http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/ en Sat, 04 Sep 2010 22:35:59 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/images/newyear/misc/rss.jpg http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/ http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6141&goto=newpost Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:31:06 GMT *Orcas, commonly known as killer whales, are still evolving, and quickly. Researchers have discovered that two distinct types of orca, a large and... Orcas, commonly known as killer whales, are still evolving, and quickly.

Researchers have discovered that two distinct types of orca, a large and a pygmy form, are rapidly diverging, evolving away from each other.

The scientists' study reveals each type of orca carries a unique gene mutation that benefits its particular lifestyle.

The genetic change has occurred in the past 150,000 years, adding to evidence that the orcas are quickly evolving into two distinct species.

Details of the research are published in the journal Biology Letters by an international team of scientists led by orca expert Dr Andrew Foote of the Natural History Museum of Denmark based at the University of Copenhagen.

Energetic lifestyles

The orcas studied live in Antarctic waters, and are known as type B and type C orcas.

Type Bs are one of the largest forms of orca known and primarily feed on seals.

Type Cs, in contrast, are known as a dwarf-form of orca, and feed mainly on fish.

These differences in size and diet, as well as each type having distinct markings, has led Dr Foote and colleagues to previously propose that they could be two separate species.

Genetic evidence now backs that idea.

Dr Foote and his team analysed the mitochondrial genomes of 15 type B and 36 type C orcas, specifically looking at a gene known as cytochrome B, a gene that plays a significant role in the orca's mitochondria, the structures within cells that govern energy production and metabolism.

They found that type B and type C orcas have evolved different amino acids within this gene, that affect its performance

All type B orcas have replaced one type of amino acid with another at a place on the gene known as site 279, and type Cs had replaced another amino acid at site 193.

"The mutation has spread throughout each type, so that all type B individuals we analysed the DNA for had the mutation and almost all of the type C individuals had the other mutation," says Dr Foote.

He explains how this mutation could be benefiting each type of orca.

"The gene under selection is important in producing energy for the body's cells, and so the mutations are probably linked to the metabolic requirements of these two types.

"Both types live in the Antarctic pack ice and therefore the low temperature of this habitat could be one selective pressure.

But the two mutations should have the opposite effect on metabolism to one another suggesting divergent evolution."

For example, type C is a dwarf killer whale morph reaching lengths of just over 6m, whereas type B is one of the largest killer whale morphs, being up to 50% larger than type C.

"So body size could also be the selective force on the gene linked to metabolism," Dr Foote told the BBC.

Neither mutation can be found in what is thought to be the mitochondrial genome of the orcas' recent ancestor.

That suggests the natural selection has fixed these mutations very quickly, and they appeared since type B and type C orcas diverged from their most recent common ancestor 150,000 years ago.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth...00/8959574.stm ]]> Our Enviroment and Your Journeys. coloradocowgirl http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6141 http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6138&goto=newpost Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:01:48 GMT *An ancient reef found in the Pacific may provide clues to what will happen to coral when sea temperatures rise. A team of researchers from... An ancient reef found in the Pacific may provide clues to what will happen to coral when sea temperatures rise.

A team of researchers from Australia and New Zealand have discovered a huge 9,000-year-old reef surprisingly far south.

Lord Howe Island is 600km east of the Australian mainland and has a small modern coral reef - the furthest south in the world.

The ancient reef however is nearly 30 times as large as the modern reef.

The scientists, headed by Colin Woodroffe from the University of Wollongong in Australia and researchers from Geoscience Australia, discovered a large ridge about 30m under water in the Tasman Sea.

They have published their work in Geophysical Research Letters.

The team suspected it might be an ancient reef. The size and shape of the ridge can be mapped using a type of sonar called multi-beam echo sounding. The researchers could not be sure it was coral until they had taken samples.

Drilling for samples in the Tasman Sea is very dependent on weather and the seas can be rough - it involves lowering a submersible drill from a boat.

The samples confirmed that it was indeed coral and radiocarbon dating confirmed its age.

Other similar ancient reefs - called relict reefs - have been discovered before, but none as far south as this.

The team think that this reef died when it was flooded as a result of sea levels rising about 7,000 years ago, but the modern temperature at these latitudes also limits coral growth, which is why the relict reef is so much bigger than the modern reef.

Now that sea temperatures are rising, however, reefs may start to grow bigger at higher latitudes.

The relict reef doesn't have an extensive modern reef attached to it but it does have some individual corals which are newer - from the last 2,000 years.

