A Japanese TV crew has filmed what is believed to be the longest flight of a flying fish ever recorded.
The NHK television network said one of its camera crews captured the 45-second flight from a ferry near Kuchino-erabu Island in southwestern Japan.
The crew was reportedly on its way to shoot footage for a nature documentary.
The fish can be seen occasionally beating its tail against the surface of the water to keep itself aloft.
The ferry was traveling at speed of about 20 mph (30 kilometers per hour) during the encounter, NHK said.
More than 50 species of flying fish, in the marine family known as Exocoetidae, are found in warmer ocean waters worldwide. They can rise out of the water to avoid predators underneath, and stretch out their long pectoral fins to glide through the air.
Usually the fish remain airborne for just a few seconds before landing back in the water - but as Monday’s video demonstrated, they can give themselves another boost with their tail fins.
The previous record for a fish’s compound flight was 42 seconds, reported from Florida by a sea captain with a stopwatch in 1928. A 45-second flight may well be close to the physical limit for a flying fish, since the creature must suspend brachial respiration in the air, NHK reported.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Amazing Ship Find
A 22-gun British warship that sank during the American Revolution and has long been regarded as one of the “Holy Grail” shipwrecks in the Great Lakes has been discovered at the bottom of Lake Ontario, astonishingly well-preserved in the cold, deep water.
Shipwreck enthusiasts Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville used side-scanning sonar and an unmanned submersible to locate the HMS Ontario, which was lost with barely a trace and as many as 130 people aboard during a gale in 1780.
The 80-foot sloop of war is the oldest shipwreck and the only fully intact British warship ever found in the Great Lakes.
“To have a Revolutionary War vessel that’s practically intact is unbelievable. It’s an archaeological miracle,” said Canadian author Arthur Britton Smith, who chronicled the history of the HMS Ontario in a 1997 book, “The Legend of the Lake.”
The finders of the wreck said they regard it as a war grave and have no plans to raise it or remove any of its artifacts. They said the ship is still considered the property of the British Admiralty. Although the vessel sits in an area where the water is up to 500 feet deep and cannot be reached by anyone but the most experienced divers, Kennard and Scoville declined to give its exact location, saying only that it was found off the southern shore.
The sloop was discovered resting partially on its side, with two masts extending more than 70 feet above the lake bottom. “Usually when ships go down in big storms, they get beat up quite a bit. They don’t sink nice and square. This went down in a huge storm, and it still managed to stay intact,” Scoville said. “There are even two windows that aren’t broken. Just going down, the pressure difference, can break the windows. It’s a beautiful ship.”
Smith, who was shown underwater video of the find, said: “If it wasn’t for the zebra mussels, she looks like she only sunk last week.” The dark, cold freshwater acts as a perfect preservative, Smith said.
At that depth, there is no light and no oxygen to hasten decomposition, and little marine life to feed on the wood. The Ontario went down on Oct. 31, 1780, with a garrison of 60 British soldiers, a crew of about 40, mostly Canadians, and possibly about 30 American war prisoners.
The warship had been launched only five months earlier and was used to ferry troops and supplies along upstate New York’s frontier. Although it was the biggest British ship on the Great Lakes at the time, it never saw battle, Smith said.
Shipwreck enthusiasts Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville used side-scanning sonar and an unmanned submersible to locate the HMS Ontario, which was lost with barely a trace and as many as 130 people aboard during a gale in 1780.
The 80-foot sloop of war is the oldest shipwreck and the only fully intact British warship ever found in the Great Lakes.
“To have a Revolutionary War vessel that’s practically intact is unbelievable. It’s an archaeological miracle,” said Canadian author Arthur Britton Smith, who chronicled the history of the HMS Ontario in a 1997 book, “The Legend of the Lake.”
The finders of the wreck said they regard it as a war grave and have no plans to raise it or remove any of its artifacts. They said the ship is still considered the property of the British Admiralty. Although the vessel sits in an area where the water is up to 500 feet deep and cannot be reached by anyone but the most experienced divers, Kennard and Scoville declined to give its exact location, saying only that it was found off the southern shore.
The sloop was discovered resting partially on its side, with two masts extending more than 70 feet above the lake bottom. “Usually when ships go down in big storms, they get beat up quite a bit. They don’t sink nice and square. This went down in a huge storm, and it still managed to stay intact,” Scoville said. “There are even two windows that aren’t broken. Just going down, the pressure difference, can break the windows. It’s a beautiful ship.”
Smith, who was shown underwater video of the find, said: “If it wasn’t for the zebra mussels, she looks like she only sunk last week.” The dark, cold freshwater acts as a perfect preservative, Smith said.
At that depth, there is no light and no oxygen to hasten decomposition, and little marine life to feed on the wood. The Ontario went down on Oct. 31, 1780, with a garrison of 60 British soldiers, a crew of about 40, mostly Canadians, and possibly about 30 American war prisoners.
The warship had been launched only five months earlier and was used to ferry troops and supplies along upstate New York’s frontier. Although it was the biggest British ship on the Great Lakes at the time, it never saw battle, Smith said.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Speaking From Inside The Egg
Biologists have known that shortly before hatching, crocodiles make noises within their eggs.
A new study, which involved playbacks of the pre-hatching calls, reveals these calls from the egg tell siblings it’s time to hatch and tell moms it’s time to uncover the nest.
Researchers Amélie Vergne and Nicolas Mathevon of the Jean Monnet University in France monitored Nile crocodile eggs that were due to hatch within 10 days.
The eggs were placed into one of three groups, for which the researchers either played recordings of pre-hatching calls, recordings of noise (other than the calls), or no sound.
The group of eggs that got a dose of real crocodile calls responded and moved, as the about finger-sized babies jostled about, more often than the “noise” eggs.
