7 killed in Tibet's 'worst snowstorm'
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- At least seven people have been found dead after "the worst snowstorm on record in Tibet," China's state-run news agency reported Friday.
About 1,350 people were rescued in Lhunze County -- another 300 were trapped -- after nearly five feet (1.5 meters) of snow blanketed much of Tibet this week.
The storm caused buildings to collapse, blocked roads and killed about 144,000 head of cattle, the state-run China Daily newspaper reported.
The seven people who died either froze to death or were killed as a result of collapsing buildings, and one person is still missing, China Daily said
Friday, October 31, 2008
More proof that evolution is a fraud.
"Living Fossils" in New Zealand, or simply another creature that withstood the Deluge.
Living fossil found on New Zealand mainland
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- A rare reptile with lineage dating back to the dinosaur age has been found nesting on the New Zealand mainland for the first time in about 200 years, officials said Friday.
An adult tuatara lizard is seen basking on a tree stump at the Karori Sanctuary in Wellington, New Zealand.
Four leathery, white eggs from an indigenous tuatara were found by staff at the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in the capital, Wellington, during routine maintenance work Friday, conservation manager Rouen Epson said.
"The nest was uncovered by accident and is the first concrete proof we have that our tuatara are breeding," Epson said. "It suggests that there may be other nests in the sanctuary we don't know of."
Tuatara, dragon-like reptiles that grow to up to 32 inches (80 centimeters), are the last descendants of a species that walked the earth with the dinosaurs 225 million years ago, zoologists say.
They have unique characteristics, such as two rows of top teeth closing over one row at the bottom. They also have a pronounced parietal eye, a light-sensitive pineal gland on the top of the skull. This white patch of skin -- called its "third eye" -- slowly disappears as they mature.
A species native to New Zealand, tuatara were nearly extinct on the country's three main islands by the late 1700s due to the introduction of predators such as rats. They still live in the wild on 32 small offshore islands cleared of predators.
A population of 70 tuatara was established at the Karori Sanctuary in 2005. Another 130 were released in the sanctuary in 2007.
Don't Miss
Special: Planet in Peril
The sanctuary, a 620-acre (250-hectare) wilderness minutes from downtown Wellington, was established to breed native birds, insects and other creatures securely behind a predator-proof fence.
Empson said that the four eggs -- the size of ping pong balls -- were unearthed Friday but that there were likely more because the average nest contains around ten eggs.
The eggs were immediately covered up again to avoid disturbing incubation.
If all goes well, juvenile tuatara could hatch any time between now and March, she said.
Living fossil found on New Zealand mainland
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- A rare reptile with lineage dating back to the dinosaur age has been found nesting on the New Zealand mainland for the first time in about 200 years, officials said Friday.
An adult tuatara lizard is seen basking on a tree stump at the Karori Sanctuary in Wellington, New Zealand.
Four leathery, white eggs from an indigenous tuatara were found by staff at the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in the capital, Wellington, during routine maintenance work Friday, conservation manager Rouen Epson said.
"The nest was uncovered by accident and is the first concrete proof we have that our tuatara are breeding," Epson said. "It suggests that there may be other nests in the sanctuary we don't know of."
Tuatara, dragon-like reptiles that grow to up to 32 inches (80 centimeters), are the last descendants of a species that walked the earth with the dinosaurs 225 million years ago, zoologists say.
They have unique characteristics, such as two rows of top teeth closing over one row at the bottom. They also have a pronounced parietal eye, a light-sensitive pineal gland on the top of the skull. This white patch of skin -- called its "third eye" -- slowly disappears as they mature.
A species native to New Zealand, tuatara were nearly extinct on the country's three main islands by the late 1700s due to the introduction of predators such as rats. They still live in the wild on 32 small offshore islands cleared of predators.
A population of 70 tuatara was established at the Karori Sanctuary in 2005. Another 130 were released in the sanctuary in 2007.
Don't Miss
Special: Planet in Peril
The sanctuary, a 620-acre (250-hectare) wilderness minutes from downtown Wellington, was established to breed native birds, insects and other creatures securely behind a predator-proof fence.
Empson said that the four eggs -- the size of ping pong balls -- were unearthed Friday but that there were likely more because the average nest contains around ten eggs.
The eggs were immediately covered up again to avoid disturbing incubation.
If all goes well, juvenile tuatara could hatch any time between now and March, she said.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Holy Dancing Dinosaurs!
'Dino Dance Floor' Found In Ariz.
