Fish kill

Here's a creepy photo from Louisiana:

http://jalopnik.com/5638836/this-is-not-a-road

Oregon Public Broadcasting's new blog

OPB has a new environmental blog: Ecotrope

I really wanted that job! Oh well.

(Naturally) Radioactive Foods

Thank you, Eater.com, for this reassuring tidbit:

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/eating/2010/08/radioactive_foods.php

Road Trip: Washington D.C.

Look, it's the National Pond Scum

Hanford: Now even more contaminated!

For years, the Hanford site on the Columbia River has been known as the most contaminated nuclear site in North America.

Now the New York Times reports that “the amount of plutonium buried at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington State is nearly three times what the federal government previously reported.”

That doesn’t mean that the site is three times as contaminated as previously thought — sigh of relief — since plutonium is just one of the deadly, poorly contained toxins at the site. But with a half-life of 24,000 years, it’s a concern. Cleaning it up will be a complex process, “perhaps requiring technologies that do not yet exist,” the Times reports whimsically.

Cocktail Photomicrography

A lab at Florida State University has been taking photos of cocktails at the microscopic level. In addition to the colorful, crystalline formations, they've included useful recipes and fun facts. The Long Island Iced Tea, for instance, "usually gets us commode-hugging drunk." Sounds like a good party school. See images here:

http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/cocktails/index.html

You can even buy them as posters!

Cocktail Recipe: The BP

After several failed attempts, I have concocted a drink in honor of the Gulf oil well disaster. This is not a celebratory cocktail, although the flow has currently been stopped. But with massive amounts of oil and dispersants still swirling around out there, this is the kind of drink that you drink because things are really, really bad.

It’s strong and sweet. The egg whites give it a frothy texture, and a faintly off odor. And it leaves a scum behind.

The BP

1 shot gold rum

½ shot Kahlua

White of an egg, or 2 tablespoons pasteurized egg whites

Combine with ice in a shaker. Shake thoroughly, strain, top with unsweetened cocoa powder.