportions to offer a mesmerizing flavor and taste. Leaves soured from Kenya will add a bright color to the tea when the ones from Rwanda leave a hint of gold in it as leaves from India bring malty notes to the beverage. Did we ever know tea to be so complex! Apart from paying a fair price for the raw material, Cafedirect is also investing around 60% of its profits in the grower’s business to insure a consistent supply of raw material for the new teas.

Tea-grower Julius Ethangatha, of Michimikuru in Kenya, say, “We will strive to give the world quality tea now and always. I am also glad to know that even the farmer gets to share the benefits.”

Via SmartPlanet