The eggs incubated in silence showed no movement.
All four of the individuals that successfully hatched in the crocodile-call group did so during or within 10 minutes of the playbacks.
A new study, which involved playbacks of the pre-hatching calls, reveals these calls from the egg tell siblings it’s time to hatch and tell moms it’s time to uncover the nest.
Researchers Amélie Vergne and Nicolas Mathevon of the Jean Monnet University in France monitored Nile crocodile eggs that were due to hatch within 10 days.
The eggs were placed into one of three groups, for which the researchers either played recordings of pre-hatching calls, recordings of noise (other than the calls), or no sound.
The group of eggs that got a dose of real crocodile calls responded and moved, as the about finger-sized babies jostled about, more often than the “noise” eggs.
The eggs incubated in silence showed no movement.
All four of the individuals that successfully hatched in the crocodile-call group did so during or within 10 minutes of the playbacks.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
The Methuselah Tree
Scientists have grown a tree from what may be the oldest seed ever germinated.
The new sapling was sprouted from a 2,000-year-old date palm excavated in Masada, the site of a cliff-side fortress in Israel where ancient Jews are said to have killed themselves to avoid capture by Roman invaders.
Dubbed the “Methuselah Tree” after the oldest person in the Bible, the new plant has been growing steadily, and after 26 months, the tree was nearly four-feet tall.
The species of tree, called the Judean date, is now extinct in Israel, but researchers are hoping that by reviving the plant they may be able to study its medicinal uses.
“The medicinal plants from this region are very important because they are historically mentioned in the Bible and the Koran,” said Sarah Sallon, director of the Louis L. Borick Natural Medicine Research Center at the Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem, which initiated the experiment to grow the tree as part of its Middle East Medicinal Plant Project. “The Judean date was very valuable and very famous, not just as a source of food but as a source of medicine,” Sallon said. “When I heard there were ancient seeds found in the archeological dig, I thought it would be interesting to see if we could try to grow them.”
Carbon dating of the seeds found at Masada revealed that they date from roughly the time of the ancient fortress’ siege, in A.D. 73.
The seeds were found in storage rooms, and appear to have been stockpiled for the Jews hiding out against the invading Romans.
The new sapling was sprouted from a 2,000-year-old date palm excavated in Masada, the site of a cliff-side fortress in Israel where ancient Jews are said to have killed themselves to avoid capture by Roman invaders.
Dubbed the “Methuselah Tree” after the oldest person in the Bible, the new plant has been growing steadily, and after 26 months, the tree was nearly four-feet tall.
The species of tree, called the Judean date, is now extinct in Israel, but researchers are hoping that by reviving the plant they may be able to study its medicinal uses.
“The medicinal plants from this region are very important because they are historically mentioned in the Bible and the Koran,” said Sarah Sallon, director of the Louis L. Borick Natural Medicine Research Center at the Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem, which initiated the experiment to grow the tree as part of its Middle East Medicinal Plant Project. “The Judean date was very valuable and very famous, not just as a source of food but as a source of medicine,” Sallon said. “When I heard there were ancient seeds found in the archeological dig, I thought it would be interesting to see if we could try to grow them.”
Carbon dating of the seeds found at Masada revealed that they date from roughly the time of the ancient fortress’ siege, in A.D. 73.
The seeds were found in storage rooms, and appear to have been stockpiled for the Jews hiding out against the invading Romans.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
An Elusive Kitten Stowaway
It was the stereotypical firefighters-try-to-rescue-cat story, but with a twist.
Firefighters from the South Florida city of Weston spent a sopping hour in pouring rain Tuesday trying to extract a kitten squeezed in the undercarriage of a stranger’s Volvo.
The crew tried jacking up the car and taking off a wheel, all for naught.
The feline ducked out of reach at each attempt to grab it.
At some point, the cat escaped undetected, prompting the crew to spend another hour peering in bushes and scouring a Walgreen’s parking lot.
They finally gave up and headed back to the station, answering at least two more calls on their way.
Five hours after the saga began, the elusive cat reappeared: At the station, in their fire truck’s rear wheel well.
This time, firefighters used chunks of meatloaf to try luring it out. It was un-enticed, so the crew resorted to an ultimately successful three-pronged strategy: One firefighter poked the feline in the backside with a Slim Jim, another used a hose to force it into an open compartment so a third person could pull it out.
The feline was dirty but unharmed.
Firefighters from the South Florida city of Weston spent a sopping hour in pouring rain Tuesday trying to extract a kitten squeezed in the undercarriage of a stranger’s Volvo.
The crew tried jacking up the car and taking off a wheel, all for naught.
The feline ducked out of reach at each attempt to grab it.
At some point, the cat escaped undetected, prompting the crew to spend another hour peering in bushes and scouring a Walgreen’s parking lot.
They finally gave up and headed back to the station, answering at least two more calls on their way.
Five hours after the saga began, the elusive cat reappeared: At the station, in their fire truck’s rear wheel well.
This time, firefighters used chunks of meatloaf to try luring it out. It was un-enticed, so the crew resorted to an ultimately successful three-pronged strategy: One firefighter poked the feline in the backside with a Slim Jim, another used a hose to force it into an open compartment so a third person could pull it out.
The feline was dirty but unharmed.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
An Amazing Underwater Find
Marine archaeologists will begin work in June to uncover the sand-buried hull of a 2,300 year-old cargo ship thought to have been ferrying wine from the Aegean island of Chios before it sank off Cyprus’ southern coast, researchers said Thursday.
The vessel, dating from the late Classical period (mid fourth century B.C.) is one of only a few such ships to have been found so well-preserved, said University of Cyprus visiting marine archaeologist Stella Demesticha.
“The shipwreck looks very promising about shedding light on the nautical and economic history of the period in the east Mediterranean,” Demesticha told the Associated Press on Thursday.
