If you drink tea, you may want to pay attention. Greenpeace East Asia has recently had samples of Chinese tea tested for pesticides and it found that, of the 18 samples sent, 12 came back as having at least one pesticide globally banned for use on tea. The pesticides found include, among...

With goals that extend far beyond its planned May launch to the International Space Station, privately owned space flight company SpaceX is expecting to not only change the way we go to space but save us all in the process. The idea is simple enough: Spreading humanity out across the galaxy...

Human Rights Watch members in Mali are reporting stories of Mali women being raped by armed Taureg rebels representing the newly formed National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) rebellion. The assaults are among a number of movements against the freedoms of local women and foretell...

The U.S. House of Representatives has given the green light for the “Sportsmen’s Heritage Act,” a bill that will widen hunting allowances across national parks. The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (which certainly sounds like a for-the-good-of-all group) stated...

PETMAN, the Department of Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s (DARPA) struttin’ robot, has seen an upgrade of sorts. DARPA has modified it to tackle the once robot-proof human security system of stairs. Plus, it can do push-ups! This suggests not only a future where toy...

The Day of Silence approaches quickly, coming this year on the 20th of this month. The Day of Silence, if you’re unfamiliar, is a day long vow of silence by students to protest the harassment of LGBT students. The harassment, of course, can comes out in spades when people dare to speak...

Thailand and Cambodia have begun a unified front to halt illegal logging that has caused a surprising amount of violence. Much of the conflict has come between Thai rangers and encroaching Cambodian loggers seeking rosewood. In 1989, Thailand suffered severe floods that led the Thai government...

Environment – New studies into the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill suggest that the damage done to dolphins and other marine life may be higher than initially predicted. The report, commissioned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) studied 32 dolphins,...

Animal Rights – A new law carrying felony charges for animal and livestock mistreatment has passed Idaho’s state legislature. If it is signed in by Republican Governor “Butch” Otter, it would bring Idaho up to speed with nearly all of the rest of the country in...

Environment – General Motors Foundation (GM) has announced that it will be ending its support of the Heartland Institute, which is known for its skepticism toward global warming. GM has supported the thinktank for 20 years, and the move to cut ties with it has been cheered by groups...

Women’s Issues – A vocal group of Egyptian activists are seeking to end the trial of civilians by the Egyptian military, trials that are often both dehumanizing and unjust. Though seeking to end these trials in general, it is Egyptian women who are coming out the hardest and have...

Just Weird – A city in the north-east part of Brazil has found a way to keep track of its students without the constant nit-picking and fussing that is usually required of teachers. The school has embedded RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chips in the student’s uniforms. If...

Opinion – Over at Mother Nature News, blogger Chris Turner has laid out why he thinks walking – you know, walking – can be looked upon as a form of activism. He sets out a few ways in which our modern world challenges the definitive form of transportation, and how choosing to...

Environment – Thanks to a visualization from NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio (maybe shortened to GSFCSVS) we are now privy to something that Van Gogh might have created, were he an animator. The visualization, which displays the currents of the...

Animal Rights – Zimbabwean conservationists are questioning the legality of the recent hunting trip by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, Donald Trump’s sons. Their investigation is prompted largely by their specific “big game” kills, including an elephant and an...

Social Issues – The Food and Drug Administration has been ordered by a federal court to “act on scientific knowledge that the overuse of antibiotics in food animals has contributed to the rise of antibiotic resistant infections in humans.” It’s a ruling that could have...

Social Issues – The U.S. Military will now be conducting an emergency review of a controversial vaccine in the wake of the Afghanistan massacre that cost the lives of 17 Afghan civilians. Orders have come from a Pentagon health official to review the malaria vaccine Mefloquine (or...

Women’s Issues- Arizona state representative Terri Proud has made something of a name for herself right out of the gate. Unfortunately, that name can’t be said around children or sensitive animals. While replying to a constituent’s emailed opposition to a proposed bill (HR...

Science & Tech – A new Samsung television set has privacy advocates frowning and possibly some hackers (villainous or not) pondering the possibilities. With new high definition cameras installed, the new line of televisions grow closer to computers, and with that comes concerns about...

Social Issues – In another fantastic move from the once totalitarian nation, Burma will be allowing international election monitors into its country to observe its April 1, elections. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has been asked to send 23 delegates to view the election of...

Science & Tech – The first section of the West Coast’s “Electric Highway” has opened, a move that shows a previously unseen embrace of the electric car. This piece, a 160 mile expanse of Interstate 5, features 8 electric stations to support electric vehicles, which...

Science & Tech – For gamers who care, the Humble Bundle offers a way to support both indie developers and people who need the fun that gaming can provide the most: hospitalized children. The Humble Bundle is a collection of indie games for multiple platforms that come at a...

LGBT Issues – As part of a series profiling female advocates for LGBT equality and safety, GLAAD helped shed light on the impact that lawyer Alice Nkom of Cameroon has made toward LGBT rights in a country with an aggressive distrust of homosexuals. Nkom has been working as a “vocal...

Animal Rights – Bonsai is an art. It is also a business, and one that is coming with cost to the white-headed langur, an endangered monkey of Vietnam. Much of the problem stems around the desire for bonsai growers for the Ficus benjamica, a fig that is regularly taken out from the root...