This suggests that there is a suitable habitat for corals which might grow into a larger reef when temperatures rise further.

In the Northern Hemisphere both Florida and Bermuda have small reefs, though they are at the northern limits for coral life.

It is possible that large relict reefs might also be found in those northern waters. Like the Tasman Sea relict reef, these might be able to support new growth.

Rising sea temperatures are dangerous for coral reefs at hotter tropical latitudes but they may mean we see new reef growth at the far southern, and northern, limits of current reefs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11153193 ]]> Our Enviroment and Your Journeys. coloradocowgirl http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6138 http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6126&goto=newpost Wed, 01 Sep 2010 01:58:46 GMT COLUMBUS, Ohio — The bear that recently killed a caretaker in a Cleveland suburb was the latest example of animal violence in a state that has some... COLUMBUS, Ohio — The bear that recently killed a caretaker in a Cleveland suburb was the latest example of animal violence in a state that has some of the nation's weakest restrictions on exotic pets and among the highest number of injuries and deaths caused by them.

After a standoff between the Humane Society and agriculture interests, state officials are crafting restrictions on the ownership of dangerous wild pets. But the killer beast and others owned by former bear-wrestling entrepreneur Sam Mazzola, who was on probation at the time of the attack for illegally selling and transporting exotic animals, would have been grandfathered out of them.

"It's just a free-for-all in Ohio, and Sam Mazzola is just an example of that," said Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States. "Tigers, wolves, bears in a suburban Lorain County community: It is a disaster waiting to happen."

The death in Ohio and attacks elsewhere — including the maiming of a Connecticut woman by her friend's pet chimpanzee and a 2-year-old Florida girl squeezed to death by her family's python — highlight that the patchwork of federal, state and local laws on keeping dangerous wild animals at home has holes.

Mazzola had the proper state permit to keep the black bear, a species native to Ohio, on his property. He also kept wolves, tigers and a lion, something he was free to do because Ohio and at least four other states — Alabama, Idaho, Missouri and Montana — impose few or no restrictions on the ownership of non-native animals kept solely as pets, according to a review of state regulations by The Associated Press.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38933663/ns/us_news-life/ ]]> Our Enviroment and Your Journeys. coloradocowgirl http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6126 http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6118&goto=newpost Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:07:47 GMT HALIFAX - Hurricane Earl will likely affect weather in Atlantic Canada this weekend, but it's too early to predict its full impact, the Canadian Hurricane Centre said Tuesday.

Earl, a powerful Category 4 storm packing maximum sustained winds of 213 kilometres an hour, is on a track that most computer models suggest will take it along the U.S seaboard and into Atlantic Canada as early as Friday.

"There's still a great deal of uncertainty beyond a two-day time frame. The track scenarios range from Maine to Newfoundland," said Chris Fogarty, the centre's program supervisor.

Fogarty said the forecast they've issued represents an average of wide probabilities based on a number of scenarios.

"Statistical computer guidance gives a 30 to 40 per cent chance of a Category 1 hurricane making landfall in Nova Scotia and a 70 per cent chance of gale force winds."

Category 1 hurricanes pack winds of 119 km/h to 152 km/h.

Memories of hurricane Juan in September 2003 remain fresh in the minds of many Nova Scotians after the province took a direct hit.

Winds from Juan, a Category 2 storm, peaked at around 165 km/h. It killed eight people and according to the centre was the most powerful storm to hit Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island in more than a century.

While the centre says it's too early to predict Earl's strength when it reaches Canadian waters, it could bring heavy rains, strong winds and large waves.

Fogarty said they are keeping a close eye on water temperatures, which can fuel the storm.

"Water temperatures are significantly higher around here this year. They're running about three to four degrees above normal," he said. "They've been persistently warm along the Scotian shelf south of Nova Scotia."

The centre is urging the public to keep an eye on updated forecasts throughout the week.

Emergency organizations like the Red Cross are already putting teams and equipment in place to respond if needed.

The agency has disaster operations centres equipped with backup power and telecommunications equipment, response vehicles and trailers, as well as shelter supplies like blankets, cots and comfort kits.

Last year, the Atlantic region was hit by two hurricanes.

Hurricane Bill came into the region as a Category 1 stormin late August with strong winds and heavy rain, pushing a storm surge that measured almost a metre in Newfoundland's Placentia Bay.

Pounding surf washed out the causeway at Western Head, N.S., clogging coastal roads with rocks, seaweed, sand and debris.

Three young men were swept from the shore by a large wave at Peggy’s Cove, N.S., but they managed to scramble back to safety.