Site Has 1,000+ Dinosaur Tracks, Professor Says
PAGE, Ariz. -- University of Utah geologists said they have discovered prehistoric animal tracks on the Arizona-Utah border so densely packed they're calling it a "dinosaur dance floor."
The three-quarter-acre site is in Arizona in the Coyote Buttes North area of the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness.
Estimated to be 190 million years old, the site has more than 1,000 and perhaps thousands of dinosaur tracks, averaging a dozen per square yard in places, said Marjorie Chan, professor and chair of geology and geophysics at the University of Utah.
The site is so dense with dinosaur tracks that geologists said it reminds them of a popular arcade game in which participants dance on illuminated, moving footprints.
"It was a place that attracted a crowd, kind of like a dance floor," Chan said.
A study identifying the dinosaur track site was published in the October issue of the international paleontology journal Palaios. Chan is senior author of the study, which was conducted for a master's degree thesis by former graduate student Winston Seiler.
The range of track shapes and sizes reveals at least four dinosaur species gathered at the watering hole, with the animals ranging from adults to youngsters, Seiler said.
"The different size tracks, 1 inch to 20 inches long, may tell us that we are seeing mothers walking around with babies," he said.
The new study is the first scientific publication to identify the impressions as dinosaur footprints on a trample surface, Chan said.
Numerous dinosaur track sites have been found in the western United States, including more than 60 in Navajo Sandstone, where actual dinosaur bones are rare.
"Unlike other trackways that may have several to dozens of footprint impressions, this particular surface has more than 1,000," Seiler and Chan wrote. And they said the density of tracks is much greater than it is at even larger track sites, such as the one at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park in Utah.
The 2.4-inch-wide tail-drag marks, which are up to 24 feet long, are a special discovery because there are fewer than a dozen dinosaur tail-drag sites worldwide, Seiler said. Four tail drags were within the 10 plots he surveyed, and there are others nearby.
"Dinosaurs usually weren't walking around with their tails dragging," Seiler said.
Seiler said he first saw the site in 2006. "At first glance, they look like weathering pits -- a field of odd potholes," he said. "But within about five minutes of wandering around, I realized these were dinosaur footprints."
When the footprints were made 190 million years ago, "the continents were arranged so this area was in the tropics" and was part of the supercontinent named Pangaea, Seiler said. "It was a desert, like the Sahara but much larger than the Sahara is today, covering much of Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada," he said.
Seiler said he envisions the dinosaurs were "happy to be at this place, having wandered up and down many a sand dune, exhausted from the heat and the blowing sand, relieved and happy to come to a place where there was water."
The trample surface "helps paint a picture of what it was like to live back then," he said. "Tracks tell us what the dinosaurs were doing, what their behavior was, what life was like for them, what they did on a day-to-day basis."
After the dinosaurs left their prints, the trample surface was covered by shifting dunes, which eventually became Navajo Sandstone. Then, the rock slowly eroded away, exposing the tracks. The tracks eventually will erode, too, Seiler said
Posted by GSL
Site Has 1,000+ Dinosaur Tracks, Professor Says
PAGE, Ariz. -- University of Utah geologists said they have discovered prehistoric animal tracks on the Arizona-Utah border so densely packed they're calling it a "dinosaur dance floor."
The three-quarter-acre site is in Arizona in the Coyote Buttes North area of the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness.
Estimated to be 190 million years old, the site has more than 1,000 and perhaps thousands of dinosaur tracks, averaging a dozen per square yard in places, said Marjorie Chan, professor and chair of geology and geophysics at the University of Utah.
The site is so dense with dinosaur tracks that geologists said it reminds them of a popular arcade game in which participants dance on illuminated, moving footprints.
"It was a place that attracted a crowd, kind of like a dance floor," Chan said.
A study identifying the dinosaur track site was published in the October issue of the international paleontology journal Palaios. Chan is senior author of the study, which was conducted for a master's degree thesis by former graduate student Winston Seiler.
The range of track shapes and sizes reveals at least four dinosaur species gathered at the watering hole, with the animals ranging from adults to youngsters, Seiler said.
"The different size tracks, 1 inch to 20 inches long, may tell us that we are seeing mothers walking around with babies," he said.
The new study is the first scientific publication to identify the impressions as dinosaur footprints on a trample surface, Chan said.
Numerous dinosaur track sites have been found in the western United States, including more than 60 in Navajo Sandstone, where actual dinosaur bones are rare.
"Unlike other trackways that may have several to dozens of footprint impressions, this particular surface has more than 1,000," Seiler and Chan wrote. And they said the density of tracks is much greater than it is at even larger track sites, such as the one at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park in Utah.
