Lampreys are fish that attach to other fish or marine mammals with suction-cup-like mouths & feed on their blood. In the Atlantic lampreys are parasites. Clear? In the Great Lakes they arepredators. By killing off large predator species, lampreys have completely changed the ecosystem. A team from Michigan State University has developed a perfume from pheromones male lamprey release to attract females during mating season. The team is using this perfume to attract females into traps. Because the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service spends $20 million annually to control lampreys, this perfume could have the sweet smell of success.

Seventeen previously unknown species of reptiles & amphibians were successfully discovered in the rainforests of eastern Tanzania by Italian & Tanzanian scientists. The region’s ecosystem has been under threat from fire, logging, collection of wood for fuel & land clearance for cultivation. To deter future damage, the government & local villagers have outlined steps to improve conservationOne step is reducing the unsustainable methods of growing cardamom, a cooking spice that is an important cash crop for the region. Tanzania now has the opportunity to reverse forest loss & environmental degradation by taking outlined steps in the right direction.

By wanting to be the first environmentally sustainable airline, Air New Zealand took steps in the right direction by completing a 2-hour test flight of a Boeing 747-400 that had one engine powered by a 50-50 blend of oil form jatropha plants & standard A1 jet fuel. Most biofuels freeze at cruising attitudes, but jatropha oil – already used to make biodiesel – has a lower freezing point than jet fuel. Not only can jatropha oil reduce the carbon footprint of jet fuel by 25%, it can be grown on poor land with little water – not competing with land for food production – “plane” facts all airlines should consider.

It’s a fact the glitz of Atlantic City is going green. With 13,321 photovoltaic panels on the convention center roof, Atlantic City has the largest, single-roof, solar-panel array in the U.S. According to authorities, the panels will produce an average of 26% of the convention center’s energy & will save an estimated $4.4 million over twenty years. Clear? In greener terms, the panels will avoid the release of about 2,349 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – which is the equivalent of reducing oil consumption by 4,958 barrels annually. Based on this, Atlantic City has made a winning bet.