Rattlesnakes may be poisonous, but they don't want to bite anything bigger than they can swallow.

 

This year, higher number of rattlesnakes means higher chance of finding one on your property. Leaping Lizard Rescue is a non profit organization that rescues animals using humane tactics. Hear Barbie Hoffman describe her approach below:

 

 

Listen below to hear Barbie Hoffman describe the largest rattlesnake she's had to deal with.

 

 

 

To visit the Leaping Lizard Rescue website, and see  a list of Do's and Don'ts on handling Rattlesnakes, click here.

The California Department of Fish and Game also has some advice pertaining to rattlesnakes here .

Leaping Lizard Rescue Center will also be part of the Tolay Fall Festival at the new county park above Lakeville Highway, where they will host the Creepy Crawly Critter Room. Find event details here .

 

 

 

The most critical natural resource on the planet is at risk, but its not one we’re accustomed to thinking of as endangered.

 

Dr. Vandana Shiva is the founder of Navdanya International , an India-based science and policy research center. Its mission: "To protect nature and people's rights to knowledge, biodiversity, water and food."

 

Dr. Shiva notes that pesticide use contributes to the "desertification" of soils, a process that is accelerated when the soil is poor to begin with.

One little-known consequence of the widespread adoption of genetically modified cotton seed by farmers in India has been a surge in suicides by debt-ridden farmers whose crops do not earn enough to pay their seed bills. Dr. Shiva says that a generation ago, suicide was rare in India, but the numbers now suggest there is a new death approximately every 20 mintes.

On August 27^th, the Jackson Theater at Sonoma Country Day School in Santa Rosa will host an evening with Dr. Shiva, advocate and author as well as winner of the alternative Nobel Peace Prize. For more information about the speaking event, click here . KRCB will also record her presentation for later broadcast next month.

 

Plastic shopping bags have been banned in cities as big as San Francisco and as small as Healdsburg, but Marin county attorney Stephen Joseph says they’re getting a bum rap.

 

Tiburon Attorney Stephen Joseph has created the SaveThePlasticBag.org website.

His campaign was also recently profiled in TIME magazine.

Below, Joseph talks about the few photos that purport to show wildlife being harmed by plastic bags in their natural environment.

Plastic bags should be reused whenever possible, and those not being used can be recycled.

Set up for the audio here:

 

Richard Muller is professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a past winner of the MacArthur Fellowship. Physics for Future Presidents is based on his renowned course for non-science students.

 

 Why Must World Leaders Know Physics?

Imagine it: You are the President and a terrorist has planted a dirty bomb in midtown Manhattan. What do you do? How do you react? If you don't know anything about Physics you won't be able to act quickly or wisely. But if you do. . .

Future presidents (and voters) can't afford to be ignorant about nuclear weapons. Physics for Future Presidents gives you the knowledge necessary to survive in today's political and increasingly nuclear world.

What is the difference between a Uranium bomb, a Plutonium bomb, and a Hydrogen bomb? What are the real dangers of nuclear waste? Find out what you need to know about radiation and nukes .

Physics is also critical to our understanding of Energy, Space and Global Warming. You can read exercpts from Physics for Future Presidents here .