In Newfoundland, the surge forced the evacuation of two nursing homes and a hospital in Placentia.

A few days later, the remnants of hurricane Danny produced heavy rain as it tracked through the Bay of Fundy and then over P.E.I., causing widespread flooding.

At Nine Mile River, N.S., the banks overflowed, submerging trailers, cars and trucks at a nearby campground.
http://news.ca.msn.com/canada/cp-art...entid=25407858 ]]> Our Enviroment and Your Journeys. Sublime LIME http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6118 http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6101&goto=newpost Sun, 29 Aug 2010 14:31:15 GMT *Plants can summon insects to their aid to avoid being munched to death by caterpillars, scientists have found. Leafy tobacco plants have evolved... Plants can summon insects to their aid to avoid being munched to death by caterpillars, scientists have found.

Leafy tobacco plants have evolved a "chemical SOS" that attracts predatory insects that eat the attackers.

In the journal Science, researchers revealed that the caterpillars' saliva activates this signal.

The modified signal causes Geocoris insects, which feed on the caterpillar larvae and eggs, to swoop in - rescuing the plant and gaining a meal.

The work was carried out by Silke Allmann of the Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Ian Baldwin of the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Germany.

They discovered that when the plants were attacked by tobacco hornworm caterpillars, Manduca sexta, the caterpillar saliva caused a chemical change in "green leaf volatiles" - pungent chemicals that the plants produce. The familiar smell of cut grass is generated by green leaf volatiles (GLVs).

The scientists studied the effect further by setting up a fake plant attack.

They glued caterpillar eggs onto two groups of tobacco plants, using cotton swabs to coat the eggs on one group of plants with the plant's own GLVs. The eggs on the other plants were treated with GLV mixed with caterpillar spit.

The plants "perfumed" with the plant chemical alone had only 8% of their eggs attacked, whereas plants perfumed with the plant and caterpillar-derived chemical mixture chemical lost almost a quarter of their eggs.

All of these missing eggs had been eaten by the Geocoris bugs, which were attracted by the chemicals.

The modified chemical seems to "betray the location of the feeding caterpillar", the researchers concluded in their paper.

"Why the larvae would produce such an apparently [disadvantageous chemical] in their saliva remains to be determined."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11101536 ]]> Our Enviroment and Your Journeys. coloradocowgirl http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6101 http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6077&goto=newpost Fri, 27 Aug 2010 00:18:04 GMT *Diaspora — the movement, migration, or scattering of a people away from an established or ancestral homeland. — Merriam-Webster BAY ST. LOUIS,... Diaspora — the movement, migration, or scattering of a people away from an established or ancestral homeland. — Merriam-Webster

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. — “Diaspora” is not a word I used before Katrina. In fact, I don’t even remember hearing it spoken on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in those days before the hurricane sucked our towns into the sea. That tragic phenomenon of displacement had no bearing on our lives — how could it? Our communities ran together along those 60 miles of coastline like a series of seaside Mayberrys. Connections between people seemed securely knotted, strands of pearls that shone with the luster of history and fellowship.

Then in August 2005, in the course of a single morning, Katrina severed the threads that bound us. The pearls of our lives went flying in all directions, as if racing across a polished ballroom floor. To gather each and every one and then string them together again would have been impossible.

How many people never came home? According to estimates, more than a million people in three states were displaced by Katrina — a million souls abruptly forced out of familiar surroundings and plunked into homes of friends or relatives or into hastily fashioned emergency centers across the country.

Many eventually found their way back to their former neighborhoods, yet since official population figures don’t take into account new people who have been drawn to the Gulf Coast since the storm, there’s no way to gauge how many residents left for good. But between my town of Bay St. Louis, Miss., and our sister city of Waveland, Miss., it appears that at least a third of our pre-storm population has settled elsewhere, according to U.S. Census figures.* That’s around 5,000 folks, in a radius of just a few miles.

We’ve redefined the boundaries of our communities to include those who were forced by circumstance — or choice — not to return. We may be scattered, but the Internet has helped mitigate the long distance between many of us. Our former residents often keep in touch through e-mail and phone calls, or catch up during their occasional pilgrimages home to visit with friends and gorge on shrimp po’-boys and gumbo. They might reside in Tennessee or New York or Oregon, but many subscribe to the coast papers or watch newscasts on their computers. Some still participate in civic life by cheering our progress or contacting officials about hot issues. Some have even imported the coast’s Mardi Gras tradition to their new communities.

