Rigby has experienced all that comes with growing up on the Gulf Coast of Florida, including red tide. After seeing some of its terrible affects, he decided to take matters into his own hands, and in 1992, he began research to find a cure.

Nine years later, Rigby found it.

When an increased amount of algae grows in bodies of water, it is called red tide. This algae creates a toxin, affecting the central nervous system of fish and also respiratory systems in people. While red tide is found all over the world, the Gulf of Mexico produces a distinct kind of red tide, which is characterized by the algae Karenia brevis.

“In good times, the effects are devastating. If we had a bloom, it could wipe out tourism. I figured it can’t be all that complicated,” Rigby said.

Rigby described the invention process as “easy.”

For nine years, he would bring buckets of water into his garage to tweak his new formulas until he found one that was “100 percent stable and only kills the algae.”

But finding funding proved to be much more difficult.

Once Rigby got a patent, he approached several colleges and organizations, including Florida Gulf Coast University in Ft. Myers, Fla., and Mote Marine Laboratory, in Sarasota, Fla., to get his formula recognized and utilized.

Unwilling to allow the organization to take full credit for the formula, Rigby looked elsewhere, approaching legislators. He finally found solace with the Venice mayor, Dean Calamaras, who approved local research at the high school where Rigby graduated, Venice High.

Appointed by the school, veteran marine science teacher, Charlie Powell, became public chairman of the formula’s research, working with the students, Rigby and the public.

“The students felt really good about it. It was a lot of work,” Powell said.

Their research began with two culture flasks of Karenia brevis provided by the Fish and Wildlife Research Insitute in St. Petersburg, Fla. The students were able to see the effect of this bleach-based formula and documented their findings throughout. Students then began to test the formula with water containing fish and shrimp.

“Working with Venice High School students was perfect. There were big hunks that loved two things: rubber and girls, dressed up in lab coats and safety glasses,” Rigby said.

Powell recalls the day when three different television stations came to cover the research being conducted in his classroom.

Since then, however, many have lost interest.

Controversy and skepticism continues to surround the formula and research.

Rigby has contacted Dr. Bill Hogarth, dean of the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science, concerning his newest invention: Solar Water Conversion Technology as well as the red tide formula.

USF Marine Science professor, Dr. Bob Weisburg, is currently evaluating Rigby’s invention. Rigby hopes to get research of both rolling as soon as possible.

He has been waiting for more than a year for a response.

“The little guy gets screwed,” Rigby said. “What’s holding this up?”

All who have been involved are concerned that this formula may go to waste. Nevertheless, Rigby will not give up hope.

Within the past ten years, celebrities like Jenny McCarthy have brought awareness to popular culture about what autism is and how to protect your children from an increased risk. Because of books like Louder Than Words: A Mother’s Journey in Healing Autism, by McCarthy, and many others, Americans have become interested in learning more about the disability that could affect their own children.

Controversy surrounds everything attached to autism. While scientists try to prove if children immunized or vaccines and autism are connected, parents must decide whether or not to take a chance and immunize saying, “They haven’t proved it does, but they haven’t proved it doesn’t.” It’s hard to know what to do especially considering there’s not very much known about the cause.

According to a 2007 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one out of 150 children and one out of 94 boys will develop autism. As with most disabilities, this doesn’t only affect the person, but also the family, community and country. The Autism Society of America (ASA) estimates that “the lifetime cost of caring for a child with autism ranges from $3.5 million to $5 million, and that the United States is facing almost $90 billion annually in costs for autism.”

Autism develops within the first three years of a person’s life, and according to the ASA some signs include:
• Delay in spoken language
• Strong use of motor mannerism (“talking with their hands”)
• Little or no eye contact
• Little or no interest in relationships with peers
• Little or no make-believe play
• Easy fixation on parts of objects

In recent autism news found in Science News, three different studies point to brain molecules’ connectivity as a possible autism culprit. In one of these studies, scientists found that only 65 percent of the 14,000 autistic people studied have a “variant.” The conclusion with that is because only 65 percent of those with autism have the variant, there must be other genetic and environmental factors involved.

The “variant” in this study was found on chromosome five (one of the 23 found in our DNA) between two genes that carried special encoding for cells. The variants are two molecules responsible for the encoding connectivity named cadherin 9 and cadherin 10. Cadherons are cell adhesion proteins responsible for binding cells to a surface. It’s a bit confusing, yes, but basically all you have to know is this: the genes in chromosome five that include these cadherins put a person at a higher risk of developing autism.

This study further confirms the belief that autism is caused by brain connectivity problems. Cadherin 10 was found in the frontal cortex of the brain, which is the part of the brain most affected by autism. Because a big part of cell adhesion proteins’ jobs is to make sure neurons get to the right place, the severity of them not working properly is a step in the right direction in further understanding autism.

