World's Biggest Tech Show Goes Green

Plan to reduce carbon emissions by 15%

(NEWSER) - California regulators have adopted an ambitious, comprehensive blueprint to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15% by 2020, reports the Los Angeles Times. The plan, the first of its kind in the nation, calls for 33% of the state's electric power to come from solar power and wind farms, and includes controversial measures to crack down on carbon dioxide emissions from cars. The plan will be implemented over the next two years. More»

A look at milestones in the life of that crucial computer accessory

(NEWSER) - It’s been 40 years since the computer mouse made its public debut, and though innovations have been legion, the basic concept is still the same. Macworld takes a look back at some key moments in the device’s evolution.

• 1963: The first recognizable mouse prototype is built. It only had one button, but more were to come—well, not for Mac users.

President outlines broad plan to shape debate in Congress

(NEWSER) - President Bush set 2025 as the target date by which the US should stop the growth of greenhouse emissions from coal power plants, the AP reports. The goal is for those plant emissions to peak in 10 to 15 years, then begin declining. Bush called for legislation to introduce incentives for the development of green technology. More»

Free software does many of the same things as expensive suite

(NEWSER) - IBM is issuing a new challenge to the supremacy of Microsoft's Office software, releasing a suite of free programs, called Symphony, that can perform many of the functions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Microsoft just released Office 7.0, and one analyst speculates many users will switch to Symphony rather than spend the money to upgrade, the Wall Street Journal reports More»

Researchers now able to distinguish new, old sources of methane

(NEWSER) - There are huge quantities of methane locked in ice sheets around the world, threatening to speed up climate change as they get released in melting ice. But determining which methane is the ancient kind and which is much younger and hails from, say, plant life that has decayed in lakes hasn't been easy—until now. The BBC reports that researchers have been able to ID the former by logging the ratio of different isotopes of carbon found in the methane molecules. Scientists were then able to test some of the 150,000 sites in Alaska and Greenland where methane is seeping into the atmosphere, and found that some are indeed releasing ancient methane. More»