clipped from ap.google.com

HIV Infections Spur Blood Bank Closings

By EDISON LOPEZ

LIMA, Peru (AP) â” Peruvian officials have closed the country's 240 blood banks after at least four people were infected with HIV from blood transfusions in a public hospital.

The United Nations estimates that some 93,000 of Peru's 27 million people are HIV positive.

The organization's most recent figures show almost a quarter of the blood Peru's banks receive is not properly screened, Cruz said.

clipped from afp.google.com

Renewed DR Congo fighting threatens rare gorillas

NAIROBI (AFP) â” Renewed fighting between the army and renegade troops in the volatile east of the Democratic Republic of Congo poses a fresh threat to critically endangered mountain gorillas, experts said Sunday.

This photo released by Wildlife Direct shows a mountain gorilla holds her newborn baby in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Virunga park in August 2007. Renewed fighting between the army and renegade troops in the volatile east of the Democratic Republic of Congo poses a fresh threat to critically endangered mountain gorillas, experts said Sunday.

Nkunda's rebels and other armed groups are accused of poaching there and encroaching on their habitats.

The mountain gorillas are a major tourist attraction in the park but poaching remains endemic.

The only mountain gorillas found were the five members of the Rugendo family, the remains of the unit that was massacred in July, and they were outside of the park vulnerable to crossfire.

clipped from www.thedailygreen.com

40% of Worldâ™s Species Face Extinction

Rate of Extinction is up to 10,000 Times Natural Rate Due to Human Activities:

One in four mammals. One in eight birds. One of every three amphibians. They are at risk of disappearing from the planet.

Of the 41,000 species monitored by the World Conservation Union, 16,000 is endangered, and the number of endangered species keeps rising, according to the London Telegraph, which got an early look at the WCUâ™s latest âœRed Listâ report.

The earthâ™s ecosystems suffer extinctions all the time. Death, for species, is a part of life in the grand scheme. But the unparalleled rate of extinction being caused by humans amounts to a grand experiment: How much of the earthâ™s life can be destroyed without affecting the basic processes necessary for human life?

clipped from www.thedailyreview.com

Beware: Ethanol's hidden costs only now are emerging

Editorials

Corn-based ethanol's emergence as the nation's leading alternative motor fuel is driven by politics. There are many alternative fuel possibilities, but corn has the biggest lobby and, therefore, the biggest subsidies.

Ethanol produced from other crops, notably sugar cane, produces far more energy at lower cost than does ethanol produced from corn. Diesel fuel produced from crops also is a more efficient fuel than ethanol produced from corn.

Meanwhile, it should accelerate research into producing cellulosic ethanol - fuel from entire plants rather than grains alone - which would vastly increase the volume of ethanol per plant and, therefore, substantially reduce its cost.

clipped from www.news.com.au

Volvo's plug-in hybrid

By Mark Hinchliffe

Vovlo' plug-in hybrid.

Volvo ReCharge Concept is also fitted with high-efficiency tyres developed by Michelin.

It is designed to distribute electrical power to the individual motors at each wheel.

For a 150km drive starting with a full charge, the car will require less than 2.8 litres of fuel, giving the car an effective fuel economy of 1.9l/100km.

Volvo claims the electric motor at each wheel gives even weight distribution as well as mechanical efficiency and maximised traction through all-wheel drive.

clipped from www.foodbanknyc.org

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