Apology for failure of URLs
at 10:31 am on Monday, 28 December 2009
I have been using a free program called tr.im to shorten URLs used to open posted articles. I trusted the program because it is the normal tool for posting on Twitter. Over the last couple of days more and more of these shortened references have failed with the unacceptable notice : ”We’re sorry, but something went wrong. We’ve been notified about this issue and we’ll take a look at it shortly”.
I do not believe this is good enough. Hence, before charging headlong into the new year, I will take a few days off from posting new articles and/or comments to restore as many of the original URLs as are not entirely too long to be acceptable. Very long URLs will still have to be tr.imed.
While I am messing around I may try out some different templates. I also have some support for changing “Nuclear Energy/Waste Management” to something more general, like “Energy Generation/Waste Management”.
If any of you lurkers has any recommendations for improvements, etc. now is a good time to let me know. Write me at jimalakirti@swcp.com.
Mercury emissions rise in Illinois, even as figures drop nationwide
at 9:30 am on Monday, 28 December 2009
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-mercury-coal-28-dec28,0,3303176.story
Mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants is increasing in Illinois even as it declines nationwide, a troubling trend for the state because emissions of the toxic metal tend to fall back to earth close to the source.
The amount of mercury blown into the air by the state’s coal plants jumped by 7 percent last year, according to a Tribune analysis of newly released federal data on industrial pollution. By contrast, mercury emissions from all U.S. power plants declined by 4 percent.
(Chicago Tribune, December 28, 2009)
The World’s Oldest Plant Discovered – Alive at the Last Ice Age
at 8:40 am on Monday, 28 December 2009
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/12/-the-worlds-oldest-selfcloning-plant.html
Alive today, the Jurupa Oak sees Christmas like your grandparents see the Wii you got for it – perhaps fun, but a newfangled invention they never needed before. Thirteen thousand years old, it experienced an Ice Age and existed before agriculture.
(The Daily Galaxy, December 28, 2009)
Unnatural Gas
at 8:46 am on Sunday, 27 December 2009
http://bravenewclimate.com/2009/12/24/unnatural-gas/
Guest Post by Tom Blees. Tom is author of Prescription for the Planet – The Painless Remedy for Our Energy & Environmental Crises. Tom is also the president of the Science Council for Global Initiatives.
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Last month Bobby Kennedy Jr., a tireless advocate for the environment, gave a talk in New York City to a packed house. He spoke about the devastation wrought by coal mining and argued that we must get away from fossil fuels if we’re to deal with climate change. He also, to my chagrin (since I know he’s got my book), threw in some tired clichés about how bad nuclear power is. He then waxed enthusiastic about wind and solar power, asserting that if we build a smart grid and pour enough resources into building a lot of wind and solar production, we can have “free energy forever.” The crowd ate it up. Bobby’s a very good speaker, he’s definitely got the Kennedy knack for that.
(Brave New Climate, December 24, 2009)
Giant panda genome sequenced, explains taste for bamboo
at 11:02 am on Saturday, 26 December 2009
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=giant-panda-genome-sequenced-explai-2009-12-13
What genetic machinations are behind the much adored, bamboo-chomping giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)?
An international team of more than 120 researchers has now sequenced this rare bear’s genome. It is the first genome project to rely solely on short-read next-generation sequencing technology, and the panda’s sequence is the first in the bear family and only the second member of the Carnivora order (after dogs) to be decoded, report the researchers. The findings were published online Sunday in Nature (Scientific American is part of Nature Publishing Group).
Scientific American Observations, December 13, 2009)
Velocity of Climate Change Varies from Mountain to Marsh
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=velocity-climate-change
As global temperatures change, not all shifts will be equal. A new global analysis pinpoints the fast pace some species may have to move to remain in a suitable climate.
Reports of maples on the march northward and butterflies flitting far afield are already flooding in, and climate scientists predict that with escalating temperature changes more species will need to either get out of dodge, or hope for emissions reductions that will help the planet dodge the climate bullet.
(Scientific American, December 24, 2009)
Whatever Doesn’t Kill Some Animals Can Make Them Deadly
at 6:17 am on Wednesday, 23 December 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/22/science/22creature.html
Have you ever tried to think up the worst meal you could imagine? How about blue-ringed octopus, floral egg crab, basket shell snails and puffer fish.H
Sure, some people may think these are delicacies, and puffer fish is certainly treated as such in parts of Asia. But each dish has something more important in common: they are all deadly. Each of these animals is chock full of a powerful neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin.