Like many children, when I was younger I dreamed of being an astronaut. The thought of flying into “outer space” to see all kinds of planets and moons was the coolest thing to me in the world and, honestly, it’s still pretty much the coolest thing to me in the world. As I got older, I began to learn more about the solar system and became especially fixated on something called black holes.

Black holes basically rule out everything that we could learn from physics. They are formed from the cores of supermassive stars once they collapse. And there’s something called escape velocity, which means that the larger the mass, the faster you have to travel to escape its pull. With that in mind, this means that black holes are so massive that nothing can escape them, including light. (To make this even more intense, please don’t forget how fast the speed of light is at 186,000 miles per second.)

To further understand black holes, we can look at dear Mr. Einstein who developed the general theory of relativity. This theory states that gravity affects time, which means that the more massive an object (a.k.a. has a greater gravitational pull), the more it can slow down time. So, obviously, since black holes have the highest gravitational pulse, the concept of time is completely diminished. Essentially, there’s no time.

Crazy, huh?

According to Science News, astronomers just announced that the biggest “supermassive black holes in nearby galaxies are at least twice and possibly four times as heavy as previously estimated.” This means if we apply what we learned earlier, that the gravitational pull of black holes is even more intense than we had suspected.

Does this really matter?

Well actually, yes. Scientists are using these reports to determine whether the growth of these black holes has anything to do with the maximum growth of their respective galaxies. Scientists are continuously trying to figure out why black holes in nearby galaxies and galaxies far, far away (i.e. where “Star Wars” took place) differ in size so greatly.

The problem scientists are looking to fix has to do with quasars. According to Space.com, quasars are bright, quickly-forming galaxies characterized by vast star formation. Because of all the developing stars, many become black holes, which, in turn, greatly affect the mass of their galaxy. Scientists have the capability to measure many of these galaxies but were finding that many of their measurements were off.

Due to this new finding, scientists believe many of their calculations were wrong and must be multiplied accordingly. The heaviest supermassive black hole to date is weighs 6.4 billion times what Earth’s sun weighs. It’s in a galaxy named M87, which is 50 million light-years away.

Galaxy M87 has been the topic of discussion for many decades. According to Space.com about three decades ago it was one of the only galaxies believed to have a black hole at its center. Now astronomers believe that our Milky Way galaxy may center around a black hole. M87 was one of the galaxies with an incorrect mass measurement, but once it recalculated for the new development, everything lined up.

Not to say that any of these findings will greatly affect the general public, but learning about other galaxies always brings me back to my childhood…or it makes me want to watch “Star Wars.” And who knows, maybe one day we’ll be able to travel deep into the Milky Way. But we don’t want to get sucked into a big black hole!

With this in mind, I don’t know if California is a place I want to visit, let alone call home, any time soon…or is it?

I once saw a sign that jokingly displayed the border between California and Arizona with a sign that read, “Now entering the great Golden State, California,” and it depicted two people, a man and a woman, wearing buttoned-down, flower printed t-shirts, baseball caps stuck to their sweaty heads and on their faces were giant green gas masks.

Although this instance was derived in jest, for the residents of many cities and towns in California, industrial air processes have a great and negative effect on overall life. In fact, 90 percent of Californians breathe unhealthy levels of one or more air pollutants during some part of the year.

Many cities in California are also known for high levels of fine particulate matter (solid particles and droplets of liquid found in the air, some of which include aerosols, smoke, fumes, dust, ash and pollen), which contribute to widespread and major health risks. A study conducted in Fresno, Los Angeles, Orange County, Sacramento, San Diego and Santa Clara demonstrated increased risk of cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, ischemic heart disease and diabetes and as a direct result of exposure to these particles.

By itself, ozone is deadly and poisonous to humans. Californians are exposed to this gas every day at one point or another, and at some of the highest levels recorded in the U.S. Exposure to ozone contributes to an annual 637 cases of premature mortality, 4,200 respiratory hospital admissions, 660 pediatric emergency room visits for asthma, 4.7 million days of school loss and 3.1 million minor restricted activity days, according to HHS.gov. Ozone has become such a problem for California that the state has adopted a law that requires a lowered ozone standard of 0.070ppm.

Menacing in just the length of its name is the term methylterbutylether, commonly abbreviated as MTBE. This barely pronounceable term is actually a harsh chemical compound sometimes found in drinking water and is extremely harmful if consumed in high enough amounts. When tested over a six-year period, MTBE was found in 1.3 percent of all drinking water samples, 2.5 percent of all drinking water sources and 3.7 percent of all drinking water systems in California.

MTBE has been associated with petroleum and is now banned in California and U.S. fuels.

