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gregladen | March 23, 2011
Please do not send money (as is requested) unless this is verified. What do you know about this?
gregladen | March 23, 2011Zoos are open to the public about half of the hours on a given day (or more) and for about half the time there are easily enough people in a zoo to be observing about half the animals. (If you don't like these estimates substitute your own!)
This means that an animal on display at a zoo is under public observation about 25% of the time. Since all of them eventually die, and there are lots of zoos, there should be an animal passing to the great beyond before the eyes of visitors at least a few times a year, yet we never hear of that happening.
I can think of three reasons for this, two…
gregladen | March 23, 2011She was a major film (and stage) actress of my parent's generation. She was the ultimate "leading lady" and as such often played across her sometimes husband, classic "leading man" Richard Burton. She is famous for having been married and divorced more times than anyone else ever (an exaggeration), but more importantly she's famous for having starred in a number of classic and defining roles.
Che was a child star (Lassie Come Home, Jayne Eyre, National Velvet, etc.) and played a diversity of roles as an adult. Her classic performance in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? won her an academy…
hrynyshyn | March 23, 2011I'm almost weary of blogging about nuclear power. But others are still going strong. Take the Globe and Mail's Doug Saunders, who writes this week that we shouldn't even think of abandoning the technology. Such enthusiasm is particularly curious because he glosses over the Achilles heel of nukes -- the cost -- and Canada has one of the most expensive varieties of nuclear reactors around.
I can only assume that Saunders hasn't done enough research, because if he had he would never come to conclusions such as this:
It may be possible in Europe and North America to talk about reducing consumer…
gregladen | March 22, 2011Julia always lets me be Indy. But I have a feeling she's not going to let me be Jack.
gregladen | March 22, 2011In one of the poorest countries in the world, ranking last in the Human Development Index of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), where more than 40% of children are underweight for their age, water and access to improved water sources is scarce and almost three quarters of the population are illiterate, the French nuclear giant AREVA extracts precious--and deadly--natural resources, earning billions for its Fortune 5002 corporation, and leaving little behind but centuries of environmental pollution and health risks for the citizens of Niger.
From this (PDF) report.
gregladen | March 22, 2011From communities demanding more wind turbines to a Government-backed plan to spread income from renewables to surrounding residents, we've seen a lot of stories lately about harnessing renewables not just to create clean energy, but to also build wealth in our communities. Yet the idea is not new--and I've just come across a great video profiling a pioneering example of cooperative, community-based renewable energy. If only there were more like it.
Source.
And here's the video:
gregladen | March 22, 2011Ana's Feed Starting March 21 3PM
Radioactive iodine 126.7 times higher detected in seawater near nuke plant - kyodo news
Radioactive cesium 24.8 times higher detected in seawater near nuke plant - kyodo news
Too early to assess contaminated seawater's impact on fishery product: TEPCO - kyodo news
Gov't orders 4 prefectures to suspend some food shipments
Tidbits from NHK's morning broadcast:
Spraying of reactor buildings and restoration of power remain suspended - all workers remain evacuated form the area
Grey smoke from reactor no.3 and white vapor from no.2 are being investigated - both…
gregladen | March 22, 2011It is not yet certain, but preliminary tests indicate no change in any of Knut's organs other than his brain. Further tests, including those for an infection, are being performed. I'll update this post when I hear more.
gregladen | March 22, 2011Huh?
Ooops, auto-correct turned my well consolidated and carefully composted text menage into crush!
NPR points out this great site called Damn You Auto Correct Dot Com.
Visor Dam You Autocrat!
gregladen | March 21, 2011The Red River in Minnesota flows backwards in its channel, in a northerly direction. Its course is backwards not because it's going north (many people in America do think that rivers flow south), but rather, because its channel is part of a larger channel that historically carried more water than any other river on this planet has ever carried. This was the Warren River, which emptied Lake Agassiz (the largest fresh water lake ever) via the Red River Valley, then on to the Minnesota River Valley, then to the Mighty Mississippi. Much mightier then.
Now, the Red River flows north into Lake…
gregladen | March 21, 2011I just wanted to let you know about two recent on line items concerning my fellow blogger DN Lee:
Henrietta Lacks Gave You Life: Black woman who died of cancer helped advance cell culture and develop drug treatments.
By: Dr. Danielle N. Lee
Black folks gave America (and the world) gospel music, blues, jazz, hip-hop, and oh yeah, cell culture. You're thinking: "I know all about gospel music, blues, jazz, and hip-hop; but what's cell culture?"
Cell culture is the scientific procedure of growing living animal cells outside of the body, in test tubes and petri dishes....
Read the rest here.…
gregladen | March 21, 2011The Friend of Darwin Award, also known as the Chucky, honors NCSE members for outstanding effort to support NCSE and its goals. Here's what it looks like.
And this year's award goes to ....
Niles Eldredge!!! Congratulations Niles.
From the NCSE:
Niles Eldredge has been making the case for evolution--explaining, defending, and expanding the scientific account of the history of life--for over 40 years.
A breakthrough researcher who formulated the idea of punctuated equilibria with Stephen Jay Gould, Eldredge has been an evolution advocate and communicator without peer. Eldredge has…
gregladen | March 21, 2011Former USGS geologist Jim Berkland links tides, whale beaching, magnetic fields, lunar cycles, earthquakes, and stuff to predict that there will be a major earthquake on the North American west coast between March 19th and March 26th.
The following video is rather mixed up but it will amuse you:
Obviously Jim Berkland is a kook. Probably.
Unless, of course, his prediction comes true. Then, I'll look at his tide - magnetic field - homing pigeon connection more closely.
gregladen | March 21, 2011Live and unplugged version. Send this to your governor and state reps wherever you live.
cwilcox | March 20, 2011National Geographic has chosen two noble causes for this year's Expedition Granted. The one who wins will get $10,000 to help fight for the cause they are most passionate about. This is what Nat Geo has to say about the contestants:
For Dash, that means saving the population of monk seals from extinction. Today, less than 1 in 5 monk seal pups survive to adulthood. Despite this decline, there is one small population of monk seals in the Main Hawaiian Island that is thriving. Dash hopes to fully understand what has allowed this particular population of monk seals to succeed, and how this…
gregladen | March 20, 2011See Paul. I won't tell you why, but I will tell you this: Drive out of your way if you need to in order to see the film at a theater that will be filled mainly with very Christian Christians. Then, as you watch the movie, pay attention to the audience.
You'll love the movie, and you'll love the audience ... reaction. Trust me on this.
gregladen | March 20, 2011This is the time of year the Red River floods (or not). This is an item that appeared on Quiche Moraine last year during flood season:
A Simple Assignment
Red River Flood
Mike Haubrich
This was a simple assignment, really. Drive to Lakeville, examine a car for flood damage and send an estimate to the insurance company. It was a car that had been transported from East Grand Forks, Minnesota to Lakeville. It was owned by a married couple with two kids, people evacuated when the Red River crested nearly five feet higher than estimated and swamped the entire city of East Grand Forks. People…
gregladen | March 20, 2011Some time ago we had a party in Minneapolis to celebrate the one millionth's comment on Scienceblogs. Finally, I've uploaded the video taken at that party, at the Black Forest Inn.