The wreck rests on the seabed at a depth of 144 feet some 1 1/2 miles off the island’s southern coast.
Demesticha said the wreck was also unique because it lies at a depth that divers can easily reach, unlike similar discoveries found in deeper waters.
Unreleased underwater photographs that researchers took of the vessel on initial surveying dives in November show a jumble of dozens of amphorae — clay urns used in antiquity to carry liquids and solid foodstuffs — lying on the seabed in the shape of the ship.
Demesticha said researchers believe the ship’s hull to be buried under tons of sand. The amphorae closely resemble others found to contain Chios wine, but may have been used to transport other goods in ancient sea trade.
The discovery could also provide more clues into Cyprus’s role in maritime trade during the last phases of the Cypriot city-kingdoms, researchers said.
The vessel, dating from the late Classical period (mid fourth century B.C.) is one of only a few such ships to have been found so well-preserved, said University of Cyprus visiting marine archaeologist Stella Demesticha.
“The shipwreck looks very promising about shedding light on the nautical and economic history of the period in the east Mediterranean,” Demesticha told the Associated Press on Thursday.
The wreck rests on the seabed at a depth of 144 feet some 1 1/2 miles off the island’s southern coast.
Demesticha said the wreck was also unique because it lies at a depth that divers can easily reach, unlike similar discoveries found in deeper waters.
Unreleased underwater photographs that researchers took of the vessel on initial surveying dives in November show a jumble of dozens of amphorae — clay urns used in antiquity to carry liquids and solid foodstuffs — lying on the seabed in the shape of the ship.
Demesticha said researchers believe the ship’s hull to be buried under tons of sand. The amphorae closely resemble others found to contain Chios wine, but may have been used to transport other goods in ancient sea trade.
The discovery could also provide more clues into Cyprus’s role in maritime trade during the last phases of the Cypriot city-kingdoms, researchers said.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Some Word Origins...
Geek: In the circus, a performer who sank sufficiently low would do horrible things (like biting the heads off live chickens) for booze money. The poor soul was called a geek. How it later came to describe smart people is unknown, but I am sure 80’s movies helped it along.
Two Cent’s Worth: During the Civil War, the cheapest cigar you could buy cost two pennies. “Two-center” cigars became synonymous with cheapness, and by the late 1800’s, people who wanted to project fauxhumility would offer their two cent’s worth.
Shoddy: A scandal erupted during the Civil War when some textilers sold the army uniforms made out of the scraps left over from their wool-making process. This cheap fabric was called shoddy. In no time, the noun turned into an adjective.
White Paper: In Victorian England, policy and legislation were delivered to Parliament in gigantic books with blue covers called Blue Papers. Lesser, shorter government business was delivered in smaller books with white covers, called White Papers.
Pundits: Brits who traveled to India met Hindi scholars who taught religion and law. They were knows as pandits. Soon enough, scholarly Londoners were known as pundits.
Kiosks: In Turkey, outdoor pavilions used for public meetings were called kiushks.
Haywire: In the 1800’s, New England loggers took bales of hay into the forest with them to feed their horses. These bales were bound with thin wire that was also used to make small repairs on the loggers’ equipment. The more that stuff broke, the more wire the loggers needed. Logging companies and groups of loggers that ended up using a lot of hay wire on their equipment, they were called haywire outfits. Slowly the term began to describe the actual process of the equipment breaking down and not working properly.
Two Cent’s Worth: During the Civil War, the cheapest cigar you could buy cost two pennies. “Two-center” cigars became synonymous with cheapness, and by the late 1800’s, people who wanted to project fauxhumility would offer their two cent’s worth.
Shoddy: A scandal erupted during the Civil War when some textilers sold the army uniforms made out of the scraps left over from their wool-making process. This cheap fabric was called shoddy. In no time, the noun turned into an adjective.
White Paper: In Victorian England, policy and legislation were delivered to Parliament in gigantic books with blue covers called Blue Papers. Lesser, shorter government business was delivered in smaller books with white covers, called White Papers.
Pundits: Brits who traveled to India met Hindi scholars who taught religion and law. They were knows as pandits. Soon enough, scholarly Londoners were known as pundits.
Kiosks: In Turkey, outdoor pavilions used for public meetings were called kiushks.
Haywire: In the 1800’s, New England loggers took bales of hay into the forest with them to feed their horses. These bales were bound with thin wire that was also used to make small repairs on the loggers’ equipment. The more that stuff broke, the more wire the loggers needed. Logging companies and groups of loggers that ended up using a lot of hay wire on their equipment, they were called haywire outfits. Slowly the term began to describe the actual process of the equipment breaking down and not working properly.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
A Sea Turtle Migration Record
Scientists have long been tracking the migration of sea turtles as they work to protect them from extinction.
Their work, at times, has included tracking the migration patterns of individual turtles.
Recently, one leatherback sea turtle traveled 12,774 miles from Indonesia to Oregon, one of the longest recorded migrations of any vertebrate animal and a record for a sea turtle.
Leatherback sea turtles are the largest of all living turtles and are widely distributed throughout the world’s oceans.
They have been seen in the waters off Argentina, Tasmania, Alaska and Nova Scotia. Adult leatherbacks periodically migrate from their temperate foraging grounds to breeding grounds in the tropics.
Scientists at the National Marine Fisheries Service tracked one female nester, who was tagged on Jamursba-Medi beach in Papua, Indonesia, on her journey back to her foraging grounds off the coast of Oregon.
She was tracked for 647 days covering a distance about equal to two round trips between New York and Los Angeles.
The longest measured annual migration for any animal is the 40,000-mile journey between New Zealand and the North Pacific of the sooty shearwater puffin, a medium-sized seabird.