So yes, California might live up to some of the pollution-related stereotypes clouding its name, but the Golden State isn’t just sitting back about it.

We’re all familiar with global warming. It’s been in and out of the news non-stop in recent years. It’s true that in California between the years 1960 and 2001, global warming pollution bounced up 85 percent due to a greater combustion of oil and natural gas, with heating and electrical supply needs responsible for 61 and 38 percent of that increase. Many California businesses, however, such as Adobe Systems Inc. in San Jose, are helping the cause by making a serious effort to cut their global warming pollution.

In 1990, California passed a pioneering mandate on zero emissions vehicles (ZEV). The order was “designed to improve the air quality whereby the state can be in compliance with federal air quality standards by 2007 and to protect the public health from the adverse effects of air pollutants from automobiles.”

I actually just recently visited California and found it quite interesting that residents there must have their vehicles checked every year to make sure they still pass emissions standards set by the state. Signs are posted on just about every auto and mechanic shop front, “Have you had your emissions checked lately?”

So this all might make you feel better about California, but also consider this: alone, California’s emissions from fossil fuel combustion are greater than all other U.S. states with the exception of Texas. And in the transportation sector, California has only a slightly lower fuel use for cars and trucks than the entire nation.

With the environment on just about everyone’s mind these days, it’s good to know that California is standing up against pollution to promote the idea of a brighter, greener and overall better tomorrow, but is what it’s doing really enough?

The Daily Herald online has outlined 10 of the easiest, most effective and cost-friendly ways to get greener – and cleaner – in you home.

1) Dump the dry cleaning. Dry cleaning requires harsh chemicals, and those chemicals don’t stay at the dry cleaners when you bring those clothes home. Try steaming your clothes while you’re in the shower and buying more washable fabrics.

2) Think green and concentrated. For products that you use on the surfaces in your home, look for organic, toxin-free and those without the bold disclaiming “dangerous” tag. The toxins in household products, at least many of them, contain such caustic chemicals that can cause severe skin reactions and asthma.

3) Trade water bottles for water filters. Americans go through 3.3 million plastic water bottles a year, and recycle only one in five. Try buying a water filter system and using a metal water bottle. If you want to save even more money with water, drink from the tap.

4) Put paper towels in the past. Instead of using hundreds of these addictive sheets per month, use sponges and old t-shirts to clean up those messes. You’ll save some trees and some space in the local landfill.

5) Make a trip to your local library. Save paper by going to the local library to check out books instead of spending money on filling your bookshelves with books you might not even read from the bookstore.

6) Bring your own coffee. Think of all those coffee chain lovers out there who visit coffee shops at least once a day. That’s a lot of those plastic and Styrofoam cups. Buy a travel mug and make it at home to save.

7) Change those bulbs. Use energy-saving lights in your home. They use at least two-thirds less energy than regular bulbs, so they’ll definitely save you money in the long run.

Leave those pesky papers online. Instead of getting a paper bill in the mail each month for every bill you receive, go green, go paperless, and ask your billing company for online-only bills.

9) Pump up those tires. Proper tire inflation can save you up to 3 percent on your gas mileage.

10) Power rooms with power strips. By plugging in all electronic devices in a room into a power strip, you save on energy. You save even more when you unplug the strip when you’re not using the devices.

All in all, these tips could save you around $1,000 a year. So you can go green, get clean and save money? Wow, what a concept.

Well, we’ll see. Central Florida is home to Destiny, Fla., which is the nation’s first eco-sustainable city. Just an hour south of Orlando, Destiny sits leading the country in alternative energy ideas.

Destiny, Fla. is a 41,300-acre community that welcomes eco-friendly people, businesses and environmental research. According to a press release from Fish Consulting and Rubenstein Public Relations, “Destiny serves as a model for future development and stands as a testament to the symbiotic relationship between business and pro-environmental policies.”

Land developments in Destiny will only be where the land was previously disturbed. The city plans to preserve all that it can.

Destiny hopes to lead the world in demonstrating effective ways to reduce carbon emissions and promoting the idea of making the world a better place.

According to the PDF “A Snapshot of 2050” found on Destiny, Fla.’s Web site, there are six principles of growth that Destiny plans to abide by:

1. Preserve resources such as water, farmland, open space and recreational areas.
2. Create a variety of transportation options.
3. Cultivate unique, safe and appealing places to live; raise our families and call home for generations.
4. Support a diverse, competitive economy.
5. Offer a wide range of housing options.
6. Build communities with educational, healthcare and cultural amenities.

These steps are part of the Climate Positive Development Program, a Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) program. Destiny is one of 16 cities throughout the country currently participating, but it has been deemed the nation’s first eco-sustainable city.

