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Bix12

Jun 11 2005, 02:35 PM

Big Dipper stars in summer sky

Famous arrangement not a constellation, however

This week, as darkness descends, the stars of the Big Dipper are almost directly overhead.

user posted image

Next to Orion, the Dipper is probably the most impressive group of stars in our sky. Here we have seven bright stars, which give us quite a convincing tin dipper with its handle bent downwards. Yet we could easily imagine with our friends in England that it represents a plough, or we could liken it to a chariot or some other sort of wagon as people of many nations have done from the earliest times.

The International Astronomical Union all officially approves the constellations shown on modern star atlases, but while constellations are official, asterisms are not. An asterism is often defined as a noteworthy or striking pattern of stars within a constellation, but that is not always the case.

The Big Dipper is not a constellation itself, but an asterism, which is part of the larger constellation of Ursa Major, the Great Bear. What is remarkable is that these stars comprised a bear to widely separated early — not only to Old World ancients but New World Native American tribes as well. The bear's nose is 3rd-magnitude Muscida, a corruption of the Latin musus, meaning muzzle. The bear's paws known to early Arabs as the "Leaps of the Gazelle" are marked by an almost equally spaced set of three pairs of stars. The Dipper's bowl is the torso.

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But how to explain the abnormally long tail, marked by the Dipper's handle?

British writer Thomas Hood (1799-1845) speculated:

"Imagine that Jupiter, fearing to come too nigh unto her teeth, lay hold on her tail, and thereby drew her up into the heaven; so that she of herself being very weighty, and the distance from the earth to the heavens very great, there was great likelihood that her tail must stretch. Other reason know I none."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8175319/

Bix12

Jun 11 2005, 03:01 PM

gotta love this guy....

Soda Jerks

American activist leads international anti-Coke movement via internet

The next time you feel ground under the heel of global capitalism, take inspiration from Amit Srivastava. The "one-man NGO armed with just a laptop computer, a website, and a telephone calling card," as The Wall Street Journal describes him, has become the lynchpin of an international movement demanding that Coca-Cola Co. be held accountable for causing environmental and human-health damage in India. Charges against the mega-peddler of fizzy sugar water include draining water supplies in drought-stricken areas, selling drinks containing pesticide residues, and giving away cadmium-laced sludge to farmers for fertilizer. Coke is defending itself across India, losing millions of dollars in sales and legal fees. While a Coke exec complains that activists "are making false environmental allegations against us to further an anti-globalization agenda," Srivastava and his allies are undeterred by Coke's denials.

Get the bastards!!!

See June 7th's Wall Street Journal for the story...$$$

Bix12

Jun 11 2005, 03:13 PM

SustainLane US City Rankings

There is an old saying, “if it isn’t measured, it doesn’t exist.”

The SustainLane US City Rankings focus on healthy regional economic development, vibrant communities and quality of life measurements.

In November 2004, SustainLane began to take a look at 25 US cities across 12 major categories, to measure their relative levels of sustainability, and in the process create the most comprehensive study done to date on the topic. We found an abundance of data and information, but it was fragmented, not always relevant, and presented challenges for use in a comparative analysis. One of our biggest discoveries was that many cities themselves had not found a way to look at the various pieces of information as an integrated system.

Much to our surprise, it wasn’t difficult to see how hard it would be for individual cities to compare their own efforts at sustainability with those of their peers in a meaningful manner. Besides our own curiosity, we thought the people running the cities would want to know how they were doing and so would the millions of those living in and around the cities themselves.

Cities across America have a lot going on in terms of sustainable practices, so we set out to measure, compare, and rank these cities, thus creating the SustainLane US City Rankings. SustainLane has chosen an in-depth and ongoing analysis of American cities, with an applications focus. We discovered and documented new ideas that are creatively addressing regional challenges including clean air, water, local foods, and city revitalizations employing green building techniques. We also wanted to find out what our cities are doing to address global issues like climate change, loss of biodiversity and environmental toxins.

http://sustainlane.com/cityindex/citypage.php?name=ranking

Bix12

Jun 12 2005, 02:35 AM

Good show in the cosmos for the next few weeks...

user posted image

Leonardi Da Vinci's "Leda with the twins Pollux and Castor"

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Friend Judy

Jun 12 2005, 04:28 PM

Interesting, quirky little side note:

http://nytimes.com/2005/06/12/internationa...ast/12palm.html

After 2,000 Years, a Seed From Ancient Judea Sprouts

JERUSALEM, June 11 - Israeli doctors and scientists have succeeded in germinating a date seed nearly 2,000 years old.