(New York Times, December 23, 2009)
Global warming likely to be amplified by slow changes to Earth systems
at 11:28 am on Tuesday, 22 December 2009
http://www.physorg.com/news180530639.html
Researchers studying a period of high carbon dioxide levels and warm climate several million years ago have concluded that slow changes such as melting ice sheets amplified the initial warming caused by greenhouse gases.
The study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, found that a relatively small rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels was associated with substantial global warming about 4.5 million years ago during the early Pliocene.
(Physorg.com, December 20, 2009)
Lazarus species: 13 ‘extinct’ animals found alive
at 9:10 am on Tuesday, 22 December 2009
http://www.care2.com/news/member/100041282/1335372
They’re called “Lazarus species” — creatures that have disappeared, sometimes for millions of years, only to miraculously be rediscovered again in modern times. Just as Lazarus was raised from the dead by Jesus in the Gospel of John, so these species manage to survive. Their rediscoveries are a bewildering reminder that when given a chance, life finds a way to survive. Here’s a short list of 13 animals long-feared extinct that, in fact, have been rediscovered.
(Mother Nature Network, December 22, 2009)
Alien Giant Snakes Threaten to Invade Up to 1/3 of U.S.
at 7:59 am on Tuesday, 22 December 2009
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091014-giant-snakes-invasion-us.html
Nine species of giant snakes—none of them native to North America and all popular pets among reptile lovers—could wreak havoc on U.S. ecosystems if the snakes become established in the wild, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
Two of the giant snakes are already at home in Florida. One of them, the Burmese python, has the potential to infiltrate the entire lower third of the U.S., the study says.
1,200-Plus Venomous Catfish Species Uncovered
at 7:43 am on Tuesday, 22 December 2009
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/12/091217-venomous-catfish-toxic-poisonous.html
Nature hasn’t left the catfish declawed, so to speak.
Some catfish species have been known to be venomous—including a few dangerous enough to kill a human. But scientists knew little about how common venomous catfish are or how the fish produce and deliver their venom.
(National Geographic News, December 17, 2009)
Venomous Dinosaur Discovered–Shocked Prey Like Snake?
at 7:27 am on Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Jurassic Park was packed with pseudo-science, but one of its fictions may have accidentally anticipated a dinosaur discovery announced today—venomous raptors.
Though a far cry from the movie’s venom-spitting Dilophosaurus, the 125-million-year-old Sinornithosaurus may have attacked like today’s rear-fanged snakes, a new study suggests.
(National Geographic News, December 22, 2009)
Top New Species of 2009: Nat Geo News’s Most Viewed
at 7:09 am on Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Strange beasts—including a giant rat, a lungless worm, and a vegetarian spider—dominated National Geographic News’s most popular new-species coverage of 2009.
(National Geographic News, December 9, 2009)
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An insider’s look at the feather, a marvel of bioengineering
at 7:53 am on Monday, 21 December 2009
The feather is an extraordinary biological invention and the key to the success of modern birds. It has to be light and flexible to give birds fine control over their airborne movements, but tough and strong enough to withstand the massive forces generated by high-speed flight. It achieves this through a complicated internal structure that we are only just beginning to fully understand, with the aid of unlikely research assistants – fungi.
(Not Exactly Rocket Science, December 15, 2009)
Why Humans Outlive Apes
at 10:52 am on Saturday, 19 December 2009
Genetic changes that apparently allow humans to live longer than any other primate may be rooted in a more carnivorous diet.
These changes may also promote brain development and make us less vulnerable to diseases of aging, such as cancer, heart disease and dementia.
(Live Science, December 15, 2009)
Sceptical climate researcher won’t divulge key program
A physicist whose work is often highlighted by climate-change sceptics is refusing to provide the software he used to other climate researchers attempting to replicate his results.
Nicola Scafetta, a physicist at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, has published a series of papers over the past few years that suggest the sun played a much bigger role in warming over the 20th century than is generally accepted. In particular, one 2006 paper he co-authored concluded that: “The sun might have contributed approximately 50 per cent of the observed global warming since 1900″ (Geophysical Research Letters, DOI: 10.1029/2006GL027142).
(New Scientist, December 18, 2009)
Mammoths Were Alive More Recently Than Thought
at 1:41 pm on Friday, 18 December 2009
http://www.livescience.com/animals/091215-mammoth-extinction.html
Woolly mammoths and other large beasts in North America may not have gone extinct as long ago as previously thought.
The new view — that pockets of beasts survived to as recently as 7,600 years ago, rather than the previous end times mark of 12,000 years ago — is supported by DNA evidence found in a few pinches of dirt.