That’s astonishing, considering that there were no farewell parties or promises to keep in touch when this unprecedented mass exodus occurred. The wrenching suddenness of the upheaval denied us all the small comfort of closure. Folks we had known and lived next to for years simply vanished, a few forever. Like the elderly woman who lived across the street from my house — the one I chatted with as she collected her mail. She evacuated before the storm and since her house was severely damaged, she never returned. I’m not even certain she’s still alive.

So on Aug. 29, the fifth anniversary of Katrina, former residents dispersed across the country will join those of us on the coast, at least in spirit, in marking the event that changed our lives forever. Wondering how my displaced friends were adjusting five years out, I checked in with more than two dozen of them — all from the Bay-Waveland area — e-mailing them a pointed and personal list of questions. Nineteen replied immediately, the answers whizzing back through cyberspace as they snapped up the chance to share their thoughts. A slow typist in Florida even hand-wrote her comments on five sheets of paper and paid for overnight delivery.


Some respondents have relocated just miles away from the shoreline, while others wound up outside Mississippi altogether. Without exception, each expressed a yearning for their former lives on the coast, even if they’ve found contentment elsewhere. What did they miss most? Family and friends topped each list by far, with the mainstays of local culture — laid-back lifestyle, food and scenic beauty — following close behind.

A man now living in Jackson, Miss., wrote, “It was the place and life I had sought since childhood. I miss just about everything, most all the time.” Artist Lori Gordon built a new home 50 miles north, but spends time in Bay St. Louis, where she sells her art. “I miss the feeling of being so intimately connected with the rhythms of life that came with living next to the Mississippi Sound … the wonderful smell, the cries of the seagulls, and the feel on my skin of those warm Gulf waters which made me feel like I was a complete human being.”

The decision to relocate was wrenching for a number of friends, but some responses echoed Dr. Deb Gross: “Because my home and business were totally washed into the sea, I didn’t have to make any decision about it. There was nothing left.” Another woman observed, “I had moved away from a lot of places, but I have never had a town move away from me.”

Four of my respondents had become embroiled in bitter battles for insurance settlements, sometimes lasting years and accelerating their decision to move on. For a few, the bizarre circumstances of everyday life after Katrina propelled them to resettle elsewhere. A lawyer writing from North Carolina described how she finally threw in the towel and left Bay St. Louis for good when the sewage system of her FEMA trailer backed up in the middle of the night. “I threw my poor dog into the car to keep him from getting into any of the horrible mess, then starting tossing into it anything not yet touched by the growing cesspool. By 8 am I was calling FEMA, telling them ‘your keys are on the propane tank, your trailer's full of shit, and it's all yours now, babycakes.’”

Those who remained on the Gulf Coast apparently respected the decision of the emigrants. Only three out of the 19 ex-pats reported any negative reactions from former neighbors, and those few felt that time had smoothed any small wrinkles of resentment. Empathy ruled the day. Peggy Dutton observed, “there was no virtue attached to staying and no vice involved in leaving … People made the best decisions they could in light of their individual circumstances.”

But as anyone impacted by Katrina will testify, making major life decisions when sorrow and shock have scrambled your brains is a titanic undertaking. After Mark Guest and his wife found only a savaged lot where their house had once stood, they eventually settled in Asheville, N.C. Mark wrote that “the initial confusion and guilt associated with our decision to leave or to rebuild was compounded by post-traumatic stress.”

Although few of my ex-pat friends used the technical name, all referred to some sort of psychological distress, including survivor’s guilt — something Deb Gross, as a psychiatrist, was able to identify. “Any comfort or pleasure or basic necessity,” she wrote, “brought both gratitude and lacerating thought of what all of you who were still there were going through.”

When asked about emotional recovery, one friend wryly queried, “What recovery?” Four of the letters seemed to convey a serious continuation of the grieving process. However, the rest showed a hard-won acceptance of the situation as friends detailed the positive aspects of their current lives. A widow reported creating a covey of friends by volunteering in her new Florida community. Several had switched careers or discovered the opportunity to pursue long deferred dreams. A tone of assimilation ran through the e-mail, with one man believing that his new city “recognizes that the Katrina evacuees have added to the dynamics of the community.”

The final question I asked my ex-pat friends: Do you ever dream or scheme of coming back to the coast, or have you rooted in your new home? Again, another mixed bag. “My interest does not fade. We’ve not given up on having a weekend retreat to use for the rest of our lives.” One former full-time resident now divides his time between Jackson and his new Bay St. Louis home, which stands on the site of the one Katrina devoured. While on the coast, he savors the signs of recovery: “I love to watch all the beauty coming out of the devastation.”

