FUKUSHIMA'S ONGOING ECOCIDE OF PACIFIC OCEAN LIFE

By Tracy W.

 

The Fukushima disaster - the beginning of marine ecocide on a planetary scale?  It has already contaminated the Pacific Ocean, the biggest body of water on the planet.

 

I've  avoided writing about the Fukushima disaster because it is so overwhelming from so many points of view that it is difficult to find the words.  Some generations had to live through wars and witness the genocide of millions.  But never anything like this, a case of ecocide on a global scale. 

 

Russia and other countries have been dumping nuclear waste in the Baltic, the British have done in the Channel, and the Mafia uses the Mediterranean for covert dumping of toxic waste.  But people still consider them limited localized events.  They shouldn't, but they do. 

 

However, the case of Fukushima is different.  The never ending (and there is really no end in sight) radioactive poisoning of the Pacific Ocean can severely damage, mutate, and even destroy much of the marine life on Earth.  There is only one ocean on the planet. 

 

Japanese people have already suffered the effects of radiation in the aftermath of this disaster.  The radioactive plume reached the American west coast early on, and now continues to spread all over the planet. 

 

The United States and the European Union are busy with comparatively minor issues, and they have irresponsibly turned their eyes away from this ongoing disaster that is much more urgent than the issues that absorb their governments at this time.  They should have been at the forefront from the very start of the Fukushima disaster demanding immediate mitigation of the damage.  They have the technology to help. Why haven't they done so?  Why haven't they told the Japanese government that this is not a contained Japanese problem, but it is affecting all of us - our air, our food, our health.

 

In the meantime Japan - in one of the most bizarre acts ever - ordered the suspension of imports of wheat from the US out of fear that it may contain GMOs.  GMOs should be the least of their worries when their children are breathing and eating tiny pieces of radioactive fuel rods in their environment.  

RELATED:

 

Japan children ingesting pieces of radioactive fuel rods -

http://enenews.com/japan-kids-swallowing-pieces-of-fukushima-fuel-rods-expert-mystery-black-substance-very-likely-contains-concentrated-unburned-nuclear-fuel-video

Fukushima Daiichi has “contaminated the biggest body of water on the planet” — Radioactive leaks to harm marine and human life — Whole Pacific Ocean likely to have cesium levels 5-10 times higher than at peak of nuclear bomb tests

http://enenews.com/radio-fukushima-daiichi-has-contaminated-the-biggest-body-of-water-on-the-planet-whole-pacific-ocean-likely-to-have-cesium-levels-5-10-times-higher-than-at-peak-of-nuclear-bomb-tests-audio

Japan Gov’t: It’s “inevitable” that Fukushima radioactive water will be dumped in Pacific Ocean — “Tepco has no choice”

http://enenews.com/japan-govt-its-inevitable-that-fukushima-radioactive-water-will-be-dumped-in-pacific-ocean-tepco-has-no-choice

More coverage of Fukushima
http://enenews.com/category/location/japan
http://www.simplyinfo.org/

More on Fukushima on this blog
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/search/label/Fukushima

Ecocide:  any extensive destruction of the natural environment and disruption or loss of ecosystem(s) of a given territory to such an extent that the survival of the inhabitants of that territory is endangered.   Ecocide can be irreversible when an ecosystem suffers beyond self healing.  - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecocide

Link to this post -  http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/fukushimas-ongoing-ecocide-of-pacific.html

 

**************************************************************************

SPIDERS HAVE PERSONALITIES - NOT THAT WE CARE TO MEET THEM, REALLY

Remember when your mother or friend introduced you to someone of the opposite sex with rather plain looks, but "with great personality"?

 

Now it is scientists who tell us that spiders have interesting personalities. 

 

More than that, some species of spiders have an unlimited motherly devotion, as you shall see.

 

I have a special affection for spiders. 

I like their engineering talent in building those amazingly strong and beautiful webs.  And their trapping skills.  And I admire them for their self-sufficiency.  They mind their own business and seem to need no one.  Although not all spiders are solitary.   

