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By Janet Evans
Tuesday, Jul 1 2008, 10:20 PM
When I was a kid we would head out to a picnic with a huge watermelon and store it in the fresh, cool brook at my aunt’s country home in Connecticut. The brook fed her pond. While we swam in the pond until lunchtime, the watermelon would get nice and ice cold.
Well, guys…this July 4th, you may want to keep your watermelon at room temperature, at least according to the latest study .
This one’s for you...
From Science Blog É here
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By Janet Evans
Monday, Jun 30 2008, 01:26 PM
Arctic sea ice is seen off the coast of Uummannaq, North Greenland.
It’s true…the ice at the North Pole could melt by the end of summer…
This would be the first time this has ever occurred.
What does that mean? A hotter planet.
The disappearance of Arctic sea ice may mean an even hotter planet, since the region's ice pack helps cool the earth by bouncing the sun's rays back into outer space. This reflective property, known as albedo, also prevents the rays from reaching the ocean, where heat is absorbed. Less sea ice means more dark open water to absorb the heat, which melts the sea ice even further. "Losing the ice sheet means losing an important way of cooling down," Mahoney said. "As a result, global warming would accelerate as the ice retreats."
Read the article from ABC News í here
Me? I’ll have to wait and see what happens.
I still blame any major “global warming” on the loss of rain forests.
When our world leaders can get a handle on that, which has been out of control for 30 years, then we can start micromanaging daily living.
Scientists believe North Pole ice may melt completely, but briefly, for the first time this summer. Tony Blair talks to Maggie Rodriguez about his efforts to make climate change a real global issue.
Also re-visit:
The Camouflaged Cause of So-called Global Warming í here
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By Janet Evans
Friday, Jun 20 2008, 11:47 AM
They're convinced....scientists, that is....
Those chunks on Mars?
They must be ice.
That's cool!
 "Dice-size crumbs of bright material have vanished from inside a trench where they were photographed by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander four days ago, convincing scientists that the material was frozen water that vaporized after digging exposed it.
"It must be ice," said Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson. "These little clumps completely disappearing over the course of a few days, that is perfect evidence that it's ice. There had been some question whether the bright material was salt. Salt can't do that."
Read the story from NASA Ê here
Bright Chunks at Phoenix Lander's Mars Site Must Have Been Ice
NASA main web page
Phoenix Mars Lander
NASA
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By Janet Evans
Monday, Jun 9 2008, 06:45 AM
 Siberian mountains
You’re being sent to Siberia!
The frozen tundra...
A death sentence for some ….
Because of Siberia’s remoteness, people would be exiled there with no hope of escape due to extreme temperatures, forests, animals; it was a huge prison….
At least that’s how it used to be in old-time Russia.
But times have changed.
Black Gold....
Photograph by: Gerd Ludwig, National Geographic June 2008
Under communist rule, the U.S.S.R. was a major oil producer, with western Siberia providing most of the supply. Soviet production peaked in 1988 at around 12.5 million barrels per day (bbd), two-thirds of which came from western Siberia. Just before communism collapsed in 1991, oil production began falling, bottoming out in the mid-1990s at a little over six million bbd. Not until the late 1990s did production take off again.
Meet the new Siberia à here
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By Janet Evans
Sunday, Jun 1 2008, 02:05 PM
By Janet Evans
Thursday, May 29 2008, 11:50 AM
Flying while intoxicated? In Space?
Well, I hope not....but who knows what tricks space travel and gravity can do to you.
And, in space?
Well, yes...Sometime soon, Astronauts may be able to enjoy a cold beer after a long day flying, or walking in space.
That could make for an interesting sobriety test.
Could you walk a straight line please?
Touch your finger to your nose?
Anyway, it seems a Japanese brewery, Sapporo Holdings, is putting out the first "space beer" using the third-generation descendants of barley grown on the International Space Station.
Read about it at AFP í here
And let’s hope NASA gets that Space Station toilet working before the beer is ready.
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By Janet Evans
Saturday, May 17 2008, 08:10 PM
It’s been missing since 1999 and NASA is asking for your help to find it now….
What is it?
"Mars Polar Lander was due to reach the Red Planet's south polar region in 1999, but it went out of contact during its descent from the surface and was never heard from again. Investigators surmised that a glitch with the spacecraft's thruster system led to a catastrophically hard landing."
