Shocking news about solar, a rhino eulogy, and a Roling Stone

Another week has gone by, bringing with it a bounty of new articles. First up, my latest feature for Today's Engineer, which offers shocking perspective for those of us waiting for sustainable energy like solar and wind power:

Career Focus: Power Engineering

Next up, my two weekly Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American, including one of the most difficult pieces I have ever had to write:

China's Yangtze Finless Porpoise Faces 80 Percent Decrease in 30 Years

Rare Northern White Rhino Dies of Old Age—and Then There Were 7...

Finally, here are a few new articles for Mother Nature Network, including an interview with MNN co-founder and Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell:

Book by farmer and rocker Chuck Leavell advocates smart, green growth

Visit the Tree That Owns Itself

Follow a truck full of pet food as it makes deliveries to animal shelters across the U.S.

There won't be as many articles this week or next as we pack up our house and move (to a much bigger house), but stay tuned, because there's plenty more in the hopper.

Two weeks of article links!

Boy, holiday weekends complicate things! We take time off to relax and celebrate and the work week falls to pieces. (Actually, I'm not so sure that's a bad thing.)

But anyway, now that last week's post-Memorial Day four-day week is over, here are a bunch of links to my articles from the last 14 days:

First up, a batch of endangered species news for my Extinction Countdown column over at Scientific American:

Algal Neurotoxins Found in Endangered Hawaiian Monk Seals

Hundreds of Rare Saiga Antelopes Die in Kazakhstan (Again)

Citizen Scientists and Social Media Aim to Help Prevent Frog Extinctions

Rare All-White Kiwi Born in New Zealand Breeding Program


Next up, a variety of eco-flavored news for Mother Nature Network:

State legislatures cracking down on hookah smoking

Facebook challenge grant aims to donate 100 service dogs to vets with PTSD

Would you hunt wild boar with a handmade spear?


Next, my final (for now) batch of stories for Green Hands USA. They're restructuring. I expect to be creating new stories for them in a month or two:

5 Ways to Green Your Memorial Day

iPad App Teaches Kids to Save the Rainforest

Which American Cities Have the Cleanest Air?

Would You Pay Extra for a Stamp that Helps Endangered Species?


And last but not least, here's a graphic novel review for Graphic Novel Reporter:

Ivy by Sarah Oleksyk

Some new features will hit your screens this week. Stay tuned to my Twitter feed for the latest links.

Killer chimps, greener goods, cheaper gas and big art

Are you ready for this week's article links?

First up, the latest two Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American:

Updates from the Brink: A Plan for Bats, Oil-Spill Penguins and Branson's Lemurs

Ugandan Chimpanzees May Be Hunting Red Colobus Monkeys into Extinction


Next, three new "green living" blogs for Green Hands USA:

California & New Jersey Are Tops in Solar

Are You Still Willing to Pay More for Greener Goods?

Got an Attic? Save on Cooling Costs with a Solar-Powered Attic Fan


Next up, two new pieces for Mother Nature Network...

Christo's big art vs. bighorn sheep

Swarms of parakeets invade London



... and a Yahoo! Green reprint of an earlier MNN story:

When's the best time to buy gas?

That's it for this week, but I've been working my fingers to the bone on several new features that will appear throughout June. Until then, see you next week!

Women in engineering, bear bile, and cute baby aardvarks

Another week, another wide range of article topics!

There was only one Extinction Countdown article for Scientific American this week, because last week had three. But this one really got people talking:

Illegal Trade in Bear Bile Flourishes throughout Asia

Two new feature articles appeared over at Today's Engineer. These were great fun to research and pull together:

Stemming the Tide: New Study Examines Why Women Leave Engineering

Career Focus: Biomedical Engineering

I'm working on a few big pieces for Mother Nature Network. Here are two short ones that appeared last week:

Abandoned baby aardvark pulls through with zookeepers' help

Bone-grafting product Augment receives positive recommendation from FDA

And finally, here are this week's blog posts from Green Hands USA:

An Incandescent Bulb that Saves Energy?