The seed, nicknamed Methuselah, was taken from an excavation at Masada, the cliff fortress where, in A.D. 73, 960 Jewish zealots died by their own hand, rather than surrender to a Roman assault. The point is to find out what was so exceptional about the original date palm of Judea, much praised in the Bible and the Koran for its shade, food, beauty and medicinal qualities, but long ago destroyed by the crusaders.

(much more at link)

csh

Jun 12 2005, 07:13 PM

the people long ago who chartered the stars must-of-had excellent eyesight
the night and stars are great
those were truely some special eyes....

Hey Judy Lebanon used to be a forest....
they say that when all the trees were cut down that the environment change so much that it never did recover ....we have now.....the deserts

csh

Jun 12 2005, 11:57 PM

The Titan Arum wil be blooming in Madison Wisc at the Birge Greenhouse but these pictures are great:

http://www.fairchildgarden.org/blooms/amorphophallus01.html

Bix12

Jun 13 2005, 12:29 PM

QUOTE(csh @ Jun 12 2005, 07:54 PM)

The Titan Arum wil be blooming in Madison Wisc at the Birge Greenhouse but these pictures are great:

http://www.fairchildgarden.org/blooms/amorphophallus01.html
[right][snapback]93121[/snapback][/right]

Gad Zooks! Itsa man-eater!

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Bix12

Jun 17 2005, 11:06 AM

Between a Bush and a Warmed Place

G8 climate statement edited into submission to appease U.S.

An action plan on climate change being prepared for July's G8 summit has been substantially weakened in the lead-up to the meeting, the latest leaked draft anemic even by the not-terribly-strenuous standards of, uh, the last leaked draft. References to "setting ambitious targets and timetables" for cutting globe-warming emissions and calls for funding of R&D into clean technologies and fuels have been expunged from the document, and a statement about the world's top scientists calling for action has been marked with square brackets, meaning the text is controversial and may be dumped. On the other hand, "zero-carbon" nuclear power is explicitly endorsed. Some suspect the edits are concessions by U.K. Prime Minister and G8 meeting host Tony Blair to his ally-cum-daddy President Bush. But Blair may ultimately be forced to choose between keeping Bush on board and leading the rest of the G8 industrialized nations in cooling the planet. Says one climate activist, "The twin targets of trying to get something done on climate change and getting George Bush to sign up to it just don't go together."

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L16549712.htm

There are no targets nor timetables for action to curb greenhouse gas emissions, and all references in an earlier draft to dollar funds for research have been removed.

An introductory paragraph has moved the statement "our world is warming" into square brackets, meaning that even the phenomenon of climate change is under question and that the wording may not appear in the final text.

It has given the same treatment to a statement from the world's top scientists that climate change is already under way and demands urgent action.

Even a suggestion that the developed world has a duty of leadership in combating global warming is given the square brackets brush-off.

This is OUTRAGEOUS!!!

The Bush administration knows no limit when it comes to using any tactic involving sleaze, corruption, greed, and sheer arrogance...these guys are real bad guys, in the worst sense...Bush, and his administration, should be at the top of every terrorist wanted list. The actions, and inactions, that they are taking will kill far more innocent people than the top 5 terrorist groups in this world combined....(many times over)...people are so ignorant...no, change that to Stupid! They are worried about somebody with a boxcutter, when this crew is signing the death warrants for literally millions of people!!! WTF?!!!

Bix12

Jun 18 2005, 02:35 PM

Exploring the summer sky

The richness of the summer sky is exemplified by the splendor of the Milky Way. Stretching from the northern horizon in Perseus, through the cross-shaped constellation Cygnus overhead, and down to Sagittarius in the south, the Milky Way is packed with riches. These riches include star clusters, nebulae, double stars, and variable stars.