Mars Polar Lander, shown in this
artist's conception, disappeared
during its descent in 1999. NASA
I’m serious.....
NASA is looking for help in finding it.
The University of Arizona Department of Planetary Sciences site has many high resolution imaging maps taken from the one below for you to look over.
Click on the image below to join in or to read what other people have found:
And read the story about it on MSNBC
PORING OVER MARS PICTURES
Happy hunting!
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By Janet Evans
Saturday, May 17 2008, 02:05 PM
It's time to get rid of some of those misconceptions about animals that we've had since we were kids... |
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MYTH: Piranhas are deadly
FACT: As anyone who has ever seen You Only Live Twice will recall, James Bond's enemy Ernst Stavro Blofeld keeps a pool filled with Amazonian piranha fish. "You will see that my piranha fish get very hungry," says Blofeld, stroking his white cat. "They can strip a man to the bone in 30 seconds." The point is soon demonstrated, at an unfortunate flunkey's expense. What a pity it's nonsense. Piranhas do have sharp little teeth, and can give you a nasty nip. And they do sometimes swim in large schools, but only to defend themselves against natural predators, such as river dolphins.
Piranhas are predators (of smaller fish and shrimp), and they do have to be kept in even-numbered groups in aquariums to stop them ganging up on an odd one out. But, whatever Blofeld says, they won't gang up on you.
from the Daily Mail, check out more facts regarding animal myths for
Sloths
Goldfish
Ostriches
Camels
Cows
Bats
Lemmings
Sharks
Dogs
Surprising Truths Behind Great Animal Myths à here
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By Janet Evans
Monday, May 5 2008, 06:40 AM
OR Global Warming….
This one will go under global warming, according to “some experts.”
What is it this time?
This....
"Two deaths in the waters off California and Mexico last week and a spate of shark-inflicted injuries to surfers off Florida's Atlantic coast have left beachgoers seeking an explanation for a sudden surge in the number of strikes.
In the first four months of this year, there were four fatal shark attacks worldwide, compared with one in the whole of 2007, according to the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville."
Read the article from The Guardian Observer
Surge in fatal shark attacks blamed on global warming í here
I guess that's enough to convince me.
How about you?
Nah...it really wasn't.
How about some statistics.
The easiest place to find those...Wikipedia, :
In 2000, there were 79 shark attacks reported worldwide, 11 of them fatal. In 2005 and 2006 this number dropped to 61 and 62 respectively, while the number of fatalities dropped to only four per year. Of these attacks, the majority occurred in the United States (53 in 2000, 40 in 2005 and 38 in 2006). For the same period, the Global Shark Attack File records 69 unprovoked attacks of which five were fatal.
2008 attacks
An Austrian tourist died February 24, 2008 after being bitten by a shark while diving near the Bahamas in waters that had been baited with bloody fish parts to attract the predators.
A 16-year-old Australian boy died on April 8, 2008 after being attacked by a shark in the coastal town of Ballina, on the mid-coast. The boy died whilst bodyboarding when he and a friend were taking advantage of a teacher's strike; the teenager's friend is now being considered for a bravery award. The shark responsible was thought to be a bull shark.
A 66-year-old man died on April 25, 2008 off the coast of the Southern California city of Solana Beach. The species of shark was a great white shark. A 25-year-old man died on April 30, 2008 off the coast of Mexico. The species of shark was a nurse shark.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why Sharks Attack...
From HowStuffWorks:
Ninety percent or more of shark incidents are mistakes. They assume that we're something that we are not.- Gary Adkison, diver ("Sharkbite! Surviving the Great White")
Although shark attacks can seem vicious and brutal, it's important to remember that sharks aren't evil creatures constantly on the lookout for humans to attack. They are animals obeying their instincts, like all other animals. As predators at the top of the ocean food chain, sharks are designed to hunt and eat large amounts of meat. A shark's diet consists of other sea creatures -- mainly fish, sea turtles, whales, sea lions, and seals. Humans are not on the menu. In fact, humans don't provide enough high-fat meat for sharks, which need a lot of energy to power their large, muscular bodies.
If sharks aren't interested in eating humans, why do they attack us? The first clue comes in the pattern that most shark attacks take. In the majority of recorded attacks, the shark bites the victim, hangs on for a few seconds (possibly dragging the victim through the water or under the surface), and then lets go. It is very rare for a shark to make repeated attacks and actually feed on a human victim. The shark is simply mistaking a human for something it usually eats. Once the shark gets a taste, it realizes that this isn't its usual food, and it lets go.