The 2.4-inch-wide tail-drag marks, which are up to 24 feet long, are a special discovery because there are fewer than a dozen dinosaur tail-drag sites worldwide, Seiler said. Four tail drags were within the 10 plots he surveyed, and there are others nearby.
"Dinosaurs usually weren't walking around with their tails dragging," Seiler said.
Seiler said he first saw the site in 2006. "At first glance, they look like weathering pits -- a field of odd potholes," he said. "But within about five minutes of wandering around, I realized these were dinosaur footprints."
When the footprints were made 190 million years ago, "the continents were arranged so this area was in the tropics" and was part of the supercontinent named Pangaea, Seiler said. "It was a desert, like the Sahara but much larger than the Sahara is today, covering much of Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada," he said.
Seiler said he envisions the dinosaurs were "happy to be at this place, having wandered up and down many a sand dune, exhausted from the heat and the blowing sand, relieved and happy to come to a place where there was water."
The trample surface "helps paint a picture of what it was like to live back then," he said. "Tracks tell us what the dinosaurs were doing, what their behavior was, what life was like for them, what they did on a day-to-day basis."
After the dinosaurs left their prints, the trample surface was covered by shifting dunes, which eventually became Navajo Sandstone. Then, the rock slowly eroded away, exposing the tracks. The tracks eventually will erode, too, Seiler said
Posted by GSL
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Very Cool "Historic" Meteor Visible From Cyprus
Hello Science Fans,
I received an astronomy alert the other night that an asteroid the size of a mini-van would become a metor somewhere over Egpyt, and would probably be visible from Cyprus. I got up at the un-Godly hour of 3:30 AM to look for the event. It was a crystal clear night in Cyprus, which it is about 300 nights a year, and Orion was high in the SE. At approximately 5:46 local time the metor appeared on schedule. This was the historic part. Never has an impact with Earth's atmosphere of a specific asteroid been forecast. This one flared as an extremely bright "bolide" as it streaked across the sky. It was at least as bright as the full-moon, but in a much smaller area. It left the tell-tal ion-trail across the sky long after the bright streak, but none of the mysterious sounds of bolides was heard by this observer in Cyprus. Happy star-gazing all.
GSL
I received an astronomy alert the other night that an asteroid the size of a mini-van would become a metor somewhere over Egpyt, and would probably be visible from Cyprus. I got up at the un-Godly hour of 3:30 AM to look for the event. It was a crystal clear night in Cyprus, which it is about 300 nights a year, and Orion was high in the SE. At approximately 5:46 local time the metor appeared on schedule. This was the historic part. Never has an impact with Earth's atmosphere of a specific asteroid been forecast. This one flared as an extremely bright "bolide" as it streaked across the sky. It was at least as bright as the full-moon, but in a much smaller area. It left the tell-tal ion-trail across the sky long after the bright streak, but none of the mysterious sounds of bolides was heard by this observer in Cyprus. Happy star-gazing all.
GSL
Friday, October 3, 2008
Very interesting interview with "Godfather" of sea-water aquacultre, on LAND!
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Atmospheric physicist Carl Hodges founded the Seawater Foundation in 1977 in an attempt to alleviate some of the world's most complex ecological problems. Hodges' unique approach draws seawater inland, irrigating otherwise barren coastal desert regions and turning them green.
Carl Hodges, founder of the Seawater Foundation.
The results are spectacular, with seawater-tolerant plants (including the biofuel crop salicornia) providing a new home for wildlife as well as creating food, jobs and prosperity for previously poverty-stricken areas. In Eritrea, Africa, the Seawater Foundation has created the world's first integrated sea farm for shrimp, fish and halophytes covering over 1000 hectares.
Principal Voices spoke to Hodges on the site of his latest project on the Mexico coast.
CNN: Give us a sense of the Seawater Foundation's mission.
Carl Hodges: Well, 30 years ago, we began to use seawater for agriculture and to create wealth and jobs. And I thought there were additional things that maybe business wouldn't necessarily include. So we thought we needed a partnership between a very socially orientated organization and a classical business -- they both needed to move towards one another a little bit. And that we would have a partnership that would actually address the kind of global problems that you see here [in Mexico].
CNN: Can you explain how you go about making man-made rivers?