Let's start with the Big Dipper, our perennial signpost, which now lies in the northwest with its handle still pointing toward Arcturus. High overhead, and the first star to appear after sunset, is Vega in Lyra the Harp. Vega forms one corner of the summer triangle, a conspicuous asterism of three stars. Near Vega lies the famous double-double, Epsilon Lyrae. Two 5th-magnitude stars lie a little more than 3 arcminutes apart and can be split when viewed through binoculars. Each of these two stars is also double, but you need a telescope to split them.

To the east of Vega lies the triangle's second star: Deneb in Cygnus the Swan (some see a cross in this pattern). Deneb marks the tail of this graceful bird, the cross represents its outstretched wings, and the base of the cross denotes its head, which is marked by the incomparable double star Albireo. Albireo matches a 3rd-magnitude yellow star and a 5th-magnitude blue star and offers the finest color contrast anywhere in the sky. Deneb is a supergiant star that pumps out enough light to equal 60,000 Suns. Also notice that the Milky Way splits into two parts in Cygnus, a giant rift caused by interstellar dust blocking starlight from beyond.

Altair, the third star of the summer triangle and the one farthest south, is the second brightest of the three. Lying 17 light-years away, it's the brightest star in the constellation Aquila the Eagle.

Frequently overlooked to the north of Deneb lies the constellation Cepheus the King. Shaped rather like a bishop's hat, the southern corner of Cepheus is marked by a compact triangle of stars that includes Delta Cephei. This famous star is the prototype of the Cepheid variable stars used to determine the distances to some of the nearer galaxies. It varies regularly from magnitude 3.6 to 4.3 and back again with a 5.37-day period.

Hugging the southern horizon, the constellations Sagittarius the Archer and Scorpius the Scorpion lie in the thickest part of the Milky Way. Scorpius's brightest star, Antares, is a red supergiant star whose name means "rival of Mars" and derives from its similarity to the planet in both color and brightness.

Friend Judy

Jun 18 2005, 05:19 PM

Tsunami May Have Spread Alien Species By DILIP GANGULY, Associated Press Writer
Fri Jun 17, 9:49 PM ET

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - The Indian Ocean tsunami's devastating waves brought more than death to this island nation — they upset some of Sri Lanka's key ecosystems, the U.N. environmental agency warned Friday.

Nearly six months after the disaster that killed more than 31,000 people in Sri Lanka, studies have found that the tsunami waves have pushed seeds of so-called alien invasive species from their coasts farther inland on the tropical island, the United Nations Environment Program said.

"In some areas, including important national parks, the wave has encouraged the spread of alien invasive species, such as prickly pears and salt-tolerant mesquite," the agency said in a statement.

A mesquite is a spiny leguminous tree or shrub and found chiefly in southern United States. The shrub has sweet pods that are eaten by livestock.

Prickly pears, a type of cactus, are most prevalent in Mexico, where many of the 100 different species are cultivated as a food source.

Neither species is native to Sri Lanka, but they existed in small numbers in limited coastal areas, said Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne, the country's best-known nature expert. He did not say how the species first arrived in Sri Lanka.

"Now they can pose a threat to our ecosystem," he said. "Our local plants and animals have not co-evolved with these alien plants so when alien plants dominate in the ecosystem they will reduce the diversity of the local fauna and flora."

These are among the findings into the environmental impacts of the tsunami done by the U.N. agency and Sri Lankan Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.

The report confirms that in those areas with healthy coral reefs and mangroves, the impact of the devastating events the tsunami were significantly reduced.

The tsunami "taught the world some hard, shocking but important lessons which we ignore at our peril," said Klaus Toepfer, UNEP's Executive Director.

Mangrove forests along shorelines in Sri Lanka and other Asian nations hit by the tsunami are considered critical to halting erosion, but much of growth has fallen victim in recent years to intense coastal development.

