Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Cookiecutter Shark Takes Bite Out of Great White

Cookiecutter sharks aren't very neighborly. Like most sharks (or any marine animal, for that matter), cookiecutters roam the ocean looking for food. But unlike typical meat eaters, these sharks don't kill their prey ? they just take a bite and move on.

And for the first time, scientists have found evidence that these small sharks even go after one of the world's most fearsome predators, the great white shark. Great whites are about 10 times the size of a cookiecutter shark.

Divers in a shark tank off of Guadalupe Island, which is about 150 miles (240 kilometers) west of Mexico's Baja California peninsula, took a photograph of a great white sporting a fresh bite from a cookiecutter, as documented in a study published recently in the journal Pacific Science. It's the first photographic evidence of such a bite, said study author Yannis Papastamatiou, a marine biologist at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

"Animals at the top of the food chain can still get attacked by things a lot smaller than them," Papastamatiou told OurAmazingPlanet.

Cookiecutter sharks leave a very distinctive scar when they bite; their specialized jaw allows them to "scoop out a hemispherical plug of flesh from their prey," according to the study. The sharks' name comes from the uniformity of the bite, which looks "like you took a cookie cutter to some dough," Papastamatiou said. "'Ice-cream-scoop shark' would be technically more accurate, but it doesn't have quite the same ring to it."

The sharks have been known to prey on a wide variety of marine animals, including swordfish, whales, orcas and even a human swimmer ? and now, great white sharks. "This really shows there's no marine predator that can't be attacked by this little shark, which is impressive," he said. Scientists don't think bites from the cookiecutters can seriously harm these large predators.?

The cookiecutter shark (Isistius brasiliensis) can grow up to 20 inches (50 centimeters) long, while great whites can reach lengths of nearly 20 feet (6 meters), according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Cookiecutter sharks range throughout the world in tropical and subtropical waters. They often dive during the day and come near the surface at night. One specimen was caught at a depth of 9,840 feet (3,000 meters), Papastamatiou said.

But how wise is it to attack large predator 10 times your size? There's almost no evidence of how often the cookiecutter's bold strategy fails, Papastamatiou said. However, researchers found one cookiecutter shark in the stomach of a large bluefin tuna, suggesting the tactic isn't foolproof.

Reach Douglas Main at dmain@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @Douglas_Main. Follow OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter?@OAPlanet. We're also on?Facebook?and Google+.

Copyright 2013 OurAmazingPlanet, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cookiecutter-shark-takes-bite-great-white-142359513.html

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Deal of the Day ? 27? Dell UltraSharp U2713H 2560 x 1440 LCD Monitor

Wednesday’s LogicBUY Deal is the 27″ Dell?UltraSharp U2713H 2560 X 1440 LCD monitor for?$765.88. ?Features: Anti-glare screen with 1000:1 typical contrast ratio, 350nit brightness, and 6ms gray-to-gray response time 99% Adobe RGB color gamut 178-degree viewing angle Connections: HDMI,?USB 3.0, DisplayPort 1.2, mini-DisplayPort, DVI-DL (HDCP) Height-adjustable stand with tilt, swivel, pivot ,and built-in cable-management $999.99 [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/01/23/deal-of-the-day-27-dell-ultrasharp-u2713h-2560-x-1440-lcd-monitor-2/

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Green Blog: An Early Nuclear Warning: Was It for Naught?

The accident at Japan?s Fukushima Daiichi plant in 2011 alerted the American nuclear industry and its regulators to the possibility that operators at plants with more than one reactor might have to deal with more than one meltdown at a time in a flood, earthquake or other catastrophe. Officials are now working to assure that they could master that situation.

But documents uncovered by a group that is critical of nuclear safety show that a high-level safety analyst at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission posed the possibility to his superiors in July 2007, about four years before the earthquake and tsunami that led to three simultaneous meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi. The documents also show that in August 2008, the commission staff formally acknowledged the issue.

But until Japan?s disaster, progress in the American nuclear industry was glacial. Dave Lochbaum, a nuclear expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists, which uncovered the documents, compares them to records located after the crash of the space shuttle Columbia in which engineers voiced concern that debris falling during a launch could damage an orbiter.

Action to prepare for a dual meltdown was not a case of ?forewarned is forearmed,?? he said, but more like ?forewarned is forestalled.??

The warning, which now seems prophetic, predicted ?common cause failures,?? meaning single events that disable different pieces of equipment that are supposedly independent and nearly invulnerable to failing simultaneously on their own. The risk analyst, Richard Sherry, wrote that flooding or earthquakes could disrupt both normal grid power and emergency backup power.

Mr. Sherry was concerned with a ?station blackout,? or S.B.O., which is what eventually happened at Fukushima. He wrote that a station blackout at more than one unit ?challenges the ability of the plant operating staff to respond and may require resources (technical staff and equipment) that exceed what is currently available (e.g. diesel driven pumps, portable DC generators) based on the assumption that only a single unit experiences an S.B.O.??

There are 36 sites in the United States with more than one reactor operating. Some have three, and Plant Vogtle near Augusta, Ga., has two operating with two more under construction.