The exiles who have no plans to return cite factors like astronomical insurance rates, age and fear of future storms. “As much as I would love to return, I know that I cannot,” wrote one.

“It will never be the way we remember it and emotionally, I’m not ready to cope with the changes.” That remark came from a mentor as well as a friend, and during the past five years, I’ve repeatedly urged her and her husband to at least visit. Sure, we’re still under construction, but we’re rebuilding on the old bones, I’ve told her. Yes, it’s changed, but we’re stronger now and more beautiful than ever before! You’ll be pleasantly surprised, I promise! Besides, so many still hold you dear in their hearts and would love to hug you again.

Each time they decline, I tell myself to be patient. The important thing is that they understand a jubilant welcome will always await them. The threads between us still exist. And as I read again the letter of Deb Gross, I think of the ancient Greek origin of the word that once I never used: The scattering of seeds.

“Bay St. Louis is the home of my heart,” writes Deb. “All I can do is be grateful for what I had once upon a time and use that grace to live fully in the life and place where I find myself now … Bloom where you got blown.”

http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/m...entid=25353776 ]]> Our Enviroment and Your Journeys. Sublime LIME http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6077 http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6073&goto=newpost Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:24:43 GMT Oetzi, the 5,000 year old "Iceman" found in the Italian Alps, may have been ceremonially buried, archaeologists claim.

An autopsy showed that Oetzi had been murdered, dying of an arrow wound.

While this is not disputed, a new study suggests that months after his death, Oetzi's corpse was carried to the high mountain pass where it was found.

The discovery site therefore may not be a murder scene after all, but a burial ground.

The new study, led by Professor Luca Bondioli of the National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnology in Rome and his US-Italian team, is published in the journal Antiquity.

Oetzi was discovered on the alpine border between Italy and Austria in 1991.

Although thought at first to be the corpse of a modern climber, scientists later proved that the mummified body was more than 5,000 years old.

An autopsy in 2001 further showed that he had been killed by an arrow wound to the shoulder.

Dead and buried

In the new study, researchers produced a detailed map of where the corpse and artefacts were found.

Based on guesses about how the artefacts had dispersed down slope over time, they inferred that the body had originated on a rock platform nearby. They argued that this was a later burial site, and not the original scene of his murder.

This "burial theory" may explain some perplexing facts about Oetzi.

For example, analysis suggests he died in the spring because the pollen of plants that bloom at that time of year is found in his gut. However, pollen within the ice suggests that the corpse was deposited in the late summer.

Professor Bondioli and his team say that these facts makes most sense if the body was deliberately carried to its site of discovery many months after death.

This suggests a burial.

Professor Bondioli elaborated: "Oetzi must have been a very important person to be taken to this high mountain pass for burial. Perhaps he was some sort of a chieftan."

Not bullet proof

However, Professor Frank Ruehli of the University of Zurich, the medical doctor who performed the original autopsy, is not totally convinced by the burial theory.

He remarked: "The left arm of the corpse is in a weird position. This must have happened at the time of death."

"If Oetzi was a chieftan, why did his people not move the twisted arm into a more natural position?" he told BBC News. "This would be expected in the burial of an important person".

Also somewhat sceptical is Dr Wolfgang Muller of Royal Holloway University of London. He studied the chemistry of Oetzi's teeth and bones to track his migration route through the Alps.

"It's an interesting new interpretation but it's not bullet proof," he said. "However, if Oetzi was buried they must have carried the body a long way because the nearby villages would have been at a low altitude."

While much remains to be learned about the enigmatic Iceman - as the mummified corpse has been dubbed - one thing is certain: This famous mummy will remain the subject of intense speculation and new research for decades to come.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11086027 ]]> Our Enviroment and Your Journeys. coloradocowgirl http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6073 http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6041&goto=newpost Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:29:04 GMT *EDMONTON - Passions are boiling across Canada over the issue of loud motorcycles. In one case, a Saskatoon city councillor who suggested a...

EDMONTON - Passions are boiling across Canada over the issue of loud motorcycles.

In one case, a Saskatoon city councillor who suggested a possible crackdown on noisy bikes has been threatened.

Bob Pringle isn't alone in his quest to quiet down the roaring exhaust pipes favoured by some riders. The Motorcycle and Moped Industry Council of Canada says municipalities from British Columbia to Nova Scotia are looking for ways to measure that noise and perhaps put a lid on it.