"We learned in graphic and horrific detail that the ecosystems, such as coral reefs, mangroves and seagrasses which we have so casually destroyed are not a luxury. They are lifesavers capable of helping to defend our homes, our loved ones and our livelihoods from some of nature's more aggressive acts," he added.

"It is therefore vital, that during the reconstruction of shattered coastlines and settlements, the environment is taken into account along with the economic and social factors."

The UNEP report said that well over 500 million kilograms (1,100 million pounds) of rubble were created by the tsunami, posing an enormous challenge to the solid waste management system in Sri Lanka.

Resettlement and reconstruction are now placing a huge burden on natural resources, specially through the location of new settlements in or near ecologically sensitive locations, and increased demand for sand and wood for reconstruction and firewood for brick-making.

"These activities are thought to have the potential to cause more irreversible damage to Sri Lanka's environment than did the tsunami itself," the report said.

Bix12

Jun 18 2005, 05:43 PM

QUOTE(Friend Judy @ Jun 18 2005, 01:16 PM)

Yes, I was reading about that...some unanticipated after-effects, certes...

Bix12

Jun 20 2005, 10:29 PM

Business (of deception) As Usual

Cattle Star Redactica

Bush admin alters science to support expanded grazing on public lands

In developing new proposed regulations for cattle grazing on public lands, the Bush administration intentionally obscured the damage grazing causes, according to two government scientists. Erick Campbell and Bill Brookes, both recently retired from the Bureau of Land Management, determined in an environmental impact statement that the new rules, which would increase grazing on 160 million acres of public land, would harm water resources and wildlife, including endangered species. But in the statement accompanying the newly released regulations, lo, the science has been transformed. The rules, which once would have had a "significant adverse impact," are now "beneficial to animals." (Well, cows are animals, we suppose.) They would restrain BLM staffers from acting quickly to limit grazing that's damaging land; lengthy studies would now be required instead. And public input on grazing decisions would no longer be mandated, merely allowed. While a BLM official calls the changes part of the agency's standard review process, Campbell and Brookes are dismayed. "They rewrote everything," says Campbell. "It's a crime."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/na...-home-headlines

Arturo_Vandelay

Jun 20 2005, 11:17 PM

I never trust articles that have all but about seven sentences pointing to one view. Even moreso in the LAT. I have no doubt the new rules are business friendly, but how detrimental to the environment is a harder call.

Things are a bit different in the west. The whole attitude about ranching and farming, a lot of which would probably be done somewhere else. (like those factory farms liberals hate so much)

Bee

Jun 20 2005, 11:45 PM

If things were in balance you'd have a point.

They aren't and you don't

I agree with Wendell Barry. You lose the ability to be self sufficient, it hurts EVERYTHING. Including the ability to wage war.

Bix12

Jun 22 2005, 01:33 PM

Arid Extra Dry

Desertification will be big bummer for hundreds of thousands worldwide

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Hundreds of thousands of people -- some of them the world's poorest -- will be displaced in the next 30 years as the globe's deserts expand, according to the latest report from the U.N.'s Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Climate change is likely to intensify droughts, heat waves, and floods in "drylands," which comprise 41 percent of the earth's land surface and are home to 2.1 billion people. Other human factors also contribute to desertification, including unsustainable farming and irrigation practices, overgrazing, and population overload.

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And the impacts are global: Huge dust storms in the Gobi and Sahara deserts are causing respiratory problems in North America and hurting coral reefs in the Caribbean. To fight desertification, the U.N. recommends a $100 billion investment in improving management of crops and irrigation, shifting local economies to more sustainable bases like ecotourism and fish farming, and developing clean energy sources in arid zones.

http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050613/full/050613-7.html

Bix12

Jun 23 2005, 03:38 PM

Neutrino ripples spotted in space

Mark Peplow

Universal lumpiness is imprinted in mysterious particles.

Astronomers have spotted a signature of neutrinos created just seconds after the Big Bang.

The find supports current models of the origins of our Universe, and may provide a glimpse of its birth.

