Archive - 2010 - blog

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Warmer Arctic spells colder winters. 'Unicorn' whales do scientists favor by taking Arctic temp
It's no secret that the proverbial canary in the climate change mine is the Arctic. As National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) administrator Jane Lubchenco noted when her organization launched its annual Arctic Report Card last week,“To quote one of my NOAA colleagues, ‘whatever is going to happen in the rest of the world happens first, and to the greatest extent, in the Arctic.’”

But, even as the Arctic warms, seemingly irrevocably, it is still a formidable environment in which to operate, particularly in the winter. The coasts of Greenland, in particular, act as pathways for ice from the Arctic Ocean, as a result of which winter research expeditions can require icebreaking vessels that cost millions of dollars to charter.

Consequently, in some areas, such as Baffin Bay, a large area between northeast Canada and southwest Greenland, winter data have been scarce -- or, in the words of Mike Steele of the University of Washington, "there was this gigantic, embarrassing hole."

Narwhal_satellite That hole is now being filled - thanks to narwhals, medium-size whales, endemic to the Arctic, known as unicorns of the seas because of the single, spiralling tusk found in males.  read more »

Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear: Jon and Stephen - "I'm More American Than You"
Jon and Stephen don American flag pullover fleece zip-ups and sing to decide who loves America more.

Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear: Press Conference - Internet Influence
Jon and Stephen talk about the joy they felt watching the crowd have fun and how Stephen was stuck in the capsule during the national anthem.

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Valles Garcia, who is the mother of a baby boy, said she took the job to change her community. "We're all afraid in Mexico now. We can't let fear beat us," she said after being sworn in. The district has 9,148 inhabitants, and a police force of nineteen. Valles Garcia says she intends to hire more women, and focus on community outreach and prevention. In the near city of Juarez, she's called by locals "La Adelita", a suitable nickname since it was the iconic figure of courageous women in times of the 1910 Mexican Revolution.

CNN: 20-year-old woman becomes top cop in violent Mexican municipality. Valles Garcia, a criminology student, became the police chief this week of Praxedis G. Guerrero, one of the most violent municipalities in the border state of Chihuahua. She was the only person who accepted the top job in a police force whose officers have been abducted and even killed.

"Yes, there is fear," Valles Garcia said Wednesday in an interview with CNN en Español. "It's like all human beings. There will always be fear, but what we want to achieve in our municipality is tranquility and security."

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Residents observe the rescue of the miners trapped in the San Jose mine, on a large screen in a public square in Copiapo October 12, 2010.

The capsule carrying a rescued miner arrives to the surface from the collapsed mine where he was trapped with 32 other miners for over two months near Copiapo, Chile on Oct. 13, 2010.

Family members approach the capsule containing miner Richard Villaroel as he is rescued from the collapsed mine.

Miner Luis Urzua, the last miner to be rescued, center wearing green, celebrates next to Chile's President Sebastian Pinera after being rescued from the collapsed San Jose mine on Wednesday Oct. 13, 2010. The 69-day underground ordeal reached its end Wednesday night after 33 trapped miners were hauled up one by one in a cage through a narrow hole drilled through 2,000 feet of rock.

Trapped miner Esteban Rojas kneels to pray after reaching the surface to became the 18th to be rescued from the San Jose mine in Copiapo October 13, 2010.  read more »

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Bank of Japan surprised the world by cutting it's already low-interest rates to effectively zero.

The Japanese central bank is trying to boost its weak economy by making it cheaper for its businesses and citizens to borrow. It also hopes that the low-interest rates will cause the value of its currency, the yen, which has been rising recently, up 12% in the past six months alone, to fall. A weaker yen could boost exports by making Japanese goods cheaper to foreigners.  read more »

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Fishing industry joins with 39 lawmakers who wrote to the FDA this week asking the agency to stop its approval process for the genetically modified salmon. They cited concerns about "human health and environmental risks" from the AquAdvantage salmon. Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell slammed the idea of allowing genetically engineered salmon to be sold in supermarkets. "We are concerned genetically engineered salmon could jeopardize the health of wild-salmon stocks."

Senator Mark Begich (D-Alaska): Serious health and environmental questions regarding the fish cannot be adequately evaluated by the public, Begich wrote. Led by Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska), the senators complained to FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg that the agency is using the wrong process for evaluating the safety of the modified fish and that the public is being left out.  read more »

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They are coming from around the world. The horses and riders. The media crews and fans. The exhibitors and entertainers. This fall, the world’s most prestigious equestrian competition comes to Lexington, Kentucky. The largest equine event in U.S. history, the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games will bring more than 900 horses, 800 athletes, 1,000 media outlets (NBC will cover the event), and between 200,000 and 300,000 spectators to the Horse Capital of the World from September 25 through October 10.  read more »