Of course, this is not quite an ?I told you so? moment, given that the multiple meltdowns were in Japan and not at any site under the jurisdiction of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. But Mr. Lochbaum said that the memo suggests that the agency is better at identifying safety problems than resolving them.

Before Fukushima, it moved to put the multiple meltdown issue into a category called ?generic safety issues,? which are questions that do not fit neatly into the agency?s regulatory framework. Mr. Lochbaum and his organization have complained in the past that one such ?issue,? concerning whether debris generated in an accident would clog emergency pumps,has been unresolved for more than 15 years.

A commission spokesman, Scott Burnell, cast the 2007 memo differently. Mr. Sherry was not the first to identify ?the very small possibility of simultaneous reactor severe accidents at multi-unit sites,?? he said in an e-mail, and the agency has been pursuing the issue, ?incorporating new information as time went on.??

Mr. Lochbaum disagreed. ?Had the N.R.C. acted in a timely fashion in August 2007 when Sherry nailed the issue on its head, implementation would be done by now,?? he said. Saying that was impressed by Mr. Sherry?s forethought, he joked that he wanted to call him to see if he could predict winning lottery numbers.

Source: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/22/an-early-nuclear-warning-was-it-for-naught/?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Friday, January 18, 2013

INSPIRED LIVING: How I created a Lasting, LOVE, Relationship


Every time you take an action to achieve what you want coming from the fear of not having what you want, you are sabotaging yourself, you are undermining yourself, you are hating yourself.?

I should know, so much of what I did in my life to achieve what I wanted came from the fear of not having what I wanted.. All fear every did for me was push away from me what I wanted. This is especially true in the areas of relationships. I had a graveyard filled with so many failed relationships that the EPA wanted to fine me for polluting the environment.

From my first relationship through fifteen other serious relationships, everything I did in those relationships came from the fear of losing those relationships and because I feared losing them, I lost all of them.?

My current relationship turned out way differently,?

I entered this relationship 9 years ago and from day one, I have come totally from love.? That means I never say or do anything for Vona coming from fear.? I am always true to myself even if that means, from time to time, she doesn't like me being true to myself, which is rare.

After losing my last relationship before meeting Vona, my fear of losing relationships was burned out of my system forever.

After my last relationship failed (caused by fear) I made up my mind I wouldn't chase, pursue or convince a woman to be with me. I made up my mind that I didn't want to spend one more second around any woman who didn't want to be around me.???

By the time Vona met me, she felt the same way about men,? As a result, we are with each other every sacred moment of our lives by choice, not by default or out of fear of being alone.?

Because I have no fear of losing Vona and she has no fear of losing me, we never do anything for each other we don't truly want to do. We both know in our relationship, we love ourselves first and love each other second. And the more we learn to love ourselves, the more love we have to give each other.?

In our relationship, love is allowing the person we love to be totally unlike ourselves. And because we allow each other to be totally unlike ourselves, our relationship has a passion and richness to it that few people enjoy in their relationship with the person they love... This is a result of? not letting fear dictate our actions. In fact, in our relationship,? the person with the least fear leads. Sometimes it is mean I lead, others times it is Vona leading, coming from love..

This is a recent picture of Vona at her son's wedding.

Source: http://encwor.blogspot.com/2013/01/how-i-created-lasting-love-relationship.html

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Rubio Outlines Elements of His New Immigration Plan - NYTimes.com

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, a Republican who is on a talking tour to publicize his proposals for an immigration overhaul, said on Thursday that tighter enforcement at the borders and in workplaces would be central to his plan, which would also offer legal status to millions of illegal immigrants.

In a meeting in New York with reporters and editors of The New York Times, Mr. Rubio said that any broad immigration legislation should create a nationwide exit system to check foreigners out of the country, to confirm that they left before their visas expired. He noted that at least 40 percent of an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the country came on legal visas but then overstayed.

Mr. Rubio said he would also insist on a nationwide program for employers to verify the legal authorization of new workers, although he did not specify whether he would favor an expansion of an existing federal electronic worker verification program or seek to create a new one.

Mr. Rubio, 41, the conservative son of blue-collar Cuban exiles who won his Senate seat in 2010 with support from the Tea Party, has been shaking up the Republican Party?s immigration politics with his proposals to offer legal status and eventually American citizenship to immigrants here illegally. Since the November elections, many Republican leaders have said the party should find an alternative to the policy of ?self-deportation? for illegal immigrants, which turned many Latino voters away from the party?s presidential candidate, Mitt Romney.

On Monday, Mr. Romney?s running mate, Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, shifted to Mr. Rubio?s approach, endorsing the senator?s principles and saying the two would work together on immigration legislation. On Wednesday, Bill O?Reilly, the conservative media personality, added his endorsement, telling Mr. Rubio he liked his program.

?I think it?s fair,? Mr. O?Reilly said, in a notable change for a commentator who has been fiercely critical of illegal immigration. Since Mr. Rubio started to unveil his principles last Friday, they have also been praised by Grover Norquist, the conservative antitax crusader. He also drew support from some longtime advocates for broad legalization legislation.