The fundamental particles called neutrinos are difficult to study, because they interact so weakly with normal matter — trillions whizz straight through your body every second. But Roberto Trotta, an astrophysicist from Oxford University, UK, and his colleague Alessandro Melchiorri of the University of Rome 'La Sapienza', Italy, say that the signature of primordial neutrinos is written in the cosmic microwave background (CMB).

These microwaves are the remnants of light that shone 300,000 years after the Big Bang, when light was first free to move in a straight line without being blocked by the soupy material of the early Universe.

Researchers have found that the CMB is slightly uneven, reflecting the lumpy distribution of matter in the early Universe. Wayne Hu, a cosmologist from the University of Chicago, proposed that neutrinos should affect these ripples in the CMB. That is what Trotta and Melchiorri have found, they report in a forthcoming paper in Physical Review Letters.

Unpredictably lumpy

During the Big Bang, matter became patchily distributed. This was a result of matter's graininess on a small scale: subatomic particles either exist in a space or they do not, making the distribution of matter unpredictably lumpy.

As the Universe grew, its lumps expanded too, spreading matter unevenly about the cosmos. The CMB, for example, contains ripples separated by about one degree — the same size as a full Moon seen from Earth.

Trotta and Melchiorri worked on the assumption that fast-moving, energetic neutrinos in the early Universe changed the local gravity enough to smooth out some of the ripples in the CMB. The neutrinos' influence would have been minute, but potentially visible.

When they looked at the CMB on a scale of about a hundredth to a thousandth of a degree, they found less variation than expected. This fits with the prediction that neutrinos have a smoothing effect. "The fact that we can see this in the WMAP data was a big surprise," says Trotta.

This image shows the neutrinos' tiny influence on the cosmic background radiation.
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Right direction

The find could help astrophysicists peer further back in time. The earliest we can see at the moment is to 300,000 years after the Big Bang. But neutrinos would have shaped the CMB from a few seconds after the Universe's birth.

Hu adds that learning about neutrinos in the early Universe and their interaction with the CMB should teach researchers about the other particles of that time. Such particles might, for example, stop neutrinos from smoothing out the CMB.

The observations aren't definitive yet. "It's not quite strong enough to call it a detection, but it goes in the right direction," says Trotta. He adds that the next set of data on the CMB, expected this year, could provide a firmer answer.

In the meantime, Hu says it's reassuring that the results are consistent with theoretical predictions. "We have been surprised in the past with missing matter and energy in earlier versions of the standard cosmological model," says Hu. "It is certainly possible that we will be surprised again."

http://www.nature.com/physics/highlights/7045-3.html

Bix12

Jun 23 2005, 03:54 PM

Rocky planet found outside Solar System

Mark Peplow

Extrasolar discovery is like Earth's 'bigger cousin'.

An artist's drawing of what this rocky world might look like.
user posted image

The hunt for worlds outside our Solar System has found its smallest planet yet: it weighs in at just seven-and-a-half times the size of the Earth.

Astronomers have already found more than 150 extrasolar planets, also known as exoplanets. But all of them are larger than Uranus, which has 15 times Earth's mass. The recent find is so small that it is likely to be rocky, its discoverers say, rather than a gas giant.

"This is the smallest extrasolar planet yet detected," says team member Paul Butler of the Carnegie Institution in Washington DC. "It's like Earth's bigger cousin."

The planet orbits the star Gliese 876, which is just 15 light years from our own Solar System and is already known to have two Jupiter-sized planets (see 'Planetary companion to red dwarf'). Like most other exoplanet discoveries, the astronomers found it by detecting the way Gliese 876 wobbles as the planets orbit the star.

"We had a model for the two planets interacting with one another, but when we looked at the difference between the two-planet model and the actual data, we found a signature that could be interpreted as a third planet," explains theoretical astronomer Jack Lissauer of NASA's Ames Research Centre, Moffett Field, California. The third planet appears to whip around the star once every 46.5 hours.

The discovery was possible thanks to a recent upgrade on the high-resolution spectrometer of the Keck telescopes in Hawaii. This improved its ability to measure a star's subtle movements.