Their work, at times, has included tracking the migration patterns of individual turtles.
Recently, one leatherback sea turtle traveled 12,774 miles from Indonesia to Oregon, one of the longest recorded migrations of any vertebrate animal and a record for a sea turtle.
Leatherback sea turtles are the largest of all living turtles and are widely distributed throughout the world’s oceans.
They have been seen in the waters off Argentina, Tasmania, Alaska and Nova Scotia. Adult leatherbacks periodically migrate from their temperate foraging grounds to breeding grounds in the tropics.
Scientists at the National Marine Fisheries Service tracked one female nester, who was tagged on Jamursba-Medi beach in Papua, Indonesia, on her journey back to her foraging grounds off the coast of Oregon.
She was tracked for 647 days covering a distance about equal to two round trips between New York and Los Angeles.
The longest measured annual migration for any animal is the 40,000-mile journey between New Zealand and the North Pacific of the sooty shearwater puffin, a medium-sized seabird.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
"Oh, It's The Alkylate's Fault..."
Experts are predicting pump prices, which jumped by almost a dollar a gallon in each of the last two springs in many parts of the United States, will spike again this year as refiners and gas stations switch from winter- to summer-blended fuels.
The increases, starting as early as February in southern California, could push the average national price to a record $3.50 a gallon or more by June. Prices in urban areas on each coast could approach $4 a gallon.
And the reason for the spring price shocks? Analysts say it’s linked to a shortage of alkylate, a little-known and expensive gasoline additive that some in the industry are calling “liquid gold.”
It has become a must-have ingredient since refiners stopped using MTBE two years ago when the potentially cancer-causing additive was found to be seeping into ground water.
The alkylate shortage has become the most important driver of summer gas prices, said Doug Leggate, an analyst at Citigroup Global Markets. “Supply of (alkylate) will set the price of summer gasoline — not inventory levels,” he said.
Oil companies deny they are purposely limiting production of alkylate, which like gasoline, jet fuel, and asphalt is a by-product of the oil refining process. But only recently have some started studying how they can boost output, and alkylate prices today are more than 15 percent higher than spot gasoline prices.
That means overall costs will jump when it is added in larger quantities to summer-blend fuels.
Without additives, gasoline doesn’t burn completely, increasing tailpipe air pollution. And untreated gas evaporates more quickly in hot weather, potentially causing vapor lock when it changes from a liquid to a gas and blocks fuel lines.
The federal government long ago required refiners to boost the oxygen content of summer-blend gasoline to make it burn more completely, a problem that was solved by adding MTBE and, more recently, ethanol.
But ethanol also has a high evaporation rate, so refiners increasingly have turned to alkylate, which Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service in Wall, N.J., calls the “magic bullet” in making summer gasoline.
The increases, starting as early as February in southern California, could push the average national price to a record $3.50 a gallon or more by June. Prices in urban areas on each coast could approach $4 a gallon.
And the reason for the spring price shocks? Analysts say it’s linked to a shortage of alkylate, a little-known and expensive gasoline additive that some in the industry are calling “liquid gold.”
It has become a must-have ingredient since refiners stopped using MTBE two years ago when the potentially cancer-causing additive was found to be seeping into ground water.
The alkylate shortage has become the most important driver of summer gas prices, said Doug Leggate, an analyst at Citigroup Global Markets. “Supply of (alkylate) will set the price of summer gasoline — not inventory levels,” he said.
Oil companies deny they are purposely limiting production of alkylate, which like gasoline, jet fuel, and asphalt is a by-product of the oil refining process. But only recently have some started studying how they can boost output, and alkylate prices today are more than 15 percent higher than spot gasoline prices.
That means overall costs will jump when it is added in larger quantities to summer-blend fuels.
Without additives, gasoline doesn’t burn completely, increasing tailpipe air pollution. And untreated gas evaporates more quickly in hot weather, potentially causing vapor lock when it changes from a liquid to a gas and blocks fuel lines.
The federal government long ago required refiners to boost the oxygen content of summer-blend gasoline to make it burn more completely, a problem that was solved by adding MTBE and, more recently, ethanol.
But ethanol also has a high evaporation rate, so refiners increasingly have turned to alkylate, which Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service in Wall, N.J., calls the “magic bullet” in making summer gasoline.
Friday, November 16, 2007
A Purely Business Standpoint...
A woman’s online bid to find a rich husband in New York City caused an internet stir, but was then quickly withdrawn following a particularly business value-based response.
An anonymous 25 year-old woman was seeking advice on Craig’s list on how to find a male New York City resident that earned $500,000 a year.
“I know how that sounds, but keep in mind that a million a year is middle class in New York City, so I don’t think I’m overreaching at all,” wrote the woman, who described herself as “spectacularly beautiful” and “superficial”.
“I dated a business man who makes average around 200 -250. But that’s where I seem to hit a roadblock. $250,000 won’t get me to Central Park West,” she said, asking questions like “where do rich single men hang out?”
A mystery banker, who said he fit the bill, offered the woman an analysis of her predicament - but described it as “plain and simple, a crappy business deal. Your looks will fade and my money will likely continue into perpetuity ... in fact, it is very likely that my income increases but it is an absolute certainty that you won’t be getting any more beautiful!” the banker wrote.
“So, in economic terms you are a depreciating asset and I am an earning asset,” he said. “Let me explain, you’re 25 now and will likely stay pretty hot for the next 5 years, but less so each year. Then the fade begins in earnest. By 35 stick a fork in you! It doesn’t make good business sense to ‘buy you’ (which is what you’re asking) so I’d rather lease,” he said.
While the woman has since removed her posting from Craigslist, the ad and the response have become popular e-mail traffic both within and outside New York City where online dating has become commonplace.