CH: Well, you cut a channel. Except you cut it as a river. For example, in Brownsville, Texas, they have a sea channel that's a port. It comes inland 33 kilometers and ships come in. We made that with big dredging machines. You cut a channel, but you call it a river, because it doesn't go on to a dead end. Instead the water goes in, and it arrogates things. When you stand at the mouth of it, you feel exactly like you would at the mouth of a river. Except you look down and the water is going in and not coming back. It goes in to produce animals, shrimp and fish, and then with their excrement involved, it arrogates trees that turn into forests. The forests have meadows of crop that provide food and fuel. And beauty. I think that's an important value.
CNN: How can the sea save us from climate change?
CH: Well, the sea presents a problem because the sea levels are coming up. But it's also an opportunity. By bringing that rising sea water onto the land we can arrogate agriculture. A new form of agriculture. Greenery will take carbon out of the air -- we have to take some out -- because we're putting too much in. And it will produce a biofuel that doesn't put any carbon in.
The problem sort of pushes us to a solution. We've either got to build sea walls, or we've got to move tens of millions of people away from the edge of the sea. But instead of that -- instead of cost -- we invest money in these new production systems, creating jobs, creating wealth, and taking big steps in solving global warming.
CNN: At the heart of your vision for the agriculture is a plant called salicornia. Tell us about that.
CH: It's an amazing plant. When we first started looking for plants, we looked at over 700 in some detail, and we listed them. And the only reason we had salicornia was that it was pretty.
A young lady was counting the seed, and she wiped her fingernails on a paper towel and she noticed that the towel looked oily. And she was right. It has about 30-40% very high quality vegetable oil. And so we said: 'My God, it's an oil seed crop'. It's like soy bean.
And so out of the 700 we picked 20, then we picked three, and one of the three was salicornia. And now it's the star.
Salicornia produces a high quality vegetable oil on sea water. On land it's not competitive for food production. It produces at a rate that is probably one of the most economical biofuels on the planet. We suggested it as a bio fuel in 1982. And in 1993 we actually ran a vehicle on salicornia oil and wrote a paper where I said it will be bio fuel of the future.
CNN: What do you envisage will happen with these seawater projects in the future?
CH: I see sea water rivers around the world. Right now we're looking at 34 countries where we could have 50 rivers of the scale we've been looking at in Mexico and bigger. And they would come inland and they would arrogate a quantity of desert coast in an ecologically sound fashion. It would be on a scale that takes so much water inland that it would stop sea level rises in about ten years.
The world would continue to build more of these over the next 40, 50, 60 years. Not only would we catch up with stopping sea level rise, we would also be making a significant contribution to taking enough carbon out of the air. With efficient systems, transportation and power plants, we'd stop global warming.
CNN: What did you learn from the sea farm venture you set up in Eritrea in 1999?
CH: In my 50 years of science, my four and a half years in Eritrea were the most rewarding. I loved every minute of it. The thing I learned that was most strong was what people really need is purpose and hope...and the sea. People -- I mean women and children -- would come to work at night, singing, carrying rocks on their head -- at their initiative -- to finish a pond, so that they and I would be pleased that it was done. I used to go to work in the morning and just damn near cry. I loved the people, I loved the project, and the world will look back upon that one day as one of the really significant projects.
CNN: What is your view on how the governments of the world's richest nations are tackling the issue of climate change?
CH: Well, I'm embarrassed by the U.S. administration for the last eight years. I don't think they're bad people. I just think that they wish it were different. They weren't prepared to address it. I think there's leadership in these issues in Europe. And I think that there is hope in both Presidential candidates, Democratic and Republican.
CNN: This is a big vision. Just how realistic is your solution?
CH: I think 100%. I think there's a lot of very good people. Scientists, businessmen, people working night and day here that are convinced that it will happen. And we have lots of experience. This is not an overnight idea because the seas are coming up. We started sea water agriculture. We started trying to de-salt the oceans in the 60s with solar systems,, and realized that we'd be much better off to make the deserts green. We'd be much better off trying to get plants that are already out there in the estuaries of the world, and domesticate them, get products out of them and grow what are called halophytes - plants that tolerate and enjoy sea water. And that's what we've done.
Carl Hodges, founder of the Seawater Foundation.
The results are spectacular, with seawater-tolerant plants (including the biofuel crop salicornia) providing a new home for wildlife as well as creating food, jobs and prosperity for previously poverty-stricken areas. In Eritrea, Africa, the Seawater Foundation has created the world's first integrated sea farm for shrimp, fish and halophytes covering over 1000 hectares.
Principal Voices spoke to Hodges on the site of his latest project on the Mexico coast.
CNN: Give us a sense of the Seawater Foundation's mission.