The scientists presented their findings on 13 June during a press conference at the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Virginia.

user posted image

Red dwarf

Although three other suspected rocky exoplanets have been reported, they orbit a pulsar rather than a stable sun. "For the first time, we have evidence for a rocky planet around a normal star," says Geoffrey Marcy of the University of California, Berkeley.

Gliese 876 is a red dwarf: a small, cool star about one-third of the mass of our Sun. But the planet's surface temperatures probably exceeds 200 °C, the astronomers say, because the planet passes just 3 million kilometres away from the star, more than 10 times closer to it than Mercury is to the Sun.

That probably scuppers life's chances on the hot rock, but proves that more habitable planets could be detectable. "We keep pushing the limits of what we can detect, and we're getting closer and closer to finding Earths," says Steve Vogt, a member of the team from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

"The fact that you have a rocky planet inside two gas giants makes it look a lot like our own Solar System," agrees Alan Boss, an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution who was not involved in the research.

Boss adds that the prospects of finding similar planetary systems are good, because stars like Gliese 876 are extremely common. "They're all over the place," he says, adding that of the 400 or so stars within 33 light years of Earth, about 300 of them are in the same class as Gliese 876

The team now hopes to find rocky planets around other red dwarfs in our Galaxy.

http://www.nature.com/physics/highlights/7044-3.html

Bix12

Jun 24 2005, 01:34 PM

They Don't Say Test Until I Say They Say Test

Pentagon has refused to test for toxic rocket-fuel chemical

Department of Defense operations are a primary perpetrator of perchlorate contamination nationwide, but the department has regularly turned down state and federal requests to test for the toxic chemical, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Perchlorate -- which is commonly found in rocket fuel and can cause thyroid dysfunction -- has been found in at least 395 sites in 35 states, but only 51 sites are currently being cleaned or are slated for cleanup. The Pentagon says it will test only when there's a reasonable chance of human exposure, as determined by ... the Pentagon. It cites the lack of clear state or federal rules for perchlorate regulation or contamination. The states, and the GAO, recommend a formal nationwide system for monitoring detections and cleanup. Defense says such a system is unnecessary. So, to summarize: The Pentagon won't test because there are no shared standards, and the Pentagon opposes the development of shared standards. Circular logic aside, communities around the country are suing the DOD to clean up perchlorate-contaminated water supplies.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apw...uel%20Pollution

Bix12

Jun 25 2005, 03:40 AM

Craig's %$#! List

Idaho senator tries to axe center that analyzes endangered salmon

Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) has inserted a rider into the federal energy bill that would eliminate funding for the Fish Passage Center, which has tracked salmon in the Columbia and Snake River systems in the Pacific Northwest for over 20 years. Craig is peeved that the center's fish survival data was used to support a recent federal court order mandating summer spills over Snake River dams, impacting electricity rates and barge travel along the rivers. The senator took umbrage at the center's support for what he calls a "controversial and one-sided" salmon recovery policy. Many other interested parties, from Indian tribes to state fish biologists to fishers to federal judges, support the center. Michele DeHart, the center's manager, says it compiles "data that is accurate and, yes, it does show that the federal hydro system kills fish." The Bonneville Power Administration, which both dispenses money to the center and sells electricity produced by federal dams, says it will not fight for or against Craig's measure.

Another fucking pig politician that does the bidding of big business regardless of the impact on the environment...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...5062301915.html

Bix12

Jun 25 2005, 02:00 PM

THE QUOTE:

"I am going to venture that the man who sat on the ground in his tipi
meditating on life and its meaning, accepting the kinship of all
creatures, and acknowledging unity with the universe of things, was
infusing into his being the true essence of civilization... The
elders were wise. They knew that man's heart, away from nature,
becomes hard; they knew that lack of respect for growing, living
things, soon led to lack of respect for humans, too."
- - Chief Luther Standing Bear (Oglala Lakota / 1905-1939)
user posted image

Naknek Lake, Alaska
THE HISTORY:

JUNE 25th,
1876 -- Lakota, Cheyenne & Arapahoe tribes defeat U.S. Army at Little
Big Horn, Montana. Resisting US government efforts to herd them onto
"reservations" (internment camps), they liquidated General George
Armstrong Custer & wiped out his troops. Euphemistically called
"Custer's Last Stand".
user posted image

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battl...le_big_horn.htm

Bix12

Jul 3 2005, 05:45 PM

Whale baby boom cheers scientists

28 mother-calf right whale pairs spotted so far this year

user posted image

A right whale and its calf swims off the coast of Florida in February 2005.

