Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Arsenic Life edition)

by Neon Vincent

Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.

This week's featured story comes from NPR.

Scientists Find Bacterium That Survives On Arsenic
by Jon Hamilton

Researchers say they have found a bacterium that defies scientific dogma: It's able to use the deadly poison arsenic in place of an element previously considered essential for life. The finding appears to expand the range of places where life could exist — both on Earth and elsewhere in the universe.

The discovery comes from a young NASA astrobiologist who likes to find exceptions to rules. Felisa Wolfe-Simon says she was fascinated by crustaceans because they don't use iron to carry oxygen around their bodies the way most species do. Instead, they use copper.

Wolfe-Simon thought this sort of chemical substitution might go even further.

More science, space, and environment stories after the jump.

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What matters.

by RLMiller

I'm sorry.  I've been lurking since the election, and now the recommended list is alien to me.  

Tax cuts.

Unemployment insurance.

Wikileaks.

These matter today, and they'll matter tomorrow, but I tend to take a long view: what will matter in 2020? what will matter in 2100?

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US Plays the Big Tease at Global Climate Talks

by Bill McKibben

We're staying at the youth hostel in downtown Cancun, away from the strip of beach hotels that draw $3 billion in tourist trade each year. But I went down there this morning for a meeting, and found myself in a little outpost of the United States: Starbucks, KFC. Chili's (Are you kidding me? Chili's in Mexico?)

And here's the thing--as usual, the conference center is an outpost of the U.S. too. From the very beginning of this process, 16 long Conferences of the Parties ago, it's U.S. politics that have set the tone and pace. And every time with the same message: be less ambitious, so Congress won't nix the deal. That's why we ended up with a Kyoto pact that was a babystep at best. That's why the treaty that was supposed to result from Copenhagen ended up an empty Obama-written 'pledge.' We're very, very mindful of the importance of our domestic legislation," his chief negotiator Todd Stern said at the time. "That's a core principle for me and everyone else working on this. You can't jeopardize that."

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Liveblog: Community Energy and Climate Action Conference

by radical simplicity

[Notes: (1) ALL is paraphrased, I can't type as quickly as people can speak, any errors or inaccuracies are strictly my fault. (2) My keys keep popping off of my keyboard, so there will be more than my usual number of typos. If I have time, I'll try to clean them up later, but please have patience in the mean time.]

These are my real-time notes from the Vermont Community Energy and Climate Action Conference in Fairlee VT.

"A Vision and Plan for Vermont's Energy Future" : Governor-elect Peter Shumlin

We have an extraordinary opportunity. Was in DC last week for "baby governor school." It was an eye-opening experience for a VT boy. There were lots of governors there who balance their budgets by producing coal. In closed door session they asked pres why EPA is so hard on them. We're trying to create jobs make America strong.

Update: added "Schools" session notes

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