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Engineers removed a temporary cap Thursday that stopped oil from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico from BP's blown-out well in mid-July.



Gulf of Mexico - BP - Business - Energy - Oil and Gas

Corals, big mammals and many tropical species could all go extinct in the not too distant future, predict scientists who are attempting to forecast the fate of today's animals by studying what happened to those in the distant past.

Mammal - Earth - Animal - Extinction - Paleontology

Greenpeace said about 500,000 Facebook users have urged the world's largest online social network to abandon plans to buy electricity from a coal-based energy company for its new data center in the U.S.



Facebook - Greenpeace - Coal - Social network service - Mark Zuckerberg

California lawmakers on Tuesday rejected a bill seeking to ban plastic shopping bags, after a contentious debate over whether the state was going too far in trying to regulate personal choice.

California - Plastic shopping bag - Business - Consumer Goods and Services - Luggage and Bags

Japanese fishermen set out Wednesday on the first dolphin hunt of the season in Taiji, the Japanese village portrayed in the Oscar-winning documentary "The Cove."



Japan - Cove - Asia - Academy Award - Ric O'Barry

Police have gunned down a 100-pound mountain lion romping through Berkeley's Gourmet Ghetto neighborhood blocks from Alice Waters' famed Chez Panisse restaurant.



Alice Waters - Chez Panisse - Berkeley - United States - Recreation

A surprising number of GOP officeholders and candidates are on the record as skeptical of climate change or in downright denial that the science is conclusive enough for the government to act. So advocates' best shot may be to wait until the heat of the campaign dies down to push for a bill.



Climate change - Environment - Newsweek - Republican - Activism

Greenpeace forced a Scottish company to stop drilling off Greenland on Tuesday by having four activists climb onto an oil rig.

Greenpeace - Greenland - Business - Oil platform - Energy

* Research says industry polluting Athabasca River



Athabasca River - University of Alberta - Canada - Environment - Alberta

Scientists reviewing the acclaimed but beleaguered international climate change panel recommended on Monday major changes in the way it is run, but stopped short of calling for the ouster of the current leader.



Climate change - Environment - Impacts and Indicators - Climate Change: The Ipcc Response Strategies - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The program designed to assess the environmental effects of the BP spill may be skewed by the legal process, say scientists struggling to get funding for independent research.



Oil spill - BP - Environment - Energy - Petroleum in the Environment

Engineers will soon start the delicate work of detaching the temporary cap that stopped oil from gushing from BP's blown-out Gulf of Mexico well and the hulking device that failed to prevent the leak — all while trying to avoid more damage to the environment.



Gulf of Mexico - BP - Oil - Business - Energy

Feds became visibly annoyed as BP executives were unwilling or unable to provide a clear picture of the firm's hierarchy or say who was in charge of the rig leased by the oil giant the day it blew up.



BP - Business - Energy - Oil and Gas - Gulf of Mexico

A live tiger cub was found drugged and hidden among stuffed-tiger toys in the luggage of a woman at Bangkok's airport, a wildlife smuggling watchdog group reported Thursday.

Bangkok - Thailand - Shopping - Sukhumbhand Paribatra - Travel

University of North Carolina Wilmington grad students and technicians have been living deep under water for nine days in the only seafloor laboratory and habitat in the world.

University of North Carolina Wilmington - Seabed - Water - United States - North Carolina

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin fired darts from a crossbow at a gray whale off Russia's Far Eastern coast in the latest stunt to cultivate the image of a macho leader.

Russia - Vladimir Putin - Prime Minister of Russia - Far East - Politics

One of the tiniest frogs in the world, and the smallest ever seen outside of North and South America, has been discovered in the forests of the Southeast Asian island of Borneo

Borneo - South America - Southeast Asia - Forest - Conservation International

Ranching groups and two southern New Mexico counties have sued over a program that is reintroducing endangered Mexican gray wolves into the wild in New Mexico and Arizona, claiming its managers have made substantial changes that require a new environmental impact statement.



New Mexico - Arizona - United States - Mexico - Gray Wolf

Honolulu on Monday agreed to dispose of 20,000 tons worth of gigantic piles of shrink-wrapped garbage that have been moldering in the heat of a Hawaii industrial park where it had been waiting for more than five months for a possible shipment to Washington state.



Washington - Honolulu - Hawaii - United States - Oahu

An electricity-generating fuel-cell system known as the Bloom Box sparked a huge buzz in the energy debate six months ago — and since then, still more ventures have surfaced to promise better living through chemistry.

Fuel cell - Energy - Technology - Electricity generation - Devices

As children in inner tubes bob on the calm waters of this small ocean cove, a 550-pound dolphin zips through the crowd in pursuit of raw squid tossed out by a trainer.

Squid - Ric O'Barry - Cove - Japan - Recreation

The new administrator for damage claims from Gulf oil spill victims said Sunday it was his idea, not BP's, to require that anyone who receives a final settlement from the $20 billion compensation fund give up the right to sue the oil giant.



Oil spill - BP - Business - Oil - Gulf Oil

The deepwater drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico costs at least 23,000 jobs, according to a federal document that weighed the economic impact and alternatives to the drilling ban.



Business - Gulf of Mexico - Oil well - Gulf Oil - Mexico

States, cities and consumer groups are increasingly looking for a federal solution to the growing problem of getting rid of more than 2 million tons of used electronic gadgets each year.

Shopping - Business and Economy - Gadgets - Home - Consumer Information

A vast patch of garbage spanning a swath of the Atlantic Ocean has long puzzled scientists who wondered where the plastic bits came from and why there's not more of it.

Atlantic Ocean - Oceanography - Great Pacific Garbage Patch - Pacific Ocean - Sea Education Association

The owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig is accusing BP of withholding critical evidence needed to identify the cause of the worst maritime oil spill in history.



Oil spill - Deepwater Horizon - BP - Environment - Energy

BP's image, which took an ugly beating after the Gulf oil spill, is recovering since the company capped the well, though the oil giant's approval level is still anything but robust.



Oil spill - BP - Gulf Oil - Environment - Energy

One of the most destructive and swift coral bleaching events ever recorded is under way in the waters off Indonesia, where water temperatures have climbed into the low 90s.

Indonesia - Coral bleaching - Coral reef - Wildlife Conservation Society - Coral