One of them, Frank Sharry, executive director of America?s Voice, called Mr. Rubio?s proposals ?a very welcome and courageous statement from someone who was elected with Tea Party credentials.?

Mr. Rubio, saying immigration would be a top priority for him this year, said he was currently laying out principles and gathering support for them. As a tactical matter, Mr. Rubio is not delving too deeply into the details at this stage.

His plan would give a temporary ?nonimmigrant visa? to illegal immigrants, which would allow them to remain and work in the United States. They would have to wait a ?significant but reasonable? period of time before they could apply to become legal permanent residents, going to the back of the line in the existing system. Once they became residents, they could go on like other legal immigrants to naturalize as citizens.

?There are millions of people who have applied to enter this country legally,? Mr. Rubio said. ?Our message to them cannot be: you should have come illegally because it?s faster and cheaper.?

He acknowledged that major pieces of his plan remain to be worked out. According to current federal visa rosters, most Mexican-born immigrants applying to become permanent residents now face a wait of at least 17 years to receive their document ? known as a green card ? even if they followed the rules and were approved. Mr. Rubio?s proposal could add seven million more Mexican immigrants to those backlogs. The path to citizenship he proposes for illegal immigrants could be several decades long.

?I don?t have a solution for that question right now,? Mr. Rubio said. He said he would seek to relieve backlogs by speeding up green cards for immigrants already in the legal line, not by creating special pathways for illegal immigrants.

Mr. Rubio?s principles did not sound very different from outlines for an overhaul that President Obama has offered. And the senator, whose star is rising rapidly in his party, chose not to hammer on his differences with the White House. Instead, he said he was open to negotiating because he believed the timing was right to change a failing immigration system. ?We just have to get this thing done for once and for all,? Mr. Rubio said.

Source: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/rubio-outlines-elements-of-his-new-immigration-plan/

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French troops close in on al-Qaeda-held town in Mali

BAMAKO, mali???French special forces inched closer to an al-Qaeda-held town, fighting erupted in another center, and army troops raced to protect a third as the Islamic extremists controlling northern Mali ceded no ground Thursday, digging into the areas they already occupy and sending out scouts to widen their reach.

Banamba, a town just 90 miles from the capital, Bamako, was put on alert overnight, and a contingent of roughly 100 Malian soldiers sped there Thursday after a reported sighting of jihadists in the vicinity, the closest the extremists have come to the seat of government of this West African country, officials said.

France has encountered fierce resistance from the extremist groups, whose tentacles extend not only over a territory the size of Afghanistan in Mali but also another 600 miles to the east in Algeria, where fighters belonging to a cell in Mali stormed a BP-operated plant and took dozens of foreigners hostages, including Americans, in retaliation for the French-led military operation in Mali.

They demanded the immediate end of the hostilities in Mali, with one commander, Oumar Ould Hamaha, saying that they are now "globalizing the conflict" in revenge for the military assault on Malian soil.

The first Malian troops arrived in Banamba late Wednesday, with a second group coming Thursday. The small town northeast of Bamako is connected by a secondary road to the garrison town of Diabaly, which was taken by Islamic extremists this week. Diabaly has been the scene of intense fighting with French military, as French troops continued to move closer, following another night of airstrikes.

To the south of Banamba, flanked by emerald rice fields, and crisscrossed by irrigation canals, is the first government-held city, Niono. And another 75 miles south is Segou, one of the largest towns in Mali, and the administrative capital of its central region. As refugees from Diabaly continued to flee south, authorities announced a state of alert, including the closure of the largest road after sundown, fearing that the al-Qaeda-linked fighters would try to infiltrate the towns in the south.

"Starting at 6 p.m. tomorrow night, the road between Segou and Niono, the M33 highway, will be closed," said the Prefect of Niono Seydou Traore. "Neither cars, nor motorcycles, nor people on foot will be able to travel, as a security measure."

A city official in Banamba who insisted on anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said they had received reports that a rebel convoy had left Diabaly on the road headed to Banamba.

"We don't have a (military) base here, we have no defenses. So the military has come to secure the town," he said. "No jihadists have entered our town. But there are reports that a column (of rebel vehicles) was seen heading toward us from Diabaly."

France has stepped up its involvement every day, after launching the first air raids last Friday in an effort to stop the rebels' advance. On Thursday, it increased its troop strength to 1,400, said French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

"The actions of French forces, be it air forces or ground forces, are ongoing," said Le Drian in Paris. "They took place yesterday, they took place last night, they took place today, they will take place tomorrow."

After a meeting in Brussels of European Union foreign ministers, Malian Foreign Minister Tieman Hubert Coulibaly said it was necessary to mobilize "the entire international community" to help Mali and the region.

"What is happening in Mali is a global threat," Coulibaly told journalists at a news conference. "Remember what happened on Sept. 11," he said, referring to the terrorist attacks in the United States. "It is that terrorism can happen anywhere, at any moment, to anyone."

Source: http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_22396798?source=rss

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Sunday, January 13, 2013

A Welcome Celebration for Dartmouth President-Elect Philip J. Hanlon ?77

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dartmouthflickr/8374515451/

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