An anonymous 25 year-old woman was seeking advice on Craig’s list on how to find a male New York City resident that earned $500,000 a year.
“I know how that sounds, but keep in mind that a million a year is middle class in New York City, so I don’t think I’m overreaching at all,” wrote the woman, who described herself as “spectacularly beautiful” and “superficial”.
“I dated a business man who makes average around 200 -250. But that’s where I seem to hit a roadblock. $250,000 won’t get me to Central Park West,” she said, asking questions like “where do rich single men hang out?”
A mystery banker, who said he fit the bill, offered the woman an analysis of her predicament - but described it as “plain and simple, a crappy business deal. Your looks will fade and my money will likely continue into perpetuity ... in fact, it is very likely that my income increases but it is an absolute certainty that you won’t be getting any more beautiful!” the banker wrote.
“So, in economic terms you are a depreciating asset and I am an earning asset,” he said. “Let me explain, you’re 25 now and will likely stay pretty hot for the next 5 years, but less so each year. Then the fade begins in earnest. By 35 stick a fork in you! It doesn’t make good business sense to ‘buy you’ (which is what you’re asking) so I’d rather lease,” he said.
While the woman has since removed her posting from Craigslist, the ad and the response have become popular e-mail traffic both within and outside New York City where online dating has become commonplace.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Search For The "Dino-Killer"
We have all heard the prevailing theory that the dinosaurs were killed off by the impact of a colossal meteor slamming into Earth.
It is widely believed that the Chicxulub crater near Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula is the impact site of that meteor hit 65 million years ago.
It is also widely believed that another colossal meteor strike on our planet is a matter of “when” and not “if”.
Scientists have been running computer models to try to determine where this colossal meteorite came from to see if there might be a way to at least predict when or where the next strike will come from.
Their computer models have developed an interesting theory. They say the models show that 160 million years ago, two “mega-asteroids” in the asteroid belt collided, strewing debris across the solar system.
They believe that a fragment from one of these “mega-asteroids” eventually made its way to Earth 95 million years later, creating the impact on the Yucatan peninsula.
The models also show that debris from the same impact created the Tycho crater on our moon.
Scientists said that they worked backwards to reach this conclusion, looking at the masses of asteroids that they believe to have originated when the two “mega-asteroids”, one 37-miles wide and one 106-miles wide, slammed into each other and broke apart.
They applied a more modern theory that sunlight traveling through space can actually effect a small amount of force on an object over time.
With nothing but time, the asteroid debris was moved little by little until it finally came into the path of Earth’s orbit and gravitational pull.
It is widely believed that the Chicxulub crater near Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula is the impact site of that meteor hit 65 million years ago.
It is also widely believed that another colossal meteor strike on our planet is a matter of “when” and not “if”.
Scientists have been running computer models to try to determine where this colossal meteorite came from to see if there might be a way to at least predict when or where the next strike will come from.
Their computer models have developed an interesting theory. They say the models show that 160 million years ago, two “mega-asteroids” in the asteroid belt collided, strewing debris across the solar system.
They believe that a fragment from one of these “mega-asteroids” eventually made its way to Earth 95 million years later, creating the impact on the Yucatan peninsula.
The models also show that debris from the same impact created the Tycho crater on our moon.
Scientists said that they worked backwards to reach this conclusion, looking at the masses of asteroids that they believe to have originated when the two “mega-asteroids”, one 37-miles wide and one 106-miles wide, slammed into each other and broke apart.
They applied a more modern theory that sunlight traveling through space can actually effect a small amount of force on an object over time.
With nothing but time, the asteroid debris was moved little by little until it finally came into the path of Earth’s orbit and gravitational pull.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Hackers Targeting By Name...
We are all aware that there is an entire underground army of hackers and phisers that are trying to scam us every time we even look at a computer, but we must also be very aware that they are continually becoming more brazen and crafty with each passing day.
MessageLabs, a security vendor that offers email filtering services to catch spam and malicious attachments reports that in May 2007, people in senior management positions received 10 emails per day, up from just 1 a year before.
10 emails might not seem like much, but it is the content of those emails that is alarming.
Many of the emails contained the name and title of the executive in the subject line, as well as a malicious Microsoft WORD document containing executable code.
The hackers are trying to trick the victim into thinking the email is from one of the top-level executives in the company, creating a false sense of security and an eagerness to quickly open the attachment before realizing that the email did not come from within the company.
The malicious code is most likely software the records and reports key-strokes, allowing hackers to obtain user names, passwords, and even top-secret company information.
Though MessageLabs would not divulge which large companies had been attacked in this manner, they did contact the individual executives involved and were told by those executives that their family members had also received emails with their name on it at their family members’ personal home email addresses.
MessageLabs, a security vendor that offers email filtering services to catch spam and malicious attachments reports that in May 2007, people in senior management positions received 10 emails per day, up from just 1 a year before.
10 emails might not seem like much, but it is the content of those emails that is alarming.
Many of the emails contained the name and title of the executive in the subject line, as well as a malicious Microsoft WORD document containing executable code.
The hackers are trying to trick the victim into thinking the email is from one of the top-level executives in the company, creating a false sense of security and an eagerness to quickly open the attachment before realizing that the email did not come from within the company.
The malicious code is most likely software the records and reports key-strokes, allowing hackers to obtain user names, passwords, and even top-secret company information.
Though MessageLabs would not divulge which large companies had been attacked in this manner, they did contact the individual executives involved and were told by those executives that their family members had also received emails with their name on it at their family members’ personal home email addresses.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
An Underground Race
There is a race going on right now that very few of us have heard about. It is between two competing energy companies, one in Australia and one in Switzerland.
The competition is to be the first energy company in history to tap deep enough into the Earth’s core to use its heat to generate steam-based power on a commercial scale.