5 Tips to Reduce Asthma

Seattle Named Most Walkable City

This week will bring a lot more new stuff, plus a rare in-person appearance for me as I sign my books and comics at the Maine Comics Arts Festival in Portland. I hope to see some of you there!

Wolves, Cicadas & Angry Birds

I feel pretty lucky right now. All of last week's articles were extremely popular, and all were fun (or at least challenging) to write. You can't go wrong there.

This week had three Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American, instead of the usual two, but there was some breaking news (the wolf story) that needed covering:

Extinction Likely for World's Rarest Bear Subspecies

Wolves Lose Out to Politics, Removed from Endangered Species List

Possum-killing poison helps protect New Zealand parrot


Both of my stories for Mother Nature Network last week stayed on their top ten most-read list for several days:
The dog that helped take down Osama bin Laden

13-year cicadas wake up, prepare to swarm in Georgia and 11 other states


Green Hands USA has had to cut back a bit while they work on closing some necessary sponsorship deals, but if the readership counts on last week's blogs are any indication, that shouldn't be a problem for long:

6 Simple Ways to Green Your Dinner

Save Energy (and Money) this Summer with these Tips from the EPA

Angry Birds Game to Help Endangered Birds

Macy's: No More Unsustainable Hangers!


This week should bring a few new features, as well as more of the same. Stay tuned for more!

Audubon, Frogs, and stuff you missed

Another fun week was topped off by appearing on TV several times on Saturday, not to promote my articles but the work of my local Lions Club. Those brief interviews don't appear to have been archived online, but all of my writing was, so here are this week's article links.

First up, my usual two endangered species columns for Scientific American:

Low genetic diversity, local resentment threaten great Indian bustard

Central American crocodile recovers and crawls off endangered species

Next, a fun piece for Mother Nature Network, based on the 226th birthday of naturalist John James Audubon (a day that also happened to have been my own birthday):

5 things you didn't know about John James Audubon


This week also saw the usual six "green tips" blogs for Green Hands USA. Some of these are for events that have already passed, but I tried to make them timeless:

It's Arbor Day: Let's Celebrate Trees [this was very popular]

Frogs Need Your Help Today [my third year in a row covering the annual Save the Frogs Day]

Kajeet: Go Green with Refurbished Phones

Blue Book Picks Greenest Cars of 2011

Which Supermarket Sells the Most Sustainable Seafood?

Five Things to do AFTER Earth Day




Finally, here's a bit of humor I did for my own blog. This got re-tweeted a number of times. I think you'll get a kick out of it:

10 new names for 'Global Warming'

Richard Branson, Earth Day, immortality and... green oil?

Wow. For a week when I was so busy, how did I publish so few articles? "Only" nine new articles this week -- shocking!


Oh well, that just means you have a ton to look forward to in the coming weeks, because quite a few goodies are in progress.

But enough teasing about the future. Here are this week's links, starting with my two Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American:

Richard Branson wants to release endangered lemurs in the Caribbean

Deadly forest fire leads to resurrection of endangered tree

Next, an article for Mother Nature Network, updating a story I've been covering for the past six weeks:

Man connected to Auburn tree-poisoning case assaulted, goes on radio show

Now we come to the usual batch of blogs for Green Hands USA. Half of these are for events that are now past, but what the heck, read them anyway, you might learn something:

Which Oil Companies Are Greenest?

Newest HP Products Use 50% Less Energy

What Are You Doing for Earth Day This Year?

The Best Way to Cut BPA from Your Diet? Eat Fresh Foods

Have an Eco-Friendly Easter

41 Unusually Green Things to do for the 41st Earth Day

Finally, here's one from the archives (re-posted last week on this very blog), an essay for writers called Immortality Guaranteed.

Enjoy!