Carl Hodges: Well, 30 years ago, we began to use seawater for agriculture and to create wealth and jobs. And I thought there were additional things that maybe business wouldn't necessarily include. So we thought we needed a partnership between a very socially orientated organization and a classical business -- they both needed to move towards one another a little bit. And that we would have a partnership that would actually address the kind of global problems that you see here [in Mexico].
CNN: Can you explain how you go about making man-made rivers?
CH: Well, you cut a channel. Except you cut it as a river. For example, in Brownsville, Texas, they have a sea channel that's a port. It comes inland 33 kilometers and ships come in. We made that with big dredging machines. You cut a channel, but you call it a river, because it doesn't go on to a dead end. Instead the water goes in, and it arrogates things. When you stand at the mouth of it, you feel exactly like you would at the mouth of a river. Except you look down and the water is going in and not coming back. It goes in to produce animals, shrimp and fish, and then with their excrement involved, it arrogates trees that turn into forests. The forests have meadows of crop that provide food and fuel. And beauty. I think that's an important value.
CNN: How can the sea save us from climate change?
CH: Well, the sea presents a problem because the sea levels are coming up. But it's also an opportunity. By bringing that rising sea water onto the land we can arrogate agriculture. A new form of agriculture. Greenery will take carbon out of the air -- we have to take some out -- because we're putting too much in. And it will produce a biofuel that doesn't put any carbon in.
The problem sort of pushes us to a solution. We've either got to build sea walls, or we've got to move tens of millions of people away from the edge of the sea. But instead of that -- instead of cost -- we invest money in these new production systems, creating jobs, creating wealth, and taking big steps in solving global warming.
CNN: At the heart of your vision for the agriculture is a plant called salicornia. Tell us about that.
CH: It's an amazing plant. When we first started looking for plants, we looked at over 700 in some detail, and we listed them. And the only reason we had salicornia was that it was pretty.
A young lady was counting the seed, and she wiped her fingernails on a paper towel and she noticed that the towel looked oily. And she was right. It has about 30-40% very high quality vegetable oil. And so we said: 'My God, it's an oil seed crop'. It's like soy bean.
And so out of the 700 we picked 20, then we picked three, and one of the three was salicornia. And now it's the star.
Salicornia produces a high quality vegetable oil on sea water. On land it's not competitive for food production. It produces at a rate that is probably one of the most economical biofuels on the planet. We suggested it as a bio fuel in 1982. And in 1993 we actually ran a vehicle on salicornia oil and wrote a paper where I said it will be bio fuel of the future.
CNN: What do you envisage will happen with these seawater projects in the future?
CH: I see sea water rivers around the world. Right now we're looking at 34 countries where we could have 50 rivers of the scale we've been looking at in Mexico and bigger. And they would come inland and they would arrogate a quantity of desert coast in an ecologically sound fashion. It would be on a scale that takes so much water inland that it would stop sea level rises in about ten years.
The world would continue to build more of these over the next 40, 50, 60 years. Not only would we catch up with stopping sea level rise, we would also be making a significant contribution to taking enough carbon out of the air. With efficient systems, transportation and power plants, we'd stop global warming.
CNN: What did you learn from the sea farm venture you set up in Eritrea in 1999?
CH: In my 50 years of science, my four and a half years in Eritrea were the most rewarding. I loved every minute of it. The thing I learned that was most strong was what people really need is purpose and hope...and the sea. People -- I mean women and children -- would come to work at night, singing, carrying rocks on their head -- at their initiative -- to finish a pond, so that they and I would be pleased that it was done. I used to go to work in the morning and just damn near cry. I loved the people, I loved the project, and the world will look back upon that one day as one of the really significant projects.
CNN: What is your view on how the governments of the world's richest nations are tackling the issue of climate change?
CH: Well, I'm embarrassed by the U.S. administration for the last eight years. I don't think they're bad people. I just think that they wish it were different. They weren't prepared to address it. I think there's leadership in these issues in Europe. And I think that there is hope in both Presidential candidates, Democratic and Republican.
CNN: This is a big vision. Just how realistic is your solution?
CH: I think 100%. I think there's a lot of very good people. Scientists, businessmen, people working night and day here that are convinced that it will happen. And we have lots of experience. This is not an overnight idea because the seas are coming up. We started sea water agriculture. We started trying to de-salt the oceans in the 60s with solar systems,, and realized that we'd be much better off to make the deserts green. We'd be much better off trying to get plants that are already out there in the estuaries of the world, and domesticate them, get products out of them and grow what are called halophytes - plants that tolerate and enjoy sea water. And that's what we've done.
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