The energy companies hope to use a system of water pumps that send water down into the Earth’s depths, then bring it up once it is heated so that it can then drive steam-powered generators to make electricity.
These power companies hope that by using heat from the Earth itself, they can reduce reliance on fossil fuels and cut down on emissions.
There has been a set-back, however. “The glass vases on the shelf rattled, and there was a loud bang,” Catherine Wueest, a tea shop owner from the Swiss city of Basel, on the Rhine River, recalls. “I thought a truck had crashed into the building.”
It was not a truck, but in fact, the result of drilling by Geopower Basel that set off a magnitude 3.4 tremor. There have been several other, smaller tremors since December. So many, in fact, that the city has asked the power company to halt the project.
Scientists say that if we could tap just 40% of the geothermal heat below the United States, we could meet our annual energy demand 56,000 times over, eliminating entirely our dependence upon fossil fuels for energy production.
The obstacle, however, is the cost. It costs $1.4 million to drill a new oil well, but would cost about $7 million to drill each geothermal well.
Geothermal wells would also tap out an area’s heat energy in a couple of decades, needing to be re-drilled about every 20 years.
Then, of course, there is the problem that Basel Geopower is facing, which is earthquakes that might be set off by tapping into the Earth that far.
Basel Geopower is currently researching their options, but for now, drilling in Switzerland has stopped, giving the Australians time to take the lead.
The competition is to be the first energy company in history to tap deep enough into the Earth’s core to use its heat to generate steam-based power on a commercial scale.
The energy companies hope to use a system of water pumps that send water down into the Earth’s depths, then bring it up once it is heated so that it can then drive steam-powered generators to make electricity.
These power companies hope that by using heat from the Earth itself, they can reduce reliance on fossil fuels and cut down on emissions.
There has been a set-back, however. “The glass vases on the shelf rattled, and there was a loud bang,” Catherine Wueest, a tea shop owner from the Swiss city of Basel, on the Rhine River, recalls. “I thought a truck had crashed into the building.”
It was not a truck, but in fact, the result of drilling by Geopower Basel that set off a magnitude 3.4 tremor. There have been several other, smaller tremors since December. So many, in fact, that the city has asked the power company to halt the project.
Scientists say that if we could tap just 40% of the geothermal heat below the United States, we could meet our annual energy demand 56,000 times over, eliminating entirely our dependence upon fossil fuels for energy production.
The obstacle, however, is the cost. It costs $1.4 million to drill a new oil well, but would cost about $7 million to drill each geothermal well.
Geothermal wells would also tap out an area’s heat energy in a couple of decades, needing to be re-drilled about every 20 years.
Then, of course, there is the problem that Basel Geopower is facing, which is earthquakes that might be set off by tapping into the Earth that far.
Basel Geopower is currently researching their options, but for now, drilling in Switzerland has stopped, giving the Australians time to take the lead.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Squirrel Rattlesnake Defenses
California squirrels, the little guys that we see around town sometimes and at all the turn-outs up and down the coast, have recently been discovered to have a very unique way of fending off rattlesnake attacks.
A little known fact about the California squirrel is that a full-grown, healthy squirrel can actually survive a rattlesnake bite with a developed immunity to the venom.
Small and weaker squirrels, however, can still succumb to the rattler attack.
To fight this vulnerability, a California squirrel, when faced with a rattler, can heat up its tail. The rattlesnake, which can sense infrared radiation from heat, takes the heated tail to mean that it has been discovered by the squirrel and has lost the element of surprise, causing the rattlesnake to just move on.
Researchers are not sure just how the squirrels cause their tails to heat up, but they think it may be by moving warm blood from the body core to the tail. They do know, however, thanks to some careful observations, that it is not a reflex, but a premeditated action.
Researchers have discovered that when the squirrels sense a gopher snake, they will vigorously move their tails, but will not heat them up like they do when they sense a rattlesnake.
They make the same tail movement with a rattler, but add the heated tail to their defense arsenal. Researchers also observed that the squirrels will make more vigorous tail movements and generate even more heat in their tails when they sense a rattlesnake during cooler night temperatures.
A little known fact about the California squirrel is that a full-grown, healthy squirrel can actually survive a rattlesnake bite with a developed immunity to the venom.
Small and weaker squirrels, however, can still succumb to the rattler attack.
To fight this vulnerability, a California squirrel, when faced with a rattler, can heat up its tail. The rattlesnake, which can sense infrared radiation from heat, takes the heated tail to mean that it has been discovered by the squirrel and has lost the element of surprise, causing the rattlesnake to just move on.
Researchers are not sure just how the squirrels cause their tails to heat up, but they think it may be by moving warm blood from the body core to the tail. They do know, however, thanks to some careful observations, that it is not a reflex, but a premeditated action.
Researchers have discovered that when the squirrels sense a gopher snake, they will vigorously move their tails, but will not heat them up like they do when they sense a rattlesnake.
They make the same tail movement with a rattler, but add the heated tail to their defense arsenal. Researchers also observed that the squirrels will make more vigorous tail movements and generate even more heat in their tails when they sense a rattlesnake during cooler night temperatures.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
“Send In The Squirrels!"
“No, I had not heard about this, but it does not surprise me, foreign countries are always meddling in Iran,” said Hassan Mohmmadi, an Iranian fastfood vendor.
This was Mohmmadi’s response when he was told that the Islamic Republic News Agency was reporting that 14 squirrels had been captured by Iranian police near the Iranian border because they were found to have been equipped with eavesdropping devices.
Has the West finally run so far down on our list of options in dealing with a potential threat from the Iranian government that we have deployed our highly-skilled, agile, and possibly deadly squirrel special agents?