Pringle started receiving threats in the last couple of weeks after he asked city administrators to examine a possible prohibition on exhaust pipes that amp up a bike's noise — equipment that's usually added after the machines are sold.

Pringle, who served as a social services minister in the government of former premier Roy Romanow in the 1990s, says he hasn't been personally threatened since his days as a cabinet minister.

While most motorcycle enthusiasts are peaceful, he's been getting an earful from those who are not, Pringle says.

"Bikers are very angry. They feel like I'm targeting them unfairly and they need this extra noise for safety reasons," he said in a recent interview.

While some anonymous callers have simply told Pringle to back off, others have been more sinister.

"There was also a threat about 'I would love to meet you in a back lane and you wouldn't come out.'"

Pringle acknowledges there have been only a handful of threatening phone calls. The vast majority of residents complain about ear-splitting noise made by tricked-out machines as they blast through city streets.

When an anonymous caller reached him on his cellphone around 2:30 a.m. last Sunday, he promised to call each time he heard a loud noise. Pringle thought the situation was escalating and it was time to step up his response. He spoke to Saskatoon's police chief and a lawyer about whether to start writing down some of the more threatening details.

On the other side of the debate is Kelvin Ooms, 44. By day, he's a maintenance supervisor for a food distribution company in Saskatoon. In his off hours, he climbs aboard his Harley Davidson Fat Boy and transforms into a road warrior who isn't ashamed to use his bike's loud exhaust pipes.

When he heard that Pringle was touting the idea of a crackdown on loud bikes, he immediately started a petition and a Facebook site to drum up opposition.

Ooms knows people are passionate about the issue, but he also doesn't like the nasty turn this debate has taken. He has removed at least six people from his Loud Pipes Save Lives Facebook page who have been threatening or derogatory.

"By no means do I condone any behaviour like this. I don't think we're going to accomplish anything by doing that."

Ooms said there are more constructive ways to get out the message that loud exhaust pipes can save riders' lives. The image of loud bikes as souped-up versions of their owners' egos and machismo isn't driving this debate, he insists. Rather, it's about ensuring that drivers, who often admit after a collision that they didn't notice that oncoming motorcycle, both see and hear them.

Earlier this year, when a driver started to change lanes without noticing him, Ooms used his loud exhaust pipes to avoid a collision. He honked his horn, locked up his wheels, popped his clutch and hit the gas.

"It wasn't until I engaged my clutch and revved my throttle and really snapped my pipes that I finally got the attention of the driver and they moved out of my lane."

Bob Ramsay, president of the Motorcycle and Moped Industry Council of Canada, says his organization has helped to develop standards on what constitutes a loud bike. They've been getting calls from interested municipalities and police forces across Canada.

The group has spent more than three years developing noise standards for bikes because of an escalating number of complaints.

The council has determined that if a bike is idling, its exhaust should be no louder than about 92 decibels. As the bike revs higher, it shouldn't make noise higher than about 96 decibels. Ramsay says that with an objective standard for noise, it would be easier for municipalities to draft bylaws putting limits on the louder machines.

The industry was also worried that all motorcyclists were being painted with the same brush, he said.

"It's an approach that we as an industry feel serves motorcycling and motorcyclists best, because we don't want people just thinking of motorcycles and thinking of very loud motorcycles."

About 124,000 new motorcycles, scooters and all-terrain vehicles were sold in Canada last year at a value of about $1.5 billion. Motorcycles and scooters made up almost 52 per cent of sales.

Some municipalities in Canada are looking at new measures implemented in Edmonton on July 1 as a sort of template on the issue. A bylaw amendment allows police to use specialized devices to measure the sound levels of noisy bikes. First-time offenders are charged $250.

Staff Sgt. Bill Horne, who works in the Edmonton police traffic section, said angry residents had been calling for years to complain about the deafening racket made by motorcycles zooming through the downtown and on the city's popular bar strip, Whyte Avenue.

In June, about 40 officers were trained to use meters to measure the sound from idling exhaust pipes. Most bikes aren't allowed to go over 92 decibels while idling. Other bikes can't exceed 96 or 100 decibels, depending on the number of cylinders.

Before the amendment came into effect, police tested 1,066 bikes over a two days. Almost 430 failed the noise test.

Since the new rules took effect 216 tests have been conducted, with 64 bikes.

"Without a doubt I've heard feedback from people on Whyte Avenue ... and certainly it has helped control the problem," Horne said.