Updated: 6:31 p.m. ET July 1, 2005
WASHINGTON - This is one of the best years in recent memory for right whale calving, with 28 mother-calf pairs sighted so far, government biologists say.

NOAA Fisheries Service confirmed the 28th sighting on Friday, a pair videotaped off the coast of South Carolina as they headed north.

"With so few of these right whales left — approximately 300 — we are very excited about sighting another mother-calf pair," said Bill Hogarth, NOAA Fisheries Service director. "Although this latest calf is small, it looks healthy and strong at this point."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8434618/

Bix12

Jul 25 2005, 10:31 PM

QUOTE

Queen of the Dammed

British royals to bolster green rep with efficient mini-hydro plant

On Friday, a local U.K. council approved Queen Elizabeth's plan to build a mini hydroelectric power plant dedicated to Windsor Castle. The energy-efficient four-turbine plant on the River Thames is expected to supply enough electricity to keep about a third of the castle juiced. It'll be the largest of its kind in the South of England, but designed to minimize ecological and visual impacts to the river. Enviros lauded Her Royal Highness for setting a good green example: "We're delighted that the queen is taking a lead in the use of green electricity to help to tackle global warming. It highlights the massive potential for small-scale micro-generation systems within the U.K.," said Friends of the Earth. This is just one of many green efforts by the British royals: Buckingham Palace uses energy-efficient light bulbs and recycles 99 percent of organic waste, while Prince Charles is a noted fan of organic agriculture and critic of genetic modification.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/4712489.stm

csh

Jul 26 2005, 03:56 PM

QUOTE(Bix12 @ Jul 25 2005, 10:28 PM)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/4712489.stm
[right][snapback]107636[/snapback][/right]

maybe an Environmental friendly King to be crowned over there!!!!

csh

Aug 2 2005, 06:08 PM

couple of days ago i came across caltech's new planet discovery

they get to name the new planet

i could not get the photo to load...but....it is Awesome

Bix12

Sep 4 2005, 12:35 PM

Although not the best news, it's certainly much better than it might have been...and that, in light of the magnitude of the catastrophe, is good news to me.

QUOTE

The Big Greasy

New Orleans floodwaters a stew of sewage and toxic chemicals

Toxic chemicals contaminating the New Orleans floodwaters may be less of a short-term health hazard than plain ol' poop. Federal officials have declared a public health emergency for the Gulf Coast, fearing that viruses and bacteria from sewage in the floodwaters could cause a major outbreak of intestinal illnesses. And while the noxious stew swirling in the city's streets -- a mix that likely includes dry-cleaning solvents, household cleaners, and gasoline from gas stations -- is a concern, experts express relief that chemical facilities and refineries near the city have remained intact. While some plants were flooded once the levees broke, they were apparently spared the force of the storm surge, which might have cracked storage tanks and released tons of chemicals into the floodwaters. "It's not the worst scenario we could have envisioned," says a local water-resources expert. As floodwaters recede, however, foul goop may concentrate and be deposited as a layer of contamination that could complicate the city's clean-up and restoration.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/01/national...serland&emc=rss

Bix12

Sep 4 2005, 01:35 PM

QUOTE

A conjunction for the ages

September 2005: A stunning sight awaits viewers in early September, when Venus and Jupiter have their most spectacular evening conjunction in more than 3 years.
Martin Ratcliffe and Alister Ling

Blazing beacons Venus and Jupiter appear striking as twilight falls in early September. Scan for them low in the west-southwest 30 to 45 minutes after sunset. The sky darkens quickly at this time of year, so the two brightest planets become more prominent as the minutes pass. But make sure you have an uncluttered horizon — otherwise, the pair will be lost behind trees or buildings.