Do you think they won’t fall for that type of propaganda on the streets of Tehran? When asked where he thought the squirrels had come from, Hassan Mohmmadi didn’t miss a beat in replying, “I bet they were British squirrels, they are the most cunning.”
Maybe the reports are not that far off base. We used pigeons to carry intelligence out of Nazi-occupied France during World War II. We currently have chickens deployed in Kuwait to give us an early warning of chemical attacks. And, of course, we are using well-trained dolphins to help us locate underwater mines.
Don’t tell me that you cannot picture the scene in the melodramatic Tom Clancy knock-off movie where the CIA Director pounds his fist on his desk and exclaims, “Send in the squirrels!"
This was Mohmmadi’s response when he was told that the Islamic Republic News Agency was reporting that 14 squirrels had been captured by Iranian police near the Iranian border because they were found to have been equipped with eavesdropping devices.
Has the West finally run so far down on our list of options in dealing with a potential threat from the Iranian government that we have deployed our highly-skilled, agile, and possibly deadly squirrel special agents?
Do you think they won’t fall for that type of propaganda on the streets of Tehran? When asked where he thought the squirrels had come from, Hassan Mohmmadi didn’t miss a beat in replying, “I bet they were British squirrels, they are the most cunning.”
Maybe the reports are not that far off base. We used pigeons to carry intelligence out of Nazi-occupied France during World War II. We currently have chickens deployed in Kuwait to give us an early warning of chemical attacks. And, of course, we are using well-trained dolphins to help us locate underwater mines.
Don’t tell me that you cannot picture the scene in the melodramatic Tom Clancy knock-off movie where the CIA Director pounds his fist on his desk and exclaims, “Send in the squirrels!"
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Toilet Paper Regulation
It has finally happened...technology is about to invade one of the most private spaces we occupy...the bathroom stall.
Sure, there have been technological advances since the outhouse, but none as intrusive as the new toilet paper dispenser from bathroom supply magnate Kimberly-Clark.
Sure, you’ve seen new toilet paper dispensers come and go, but I guarantee that you’ll take note of this one. One year in the making, this new electronic dispenser is going to limit you to taking just five sheets of toilet paper at a time.
That’s right, America, the number of toilet paper tissues that you are allowed to use at a time is about to be regulated by the evil corporations. Want proof that they are trying to oppress you? Here’s a quote from Kimberly-Clark’s director of washroom business, Richard Thorne. “Most people will take the amount given,” he says. “People generally will take what you give them.”
Let’s hope Overlord Thorne stays working at the toilet paper company and doesn’t run for office any time soon.
Apparently, Kimberly-Clark spent a good deal of time with focus groups and conducted a good deal of internal research to determine just how much toilet paper was the right amount for us to use.
They report that we gluttonous Americans use twice the toilet paper in a “sitting” as our European counterparts. While Americans are known to use 40 inches of toilet paper a pull, Kimberly-Clark feels that we should be using more like 20 inches, or five standard 4-inch squares. Their new machine can be adjusted to restrict us to a stingy 16 inches, or lavish us with a generous 24 inches, but either way, watch out America...your days of using 40 inches of toilet paper per pull in public restrooms may be numbered.
Sure, there have been technological advances since the outhouse, but none as intrusive as the new toilet paper dispenser from bathroom supply magnate Kimberly-Clark.
Sure, you’ve seen new toilet paper dispensers come and go, but I guarantee that you’ll take note of this one. One year in the making, this new electronic dispenser is going to limit you to taking just five sheets of toilet paper at a time.
That’s right, America, the number of toilet paper tissues that you are allowed to use at a time is about to be regulated by the evil corporations. Want proof that they are trying to oppress you? Here’s a quote from Kimberly-Clark’s director of washroom business, Richard Thorne. “Most people will take the amount given,” he says. “People generally will take what you give them.”
Let’s hope Overlord Thorne stays working at the toilet paper company and doesn’t run for office any time soon.
Apparently, Kimberly-Clark spent a good deal of time with focus groups and conducted a good deal of internal research to determine just how much toilet paper was the right amount for us to use.
They report that we gluttonous Americans use twice the toilet paper in a “sitting” as our European counterparts. While Americans are known to use 40 inches of toilet paper a pull, Kimberly-Clark feels that we should be using more like 20 inches, or five standard 4-inch squares. Their new machine can be adjusted to restrict us to a stingy 16 inches, or lavish us with a generous 24 inches, but either way, watch out America...your days of using 40 inches of toilet paper per pull in public restrooms may be numbered.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
$2000 For 70 At 11% = $30M
If you put aside $2000 each year, beginning the year that your child is born, and keep that money invested in the stock market, at age 40, your child will be a millionaire, and at age 70, your child will have over $30 million.
This is contingent upon the market’s past 70-year return of 11% on average repeating itself, but if you, then later, your child work on putting away and investing just $2000 per year each year, there might just be a $30 million nest egg as your child’s reward when they hit 70.
Financial advisors recommend that you set up a trust that your child cannot touch, though, because your child will come into control of a $100,000 party fund on their 18th birthday.
Of course, there is no guarantee that your child will not be just as frivolous with the nest egg at 40 or 50, but with your discipline and your child’s discipline, a fantastic retirement nest egg is possible.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Whale Survived 1890 Attack
Each year, under the supervision of the International Whaling Commission, 10 Alaskan villages are allowed to harvest 255 whales, which are still used as a major source of food for Alaska’s natives.
This year’s hunt revealed something absolutely amazing.
A 50-ton bowhead whale caught off the Alaskan coast had a 3 1/2 inch arrow-shaped projectile under its blubber that researchers dated back to 1890 through old manufacturing records.
These researchers believe that the arrow-shaped projectile was a bomb-lance cylinder used in whaling around 1890, and matches a similar find from a whale hunted in 1980.
