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Monthly Archives: August 2007
Bio battery developed by Sony
Sony develops sweet little bio battery
The Washington Post this morning is reporting from Reuters in Tokyo, that Sony has developed a vegetable-based plastic-cased battery that runs on plant sugar broken down by enzymes as in photosynthesis.
Can Google Spiders find EPA-archived Documents?
Marydee Ojala. Information Today. Medford: Jul/Aug 2007. Vol. 24, Iss. 7; pg. 13, 1 pgs
To read all of her article, click here.
Mike Flynn, deputy director of the Office of Information Analysis & Access at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), was a guest at SLAs Public Policy Update session at the SLAAnnual Conference in June in Denver.
The following excerpt expresses a concern about the “accessibility”/”findability” of the EPA documents archived online:
“It’s a key strategy of the EPA, said Flynn, to put more documents relevant to the topic online. Will Google be able to find EPA-archived documents, or will they be protected by a robots. txt file? Flynn gamely admitted his ignorance about robots.txt files and thought Google could find EPA documents, but knowledgeable librarians in the audience were skeptical. Is EPA a closed system? Are there opportunities to work with U.N. initiatives to open up EPA information to the world? Flynn’s answers weren’t the epitome of clarity, although he opted for openness.”
– Marydee Ojala
Source: www.infotodayblog.com
Think Globally, Act Locally
International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives
Founded in 1990 in New York, the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) is a broad international association of local governments and related units of governance committed to sustainable development. The ICLEI provides support to their members through technical consulting and training programs, and their website also serves as a clearinghouse for this material, along with offering additional items, including research reports, newsletters, and policy briefs. On their homepage, visitors can read about their latest news, check job postings, and also learn about recent developments from their members. Most visitors will want to continue their exploration of the site by clicking over to the “Programs” area. Here they can learn about their “Cities for Climate Protection” campaign, read up on their biodiversity initiative, and take a look at their tools for creating sustainable cities. [KMG]
From the Scout Report, Vol. 14(30), August 10, 2007
United Nations Environment Programme
The Mission of the UNEP:
“To provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.”
Focus areas of the UNEP:
Biodiversity, Business & Industry, Chemicals, Civil Society and NGOs, Energy, Environmental Assessment, Freshwater, Governance & Law, Land, Marine & Coastal Areas, Ozone, Sustainable Consumption, Urban Issues