(Live Science, December 15, 2009)
One-Stop Climate Info Shop
at 12:52 pm on Friday, 18 December 2009
Researchers have set up a new web site to house climate data for everyone to peruse. They unveiled it at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
“It’s a ‘calm spot’ where scientists, decision-makers, nonprofit workers, and officials can find all the latest research,” said Dan Irwin of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.
The project, called Climate 1 Stop, is led by U.S. and international organizations, including NASA, USAID1, the National Science Foundation, the Institute for the Application of Geospatial Technology, the University of Alabama-Huntsville, and CATHALAC2 in Panama.
(Live Science, December 12, 2009)
The Reality of ‘Climategate’
at 12:34 pm on Friday, 18 December 2009
At a Danish climate summit this week, one subject will certainly be raised: The theft of thousands of private e-mails and files recently hacked from computers at East Anglia university, a leading climate research center. The e-mails, which were made public and appear to show scientific misconduct, have fueled a firestorm among those who believe that global warming is not chiefly driven by human influences.
The case is still unfolding, and East Anglia has launched an investigation “to determine whether there is any evidence of the manipulation or suppression of data which is at odds with acceptable scientific practice.”
(Live Science, December 6, 2009)
Time-Lapse Photos Show Dramatic Erosion of Alaska Coast
at 12:26 pm on Friday, 18 December 2009
http://www.livescience.com/environment/091214-agu-arctic-climate-warming.html
SAN FRANCISCO — Time-lapse photography of crumbling Alaskan coastlines is helping scientists understand the “triple whammy” of forces eroding the local landscape: declining sea ice, warming ocean waters and more poundings by waves.
The erosion rates from these forces are greater than anything seen along the world’s coastlines, with the coast midway between Alaska’s Point Barrow and Prudhoe Bay falling into the ocean in the inland direction by up to one-third the length of a football field annually, scientists have found.
(LiveScience, December 14, 2009)
Battle for climate data approaches tipping point
at 8:36 am on Friday, 18 December 2009
IGNORE the unwarranted claims that hacked emails from the University of East Anglia (UEA) in the UK expose human-made climate change as a conspiracy. Away from those headlines, an equally intense battle is taking place over access to the data showing global warming is real.
It reached a peak earlier this year, when the UEA’s Climatic Research Unit (CRU) turned down freedom of information (FOI) requests for its temperature records. Last week, the UK’s Met Office attempted to quell the growing anger at its lack of openness by “releasing” data from 1700 weather stations around the world. The move was a token gesture. The Met Office has admitted to New Scientist that those figures were already publicly available through the World Meteorological Organization.
(The NewScientist, December 16, 2009)
AP IMPACT: Science not faked, but not pretty
at 12:52 pm on Thursday, 17 December 2009
LONDON — E-mails stolen from climate scientists show they stonewalled skeptics and discussed hiding data — but the messages don’t support claims that the science of global warming was faked, according to an exhaustive review by The Associated Press.
The 1,073 e-mails examined by the AP show that scientists harbored private doubts, however slight and fleeting, even as they told the world they were certain about climate change. However, the exchanges don’t undercut the vast body of evidence showing the world is warming because of man-made greenhouse gas emissions.
(Associated Press, December 12, 2009)
Hacked E-Mails Controversy Irrelevant in Copenhagen
at 12:36 pm on Thursday, 17 December 2009
One of Denmark’s leading businessmen and philanthropists, speaking privately at a reception here earlier this week, voiced a sentiment about the hacked e-mail controversy shared widely among attendees from around the world at this global climate conference.
“How can a few e-mails — which were stolen after all — have such an influence upon what Americans believe about global warming? The science is so consistent and deep. It is astonishing this is possible in the richest nation in the world.”
(Solving Climate, December 17, 2009)
Ice Core Samples Reveal Black Soot Threatening Tibetan Glaciers
at 12:30 pm on Thursday, 17 December 2009
Glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau, sometimes called Earth’s “third pole,” hold the largest ice mass outside the polar regions.
These glaciers act as water storage towers for South and East Asia, releasing melt water in warm months to the Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra and other river systems that provide fresh water to more than a billion people. In the dry season, glacial melt provides half or more of the water in many rivers.
(Solve Climate, December 17, 2009)
Newly evolved finch appears on the Galapagos Islands
at 9:16 am on Thursday, 17 December 2009
Evolution caught in the act? An isolated population of finches have odd-shaped beaks, sing differently, and don’t breed with others.
Just a few years ago, the husband and wife team of Peter and B. Rosemary Grant made the breakthrough discovery that the beak sizes of some of the finches on the Galapagos Islands had already changed since Darwin’s visit in 1835. Now they believe they may have witnessed the evolution of a brand new species.
(Mother Nature Network, November 16, 2009)