Staff Sgt. Mark Hodgson, commander of the central traffic unit in Winnipeg, says police there are eyeing Edmonton as they examine comprehensive anti-noise measures. They also want a way to deal with loud vehicles and thumping car stereos.

Winnipeg has been testing noise-measuring equipment similar to Edmonton's, he says. Police are working with Crown attorneys and Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation to fashion legislation that can be successfully prosecuted.

"We're moving a little more slowly than Edmonton," said Hodgson, "But we think in a fashion that will allow us to create legislation that is all-encompassing and will also be supportable in court."

He says they're also closely watching any court cases that arise from Edmonton's bylaw so they can learn from Alberta's experience.

In Edmonton, Horne — who is the owner of a BMW touring bike — has heard a long list of riders' excuses for making a big racket, including that a loud bike is a safe bike.

"That's a bunch of hogwash ...

"Loud pipes don't save lives, proper defensive driving saves lives."

http://autos.ca.msn.com/news/canadia...entid=25310037 ]]> Our Enviroment and Your Journeys. Sublime LIME http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6041 http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5985&goto=newpost Mon, 16 Aug 2010 09:26:31 GMT So when I finally get a job and get some money in I want to travel all around. there are a few places that are on my no go list but the places I do... So when I finally get a job and get some money in I want to travel all around. there are a few places that are on my no go list but the places I do want to go are in no particular order


Belgium
Germany
England
Canada
Thailand
Hong Kong
France
Russia
Lithuania (my great grandfather was from there and want to see if I can find stuff out about him)
Sweden
Norway
Finland
Ireland
Iceland
Greece
Italy
Czech Republic
Morocco ( I think would be cool)
Australia
South Korea (maybe)
Brazil

I've been to alot of states and I drove to Canada from here and I got close to Mexico but never went into there. I've never left the continent and never came close to doing so. But my desire I guess to go and see the world is just to try new things and see new things, I'm from Alaska and as nice as everybody sees it, I see that everyday and it gets kinda boring and like Japan I would just love to walk around and look at stuff. I'll probably go there more than once and a few other places hopefully more than once.

I don't really have a set list of things I want to do in each country but I usually do alot of research before going somewhere so I'll have a list of stuff to do. ]]> Our Enviroment and Your Journeys. jamie http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5985 http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5979&goto=newpost Sun, 15 Aug 2010 15:35:21 GMT An ice island four times the size of Manhattan broke off from one of Greenland's two main glaciers, scientists said Friday, in the biggest such event in the Arctic in nearly 50 years.

The new ice island, which broke off on Thursday, will enter a remote place called the Nares Strait, about 620 miles south of the North Pole between Greenland and Canada.

The ice island has an area of 100 square miles and a thickness up to half the height of the Empire State Building, said Andreas Muenchow, professor of ocean science and engineering at the University of Delaware.

Muenchow said he had expected an ice chunk to break off from the Petermann Glacier, one of the two largest remaining ones in Greenland, because it had been growing in size for seven or eight years. But he did not expect it to be so large.

"The freshwater stored in this ice island could keep the Delaware or Hudson Rivers flowing for more than two years," said Muenchow, whose research in the area is supported by the National Science Foundation.

"It could also keep all U.S. public tap water flowing for 120 days."

Global warming?
He said it was hard to judge whether the event occurred due to global warming because records on the sea water around the glacier have only been kept since 2003. The flow of sea water below the glaciers is one of the main causes of ice calvings off Greenland.

"Nobody can claim this was caused by global warming. On the other hand nobody can claim that it wasn't," Muenchow said.


Scientists have said the first six months of 2010 have been the hottest globally on record. The El Nino weather pattern has contributed to higher temperatures, but many scientists say elevated levels of man-made greenhouse gases are pushing temperatures higher.

The initial discovery of the calving was made by Trudy Wohlleben of the Canadian Ice Service.

The ice island could fuse to land, break up into smaller pieces, or slowly move south where it could block shipping, Muenchow said.

The last time such a large ice island formed was in 1962 when the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf calved an island. Smaller pieces of that chunk became lodged between real islands inside Nares Strait.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/386000...ience-science/ ]]> Our Enviroment and Your Journeys. coloradocowgirl http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5979 http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5953&goto=newpost Fri, 13 Aug 2010 01:36:30 GMT *The first newborn beavers born in the wild since their re-introduction to the UK last year have been spotted by officials in a Scottish forest. ... The first newborn beavers born in the wild since their re-introduction to the UK last year have been spotted by officials in a Scottish forest.

