Month: April 2016

(credit: Craig Sunter)

Most of us are by now aware of the harmful effect greenhouse gas emissions exert through rising global temperatures. As temperatures go up, glaciers melt and ocean levels rise. Climate change also exacerbates water scarcity worldwide.

Water scarcity significantly impacts agricultural productivity and food scarcity. These impacts will be felt the most in arid regions, where agriculture depends on irrigation, which represents humanity's largest diversion of freshwater.

For the most part, we think of rising levels of carbon dioxide as an environmental problem. But atmospheric CO₂ can also boost agricultural productivity by helping plants grow. How do these potential issues balance out? In an investigation recently published in Nature Climate Change, scientists have looked into the global implications of carbon dioxide's ability to enhance agricultural productivity.

Plastic bag flying through the air, American Beauty-esque. (credit: Getty Images)

Recent reports of an unidentified flying object striking a British Airways flight at London's Heathrow Airport spurred a wave of fear over drones interfering with commercial aircraft. But now it appears the object may have only been a floating plastic bag, according to British transport minister Robert Goodwill.

The Telegraph reports that Goodwill could not confirm the identity of the object that struck the British Airways Airbus A320 as it prepared to land last Sunday. The incident happened at an altitude of about 1,700 feet over southwest London, well above the regulatory ceiling for drone operations of 400 feet.

"The reported drone strike on Sunday has not been confirmed it was actually a drone," Goodwill said. "It was the local police force that tweeted that they had a report of a drone striking an aircraft." That social media message may have been prompted by fear of drones in response to recent British government reports of near-misses with drones by aircraft around London.

The federally run online court document access system known as PACER now finds itself listed on a federal docket. Its overseer, the US government, is a defendant in a proposed class-action lawsuit accusing the service of overcharging the public.

The suit, brought by three nonprofits on Thursday, claims millions of dollars generated from a recent 25-percent increase in page fees are being illegally spent by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AO). The cost for access is 10 cents per page and up to $3 a document. Judicial opinions are free. This isn't likely to break the bank for some, but to others it adds up and can preclude access to public records. The National Consumer Law Center, the Alliance for Justice, and the National Veterans Legal Services Program also claim in the lawsuit that these fees are illegal because the government is charging more than necessary to keep the PACER system afloat (as is required by Congress).

The groups cite the E-Government Act of 2002, which authorizes PACER fees necessary "to reimburse expenses in providing these services." The suit says that millions of dollars in PACER online access fees have been diverted to other courthouse projects instead. The system was once a dial-in phone service and became an Internet portal in 1998. Fees began at 7 cents per page, rose to 8 cents, and now sit at 10 cents.

On Friday, Volkswagen released a financial statement that it delayed for months while the company’s diesel emissions scandal unfolded. The company has now reported a record loss of $6.2 billion for 2015. Moving forward, VW Group also said it would set aside €16.2 billion (about $18.22 billion) to begin covering "technical modifications,” legal claims, and other fallout from the company’s cheating.

"The current crisis—as the figures presented today also reveal—is having a huge impact on Volkswagen’s financial position," VW Group CEO Matthias Müller said. "Yet we have the firm intention and the means to handle the difficult situation we are in using our own resources.”

After illegal “defeat device” software was found on 500,000 diesel vehicles from VW Group, the company wrote off approximately $7 billion in early 2015 to cover fines and other costs. Today’s $18 billion write-off includes that $7 billion.

(credit: DeviantArt user: Tincho555)

The shambling, ghostly shell of a company that shares its name with the classic game maker Atari went to the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) this week to defend its exclusive rights to video games with Haunted House in the title.

The oral hearing at the USPTO yesterday came about when Atari opposed a proposed trademark for Haunted House Tycoon, an upcoming game that small developer Hazy Dreams of Infinity tried to trademark back in 2011. In its opposition notice, Atari suggested that its 1982 game Haunted House had become "well-known among the public and the trade" due to "widespread and extensive use."

Atari does have some valid current interest in its right to the 35-year-old game name. Haunted House is on iOS as part of the Atari's Greatest Hits collection, and the game became available through Microsoft's Game Room service starting in 2010. Atari also rebooted the franchise in 2010 with a remake of the same name, which it still sells as a Windows download.