Researchers place this bowhead at somewhere between 115 and 130 years old.
While this whale is an amazing find because of the rarity of whales this age, it is widely believed that some of the oldest bowhead whales live to be to nearly 200 years old.
This year’s hunt revealed something absolutely amazing.
A 50-ton bowhead whale caught off the Alaskan coast had a 3 1/2 inch arrow-shaped projectile under its blubber that researchers dated back to 1890 through old manufacturing records.
These researchers believe that the arrow-shaped projectile was a bomb-lance cylinder used in whaling around 1890, and matches a similar find from a whale hunted in 1980.
Researchers place this bowhead at somewhere between 115 and 130 years old.
While this whale is an amazing find because of the rarity of whales this age, it is widely believed that some of the oldest bowhead whales live to be to nearly 200 years old.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
We Didn't Need To Find Nemo...
The orange and white clownfish star of the hit cartoon movie “Finding Nemo” really is able to find his own way home after spending months at sea, an Australian-led team of international researchers said on Friday.
“When they are out in the open water they are actually quite sophisticated. They can swim well, they can smell, they can see, they can hear well, and they use a whole suite of senses,” joint team leader Glenn Almany told Reuters.
Studying a tiny coral reef in Papua New Guinea, the researchers found 60 percent of baby clownfish find their way back to their home reef - only 1,000 feet wide - after being swept into the open ocean at birth.
The fish were identified using a world-first tagging method in which adult clownfish and butterflyfish were injected with a harmless barium isotope which they then passed on to their offspring, allowing identification of their juveniles.
The finding, announced in the international journal Science, will help researchers understand the extent to which young fish return to their home area or go off to interbreed with more distant populations.
That in turn could help determine which populations needed protection or better management for sustainable fishing.
Almany said the team still had no idea how the clownfish knew which reef they came from, or how far they travelled in open sea during a journey lasting around 11 days.
“How they actually determine whether that reef is home or not is anyone’s guess, but as an educated guess I would say that there might be some sort of chemical imprinting going on when they are born,” he said.
The team of Australian, French and U.S. scientists, working out of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at Queensland’s James Cook University, planned follow up studies in Australia with larger fish species.
“When they are out in the open water they are actually quite sophisticated. They can swim well, they can smell, they can see, they can hear well, and they use a whole suite of senses,” joint team leader Glenn Almany told Reuters.
Studying a tiny coral reef in Papua New Guinea, the researchers found 60 percent of baby clownfish find their way back to their home reef - only 1,000 feet wide - after being swept into the open ocean at birth.
The fish were identified using a world-first tagging method in which adult clownfish and butterflyfish were injected with a harmless barium isotope which they then passed on to their offspring, allowing identification of their juveniles.
The finding, announced in the international journal Science, will help researchers understand the extent to which young fish return to their home area or go off to interbreed with more distant populations.
That in turn could help determine which populations needed protection or better management for sustainable fishing.
Almany said the team still had no idea how the clownfish knew which reef they came from, or how far they travelled in open sea during a journey lasting around 11 days.
“How they actually determine whether that reef is home or not is anyone’s guess, but as an educated guess I would say that there might be some sort of chemical imprinting going on when they are born,” he said.
The team of Australian, French and U.S. scientists, working out of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at Queensland’s James Cook University, planned follow up studies in Australia with larger fish species.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Tallest Man Saves Dolphins
The long arms of the world’s tallest man reached in and saved two dolphins by pulling out plastic from their stomachs.
The dolphins got sick after nibbling on plastic from the edge of their pool at an aquarium in Liaoning province, China.
Attempts to use surgical instruments to remove the plastic failed because the dolphins’ stomachs contracted in response to the instruments, the China Daily newspaper reported.
Veterinarians then decided to ask for help from Bao Xishun, a 7-foot-9 herdsman from Inner Mongolia with 41.7-inch arms, state media said. Bao, 54, was confirmed last year by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s tallest living man.
Chen Lujun, the manager of the Royal Jidi Ocean World Aquarium, told The Associated Press that the shape of the dolphins’ stomachs made it difficult to push an instrument very far in without hurting the animals.
People with shorter arms could not reach the plastic, he said. When we failed to get the objects out we sought the help of Bao Xishun from Inner Mongolia and he did it successfully yesterday,” Chen said. “The two dolphins are in very good condition now.”
Photographs showed the jaws of one of the dolphins being held back by towels so Bao could reach inside the animal without being bitten.
“Some very small plastic pieces are still left in the dolphins’ stomachs,” Zhu Xiaoling, a local doctor, told Xinhua. “However the dolphins will be able to digest these and are expected to recover soon.”
The dolphins got sick after nibbling on plastic from the edge of their pool at an aquarium in Liaoning province, China.
Attempts to use surgical instruments to remove the plastic failed because the dolphins’ stomachs contracted in response to the instruments, the China Daily newspaper reported.
Veterinarians then decided to ask for help from Bao Xishun, a 7-foot-9 herdsman from Inner Mongolia with 41.7-inch arms, state media said. Bao, 54, was confirmed last year by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s tallest living man.
Chen Lujun, the manager of the Royal Jidi Ocean World Aquarium, told The Associated Press that the shape of the dolphins’ stomachs made it difficult to push an instrument very far in without hurting the animals.
People with shorter arms could not reach the plastic, he said. When we failed to get the objects out we sought the help of Bao Xishun from Inner Mongolia and he did it successfully yesterday,” Chen said. “The two dolphins are in very good condition now.”
Photographs showed the jaws of one of the dolphins being held back by towels so Bao could reach inside the animal without being bitten.
“Some very small plastic pieces are still left in the dolphins’ stomachs,” Zhu Xiaoling, a local doctor, told Xinhua. “However the dolphins will be able to digest these and are expected to recover soon.”
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