Although Jupiter shines brightly, Venus dazzles in comparison. And while Venus gleams a pure white, Jupiter shines a few shades toward pale peach. Watch how their colors deepen toward orange, and even red, as they descend through Earth's thick lower atmosphere.

user posted image

On September 6, a crescent Moon joins the planets, now separated by 5°. This evening, the Moon sits 3° south of Jupiter and 4° west of Venus. You should also see a 1st-magnitude star 1.8° below Venus. This is Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo the Maiden.

Venus continues to pull away from Jupiter, and by the 9th, both lie just shy of 5° from Spica. For the rest of September, Jupiter sinks lower in the west and sets earlier each night. Twilight begins to drown it out toward the end of the month. Venus remains visible, hugging the southwestern horizon. It passes 2° south of Zubenel-genubi (Alpha Librae) on the 24th. Through a telescope, Venus grows to 18" across, while its phase shrinks to 65-percent lit by month's end.

The last evening conjunction between Venus and Jupiter occurred in June 2002. However, in terms of their altitude, this month's is the best evening conjunction since February 1999. The next good conjunctions between these two planets occur in the morning sky in February 2008 and in the evening sky in November 2008.

Bee

Sep 4 2005, 03:54 PM

QUOTE(Bix12 @ Sep 4 2005, 09:32 AM)

[right][snapback]122230[/snapback][/right]

Wow!
Sounds lovely.

Bix12

Sep 4 2005, 03:57 PM

QUOTE(Bee @ Sep 4 2005, 11:51 AM)

Wow!
Sounds lovely.

[right][snapback]122271[/snapback][/right]

Doesn't it, though....

Tuesday night....sunset is 7:16 PM, east coast time....so optimum viewing will be at about 8:00 PM., maybe a little before...

Bix12

Sep 28 2005, 01:17 AM

QUOTE

Ban on the Run

Chinese consider legalizing domestic trade in tiger parts

China may soon drop its domestic trade ban on tigers and goods made from tiger parts, which has been in place since 1993. Though the change under consideration would only allow trade based on farm-bred, captive tigers, wildlife campaigners worry that it would push up demand and encourage illegal poaching of wild animals. Nearly every part of a tiger is thought to have some medicinal value in traditional Chinese medicine; that belief drives a lucrative black market that threatens to wipe out what's left of the world's estimated 5,000 wild tigers. International trade in tiger products is already banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species treaty, but that's not enough, say activists -- China's domestic ban is essential. "Make no bones about it," said the World Wildlife Fund's Callum Rankine. If China lifts the ban, "this could be the end for tigers."

Sometimes, I can't help but wish human parts would become the big rage.....

user posted image

QUOTE

The world has lost 90 per cent of its tiger population over the past century. Three sub-species - Bali, Javan and Caspian tigers - have become extinct in the past 70 years, with just five others remaining.Last month, customs officers in Taiwan seized 140kg of bone thought to have come from poached Sumatran tigers, the rarest of the remaining sub-species. There are now just 500 Sumatran tigers left.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/enviro...ticle315127.ece

SpaceCowboy

Sep 28 2005, 02:13 AM

Bastidges.

csh

Oct 19 2005, 03:11 PM

QUOTE(Bix12 @ Sep 28 2005, 01:14 AM)

Sometimes, I can't help but wish human parts would become the big rage.....
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/enviro...ticle315127.ece
[right][snapback]131036[/snapback][/right]

Too bad the People do not remember that… Tigers and Lions gain their supernatural powers by eating human flesh.

Arturo_Vandelay

Oct 19 2005, 03:25 PM

Tigers are a lot cuter when they aren't eating you.

csh

Oct 19 2005, 04:08 PM

QUOTE(Arturo_Vandelay @ Oct 19 2005, 03:22 PM)

Tigers are a lot cuter when they aren't eating you.
[right][snapback]139791[/snapback][/right]

Ya butt machine gunning them down just somehow doesn't ...get it

Speence09

Dec 30 2009, 11:48 AM

I read this on DSF a while ago, and I was wondering; how is it possible that the earth, floating in a big sea of nothingness...has a farking blind spot??

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