The shark's confusion is easier to understand once we start to look at things from the shark's point of view. Many attack victims are surfers or people riding boogie boards. A shark swimming below sees a roughly oval shape with arms and legs dangling off, paddling along. This bears a close resemblance to a sea lion (the main prey of great white sharks) or a sea turtle (a common food for tiger sharks).
Shark Sensory System
Attacks have also frequently occurred when humans were spear fishing in ocean waters. Sharks are attracted to the signs given off by dying fish -- the smell of blood in the water and the electrical impulses given off as the fish struggles. Sharks detect these signals with their ampullae of Lorenzini, a set of "detectors" under the skin on a shark's snout. The ampullae are electrically sensitive cells that connect to the skin's surface through small tubes. Once a shark arrives on the scene, it may become agitated and aggressive in the presence of so much food. A hungry, excited shark can easily mistake a human for its usual prey.
There are cases in which sharks seem to attack out of aggression, rather than hunger. Very little is known about shark behavior, but it is believed that some species, including great whites, display dominance behavior over other sharks. This behavior can take the form of "punching" with the snout, or bites that don't do much damage to the tough skin of a shark. Unfortunately, when a shark makes a dominance display toward a human, these "gentle" bites can still cause horrendous damage.
Sometimes, the cause of a shark attack is simple to determine -- the shark is responding to human aggression. Nurse sharks, for example, are generally placid fish that lie still along the bottom of the ocean floor. For some reason, this makes some divers think that it's a good idea to pull their tails. Irritated nurse sharks have taught several divers to keep their hands to themselves. For this reason, shark attack statistics are divided between provoked and unprovoked attacks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm going to go with a theory of more people being in the water or changing patterns of other animal behavior in the waters that have drawn sharks to the areas.
But not global warming.
I can't remember the last year I've had my heat come on in May....but it did this week.
But if people really want to believe global warming is attracting sharks and causing attacks...
Then, get out of the water!
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By Janet Evans
Monday, Apr 28 2008, 04:55 PM
By Janet Evans
Monday, Apr 28 2008, 11:38 AM
dbTechno
"Calling all chocoholics:
British researchers recruiting volunteers willing to eat a bar of chocolate daily for a year, guilt-free and all in the name of science."
Okay, there's a catch.
Not just anyone can do the study.
Only 150 women are needed and they must be under the age of 70 and post-menopausal with type-2 diabetes.
Sorry guys.
"Half the women in the year-long study will eat a super-charged chocolate bar containing 30 grams of flavonoids found in soy, cocoa and other fruits and vegetables. The others will get chocolate without the active compounds."
This is all being done to find ways to reduce the risk of heart disease.
Read more about it from Reuters
Tough job: Volunteers needed for chocolate study íhere
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By Janet Evans
Thursday, Apr 24 2008, 06:40 AM
A sample of muscle grown without an artificial scaffold.
(Photo: Wired / Tissue Genesis)
Are you a scientist?
A food chemist?
If so, this might be just for you....
"People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals [PETA] is offering a million-dollar prize for the “first person to come up with a method to produce commercially viable quantities of in vitro meat at competitive prices by 2012.” “In vitro” and “test-tube grown” are not ideas one usually associates with meat. The meat-substitute niche is currently occupied largely by soy in all its miraculous if slightly disappointing forms."
Hmmm..
Sounds like it might end up being rubber band -type meat to me.
But with the food crisis going on in third world countries, who knows what the future might hold?
Though, the cost of test-tube meat would probably cost a lot of moo-lah....
Read the rest of the editorial from the New York Times
Million Dollar Meat ÷ here
And for a history lesson…
From Popular Science, June 1936 (via Modern Mechanix)
Life from the Test Tube ÷ here
And some fun
Future Food ÷ here
We shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium.
Winston Churchill
Popular Mechanics
March 1932
As for me…as much as I love a medium-rare filet mignon, leg of lamb, prime rib, duck l'orange and yes, a good kosher all beef hot dog, I’d rather stick to vegetables than live off of “in vitro” meats.