At least two kits, estimated to be eight weeks old and belonging to different family groups, have been seen in Knapdale Forest in Argyll.

A total of 11 beavers were brought to Scotland from Norway last year as part of the Scottish Beaver Trial.

Beavers were hunted to extinction in the UK 400 years ago.

Some feral beavers have been known to exist in the wild as a result of being released by people who owned them as pets.
'Patient observation'

Christian Robstad, beaver field officer for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, described seeing the new arrivals was an "amazing" experience.

"After weeks of patient observation, we were finally rewarded with not just one kit being spotted but a second kit from a different family group as well," he said.

"The first emerged as part of a 'family outing' with its parents and older sister close by to offer additional protection.

"It kept close to the edge of the loch and called out to its family for reassurance while it began to learn to forage for food."

The reintroduction is a partnership between the society and the Scottish Wildlife Trust.

Simon Jones, Scottish beaver trial project manager with the trust, said the kits marked a "fantastic step forward" for the trial.

He said: "Both these beaver families are real trial success stories, having settled into Knapdale very well.

"Both have built their own lodge and one family has had great success building a dam to access better food supplies.

"This has created a magnificent new area of wetland in which wildlife is now flourishing in.

"There is a chance that even more kits have been born this year.

"We will be tracking our animals closely and hope to determine the exact number of kits produced as part of the trial soon."

Beavers were a native species to the UK and were once common before they were hunted to extinction by man.

The trial aims to provide information which could determine whether or not animals are reintroduced into the wild across Scotland.

Scottish Environment Minister, Roseanna Cunningham, said: "It's exciting to see these beavers thriving in Knapdale Forest and producing beaver kits so soon after their reintroduction.

"We were hoping that this would happen and I'm looking forward to watching the progress of the beaver families over the coming years."
'Sensitive time'

Nick Purdy from Forestry Commission Scotland, the trial's host partner, said: "We are delighted to have the beavers resident in Knapdale and this is just the news we have been hoping for.

"I know visitors will be keen to get a sighting of the new arrivals, but will also understand that this is a very sensitive time for these beaver families.

"It would be of great help to the beavers if the public avoided the loch edge for the next few weeks to help minimise disturbance while the kits get used to their new environment."

The kits are currently thought to be about the size of large guinea pigs.

The young weigh about 1lb (450g) at birth, are born with a full coat of fur, their eyes open and the ability to swim.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-10951209 ]]> Our Enviroment and Your Journeys. coloradocowgirl http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5953 http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5946&goto=newpost Thu, 12 Aug 2010 21:53:06 GMT Luna (September 19, 1999–March 10, 2006) also known as L98 or Tsuux-iit, was a killer whale (orca) born in Puget Sound. After being separated from... Luna (September 19, 1999–March 10, 2006) also known as L98 or Tsuux-iit, was a killer whale (orca) born in Puget Sound. After being separated from his mother as a toddler, Luna spent five years in Nootka Sound, off the west coast of Vancouver Island.

Shortly after Luna's birth, it was observed that his relationship with his mother appeared to be unusually distant. Less than two years later, he appeared hundreds of kilometres from his family in Nootka Sound, and developed a strong inclination to interact with boats and people.

Although he was healthy and his presence in the busy area delighted tourists, Luna was lonely and there were concerns that his behavior was endangering people. After years of debate, the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans authorized an effort in June 2004 to capture Luna and return him to his family. However the plan was thwarted by the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nations, who believed Luna was a reincarnation of a former chief. Despite the efforts of many to keep Luna away from dangers in Nootka Sound, he was killed by a tugboat in 2006.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_(killer_whale)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKdCBOokdfo

*u know i watched a documentary on this friendly whale, and it was both amasing and sad to see, when the governement tried catching the whale, the native poeple went out wth there canoes, singing trying to keep Luna away from the propellor boats.... and whit only the singing and the pedals as there weapons the natives managed to keep Luna from being caught, when after meany days of saving her the governement did catch Luna, and lured her into a big huge net,.... but for some reason they left a part of the net open, so Luna swam back out, she did not wanne be captured....

....after i think 6 years,... Luna got hit by the propellor of a tugboat,...
One wonders if this happend on purpuse.....

it so sad to see, when some poeple say after hearing of Lunas dead, that they are happy!!!!! like ffs!!!!!!
And then others shed tears for the loss of Luna....* ]]> Our Enviroment and Your Journeys. belle http://www.thelordoftheboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5946