If you’re like me, you know nothing about the Climate Positive Development Program or the Clinton Climate Initiative. At the C40 Summit, president Bill Clinton announced that the Climate Positive Development Program would begin coalition with the U.S. Green Building Council. The program was designed to support developing urban projects that can grow in “climate positive ways.”

Pretty cool, huh? I don’t think anyone could disagree with me by saying that these are all great ideas. Still, the word cult keeps coming to mind when I read more into this. For one, naming the nation’s first eco-sustainable city as Destiny is just a bit over-the-top. As for the rest of the things Destiny stands for, these are incredibly great ideas, but remind me a bit too much of an unattainable utopia.

What is extraordinarily creepy (to me) is the “Living at Destiny” section of its Web site. And I quote, “The best part of all, like hometowns of years past, everything will be within walking range or a very short commute. Would you like to ride your bike to work? No problem. Want to walk to the corner café to meet your friends for a latte? Easy. Running errands on the way home from work? It takes minutes, rather than hours and footsteps rather than mileage. Do you like spending weekends in the great outdoors? It’s at your doorstep. Convenience, ease, conservation and a reduction in our carbon footprints.”

What does everyone else think? I find it really strange that I’ve heard nothing about this prior. Is it just something that the hippies are doing, or is it actually legitimate? I guess only time will tell.

With as much controversy and attention that the turning on of the LHC received, it’s a wonder how almost a full year later most people don’t even know what happened to it. So what did happen to the LHC? It obviously didn’t rip the world in half, kill a large percentage of the population via cosmic rays, or serve Earth a similar fate to that of Vulcan in the latest Star Trek film by creating a black hole that would suck us all into a place only theory can imagine.

Before we delve into the latest information, I think it might be best to freshen up our knowledge on this most important scientific device, potentially the most important ever created.

The LHC is the largest and most powerful particle accelerator on the planet. It is made up of a 16.7-mile ring of superconducting magnets that along with a few other particle accelerating structures, will propel protons to collide with one another at 30 million times per second. Each collision will spew thousands of particles at nearly the speed of light.

The LHC was designed to recreate conditions that occurred after the supposed Big Bang. The main idea is that the experiment could possibly unlock some of the biggest keys to the universe, such as what it’s made up of, what makes it expand and what may lie ahead for the cosmos in the future.

The biggest concerns surrounding the LHC regarded the possible formation of tiny black holes and the creation of hazardous cosmic rays.

Black holes, of course, are formed naturally when certain stars collapse, concentrating a massive amount of matter in a very small space. If you’ve seen any space movies that feature one of these mega monsters of space and matter, you’re familiar with the disastrous affects one can yield. They’re like the biggest vacuums in existence, for lack of a better comparison.

Backed by the properties of gravity established by Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, some scientists believe that it would be impossible for the LHC to form any sort of black holes. Others cite the fact that no one really knows for sure what will happen when the LHC turns on, that the high velocity these particles will be traveling at could cause a lot more than just the formation of black holes.

The other worry is about cosmic rays, or forms of ultra-high radiation. It’s true that particle accelerators recreate the natural phenomenon of cosmic rays. It’s also true that when these rays are created, they are under controlled laboratory conditions.

In an article from the U.K.’s Telegraph online, Stephen Hawking, the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge said, “The world will not come to an end when the LHC turns on. The LHC is absolutely safe.”

Is this true? Should we trust arguably one of the most intelligent people on the planet with a question of indefinable science on the fate of the globe?

Before you decide for yourself, let’s take a look at some more pros to the LHC.

Not only could turning this thing on provide some of the most important answers to some of the most allusive questions ever thought, but it could prolong the existence of the human race on earth. According to Dr. Hawking, turning on the LHC is “vital if the human race is not to stultify and eventually die out.”

Probably the most controversial aspect of the LHC is the idea that it may help us identify what is known as the Higgs boson particle, or God particle. It is theorized that this particle can create matter. Its discovery would help solidify the Big Bang theory and help us understand more about the origin of the universe.

So what’s happened to the LHC? The LHC was actually turned on as scheduled. Unfortunately, an unanticipated liquid helium leak occurred that has extended the new start date to some time this summer or early fall as repairs continue.

So now that you have both sides of this most controversial and important global event (really), you can decide for yourself as to how you feel about it, not that it will make much of a difference considering that the machine will be turned on at some point.

Something I want to make sure that you keep in mind, however, when considering this is that in all the research I’ve done on this topic and all the people I’ve talked to, not one was certain about what would happen when the LHC is turned on. The fact of the matter is that there is such limited knowledge on the facts and figures of our universe and what happens when particles collide at astronomical speeds that we cannot know for sure if it will mean the end of life on earth as we know it, or whether it will send all of our current technology thousands of years in the future in an instant. We can only wonder and wait to find out.