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By Janet Evans
Sunday, Apr 20 2008, 06:09 PM
But the Russian Soyuz space capsule, returning to Earth, missed the mark and landed in Kazakhstan, 260 miles away from its target.
The crew included American astronaut, Peggy A. Whitson, and the first South Korean astronaut, Yi So-yeon, a female bioengineering student. They landed safely, but it was not an easy re-entry.
Peggy Annette Whitson – NASA Astronaut
"Officials said the craft followed a so-called ballistic re-entry — a very steep trajectory that subjects the crew to extreme physical force. Mr. Lyndin [a spokesman for mission control] said the crew had experienced gravitational forces up to 10 times those on Earth during the descent."
Read the story from the New York Times - Europe
Russian Soyuz, With Korean Space Pioneer, Lands Off Mark í here
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By Janet Evans
Tuesday, Apr 8 2008, 06:40 PM
From Popular Science
Want to see a model for successful and rapid environmental action? Here, our list of the 50 communities that are leading the way. Does yours make the cut?
Chicago #9! ..... Milwaukee #22!
Wow! and Hmmm.....
How the Rankings Work:
We used raw data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Geographic Society’s Green Guide, which collected survey data and government statistics for American cities of over 100,000 people in more than 30 categories, including air quality, electricity use and transportation habits. We then compiled these statistics into four broad categories, each scored out of either 5 or 10 possible points. The sum of these four scores determines a city’s place in the rankings. Our categories are:
- Electricity (E; 10 points): Cities score points for drawing their energy from renewable sources such as wind, solar, biomass and hydroelectric power, as well as for offering incentives for residents to invest in their own power sources, like roof-mounted solar panels.
- Transportation (T; 10 points): High scores go to cities whose commuters take public transportation or carpool. Air quality also plays a role.
- Green living (G; 5 points): Cities earn points for the number of buildings certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, as well as for devoting area to green space, such as public parks and nature preserves.
- Recycling and green perspective (R; 5 points): This measures how comprehensive a city’s recycling program is (if the city collects old electronics, for example) and how important its citizens consider environmental issues.
See the the first 25 below and then click the link to PopSci for the full list. Click here to launch the gallery to see six case studies on how our greenest cities are cleaning up
1. Portland, Ore. 23.1
· Electricity: 7.1 Transportation: 6.4 Green Living: 4.8 Recycling/Perspective: 4.8 America’s top green city has it all: Half its power comes from renewable sources, a quarter of the workforce commutes by bike, carpool or public transportation, and it has 35 buildings certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.
2. San Francisco, Calif. 23.0
· Electricity: 6.8 Transportation: 8.8 Green Living: 3.5 Recycling/Perspective: 3.9
· See how San Francisco turns wasted roof space into power, here.
3. Boston, Mass. 22.7
· Electricity: 5.7 Transportation: 8.7 Green Living: 3.4 Recycling/Perspective: 4.9
· CASE STUDY: Grass Power
Boston has preliminary plans for a plant that would turn 50,000 tons of fall color into power and fertilizer. The facility would first separate yard clippings into grass and leaves. Anaerobic bacteria feeding on the grass would make enough methane to power at least 1.5 megawatts’ worth of generators, while heat and agitation would hasten the breakdown of leaves and twigs into compost.
4. Oakland, Calif. 22.5
· Electricity: 7.0 Transportation: 7.5 Green Living: 3.1 Recycling/Perspective: 4.9
· See how Oakland's hydrogen-powered transit helps the city cut pollution, here.
5. Eugene, Ore. 22.4
· Electricity: 10.0 Transportation: 4.7 Green Living: 2.9 Recycling/Perspective: 4.8
· CATEGORY LEADER: Electricity
Much of the wet Pacific Northwest draws its energy from hydroelectric dams. But Eugene draws an additional 9 percent of its municipal electricity from wind farms. It also buys back excess power from residents who install solar panel
6. Cambridge, Mass. 22.2
· Electricity: 6.1 Transportation: 7.5 Green Living: 3.9 Recycling/Perspective: 4.7
7. Berkeley, Calif. 22.2
· Electricity: 6.2 Transportation: 8.4 Green Living: 2.9 Recycling/Perspective: 4.7
8. Seattle, Wash. 22.1
· Electricity: 6.2 Transportation: 7.3 Green Living: 4.7 Recycling/Perspective: 3.9
9. Chicago, Ill. 21.3
· Electricity: 5.4 Transportation: 7.3 Green Living: 5.0 Recycling/Perspective: 3.6
· CATEGORY LEADER: Green Space
In addition to the 12,000 acres Chicago has devoted to public parks and waterfront space, the U.S. Green Building Council has awarded four city projects with a “Platinum” rating, its highest award.
See how Chicago's power plants produce twice the energy with a third the carbon, here.
10. Austin, Tex. 21.0
· Electricity: 6.9 Transportation: 5.9 Green Living: 3.3 Recycling/Perspective: 4.9
11. Minneapolis, Minn. 20.3
· Electricity: 7.8 Transportation: 7.4 Green Living: 2.8 Recycling/Perspective: 2.3
· CASE STUDY: Citizen Enviro-Grants
If you’ve got a world-saving idea, the City of Lakes will give you, your church or your community group the money to get it done. Twenty $1,000 mini-grants and five $10,000 awards were distributed last year to programs ranging from household power-consumption monitors to “block club talks” about global warming. A similar initiative has sprung up in Seattle.
12. St. Paul, Minn. 20.2
· Electricity: 8.0 Transportation: 4.0 Green Living: 3.5 Recycling/Perspective: 4.7
13. Sunnyvale, Calif. 19.9
· Electricity: 7.3 Transportation: 6.8 Green Living: 2.2 Recycling/Perspective: 3.6
14. Honolulu, Hawaii 19.9
· Electricity: 6.0 Transportation: 7.8 Green Living: 2.6 Recycling/Perspective: 3.5
15. Fort Worth, Tex. 19.7
· Electricity: 8.3 Transportation: 4.6 Green Living: 2.4 Recycling/Perspective: 4.4
16. Albuquerque, N.M. 19.1
· Electricity: 7.6 Transportation: 5.5 Green Living: 2.4 Recycling/Perspective: 3.6
17. Syracuse, N.Y. 18.9
· Electricity: 7.0 Transportation: 4.9 Green Living: 2.6 Recycling/Perspective: 4.4
18. Huntsville, Ala. 18.4
· Electricity: 6.2 Transportation: 4.1 Green Living: 3.6 Recycling/Perspective: 4.5
19. Denver, Colo. 18.2
· Electricity: 5.9 Transportation: 5.2 Green Living: 3.0 Recycling/Perspective: 4.1
· CASE STUDY: Green Concrete
Fly ash, a by-product of coal-burning power plants, usually ends up in landfills. Researchers at the University of Colorado Denver found a way to reuse this industrial by-product. They add it at concentrations of about 20 percent to a new green concrete mix. The addition of fly ash also reduces the amount of sulfur- and carbon-spewing concrete production needed to finish a job. The mayor has signed an executive order requiring the use of green concrete in new city projects, and a $550-million infrastructure bond makes demand for the mix likely to grow.
20. New York, N.Y. 18.2
· Electricity: 2.8 Transportation: 10.0 Green Living: 3.4 Recycling/Perspective: 2.0
· CATEGORY LEADER: Transportation
More than 54 percent of New Yorkers take public transportation to work, beating the next-best metropolis, Washington, D.C., by 17 percent.
See how New York City turns its tides into electricity, here.
21. Irvine, Calif. 18.1
· Electricity: 4.2 Transportation: 6.8 Green Living: 2.9 Recycling/Perspective: 4.2
22. Milwaukee, Wis. 17.3
· Electricity: 5.0 Transportation: 4.9 Green Living: 3.1 Recycling/Perspective: 4.3
23. Santa Rosa, Calif. 17.2
· Electricity: 7.0 Transportation: 3.4 Green Living: 2.4 Recycling/Perspective: 4.4
· See how Santa Rosa taps geysers for watts, here.
24. Ann Arbor, Mich. 17.2
· Electricity: 4.6 Transportation: 4.8 Green Living: 2.9 Recycling/Perspective: 4.9
25. Lexington, Ky. 16.8
· Electricity: 5.9 Transportation: 3.6 Green Living: 2.3 Recycling/Perspective: 5.0
· CATEGORY LEADER: Recycling and green perspective
Lexingtonians recycle everything from surplus electronics to scrap metal, and they listed the environment as their third most important concern (behind only employment and public safety)—the highest ranking in our survey.
See No. 26 thru 50 on PopSci í here
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