 

My most unforgettable spider is the one I read about in the book Krakatoa by Simon Winchester.  He tells of how after the Krakatoa volcano blew its top and left utter devastation all around, a scientist travelled to an ash-covered island in the middle of it all, and what did he see? A little spider that had been blown over there by the wind, busy building her web to catch lunch.  She was the only sign of life on that entire moonscape.  I'd like to think that if she was unable to catch anything she allowed herself to be transported away by the wind to some other more propitious spot.

 

"Krakatoa", page 351:  It was nestled between two rocks, on an otherwise arid spit of gray and dusty land. This was the very first living thing that could with certainty be said to have appeared after the catastrophe:  and it was a microscopic spider.  Significantly, and with a nice symbolism, this strange pioneer of the renovation was busy spinning its web!  The lonely little spider was hoping that it would eventually be lucky enough to catch a fly.  The arachnid's optimism was admirable. 

GROSS STUFF ALERT! 

Stop reading right here if you're the squeamish kind. 

****************************

 

WIRED.COM - Researchers say their findings support the idea that spiders have personalities. Sure, they’re not as complex as human personalities, but they’re defined by behavior differences that are consistent over time and context. They tested whether the division of labor was related to personality in the social spiders Stegodyphus sarasinorum.

 

S. sarasinorum live in large colonies that can include more than 200 individuals. They like it hot and dry, and are found in shrubby areas in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

 

In addition to being among the relatively few social spider species, S. sarasinorum also display a curious trait called suicidal maternal care. It’s as cheerful as it sounds: After a few weeks of mothering, female spiders allow themselves to be cannibalized by their offspring. They start kind of liquefying their body from inside.  The babies crawl on top of these females and start biting them and suck out the juices. The adult females sit still and let them do that.

 

That particular drama plays out in S. Sarasinorum nests, which are sticky silk balls woven into trees and spiny shrubs. Radiating outward from the main residential area are two-dimensional webs used for prey capture. When an insect lands in the web, the whole apparatus vibrates, prompting several of the small, half-inch-long spiders to hurry out and claim their prize, which they drag back in for everyone to enjoy.

Read more - http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/07/social-spiders/

RELATED

Spiders use electromagnetism to catch prey - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/spiders-use-electromagnetism-to-catch.html

Top ten scariest spiders - with pictures
http://www.earthrangers.com/wildwire/top-10/top-ten-scariest-spiders/


Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/spiders-have-personalities-not-that-we.html

*************************************************************************

RACCOON DANCES WITH HIS HILLBILLY FRIEND

Most folks would run the other way if a potentially rabies-riddled raccoon appeared on their porch - but not this self-confessed hillbilly.

 

No Mark 'Kuhn Rippy' Brown was so enamored by the tubby creature he nicknamed 'Gunshow' that he launched into a waltz with it, dancing to none other than Aretha Franklin's classic 'Chain of Fools.'
 

A hilarious video, posted on YouTube, captured the impressive feat, which lasted a whole minute-and-a-half, and the tape has garnered more than 250,000 views.

 

 

See more images and watch video

ANIMAL PICTURES - STUNNING WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHS

Elephants and a puffin at twilight, a field mouse sniffing a flower, a bear crab-fishing in the mist, and the intricate work of a spider web.   All captured by the best wildlife photographers.

See pictures here -  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2381310/WildPhotos-2013s-stunning-wildlife-photographs-capture-nature-best.html

HEALTH NEWS - HUMAN CELLS CAN TELL BETWEEN TRUE HAPPINESS AND JUST HAVING A GOOD TIME

Stress ruins your health.  So feeling good should make you  healthier then.  - Not so fast! 

 

Your cells can tell if you're just indulging, or if you are enjoying a true sense of happiness.  Only true happiness makes them healthier, says study.

 

So go and hug your pet, or engage in an activity that is meaningful to you (drinking beer won't do.) 

 

Cells respond positively to true happiness, defined as that derived from a sense of purpose and connection to others. 

 

Caring for your pet or your garden , for example, makes your cells happy and healthier, whereas enjoying a great pizza and a glass of beer while watching an exciting game does not do the job.

 

Stress kills.  Scientists who have studied the negative response of cells to stress found that it facilitates the onset of serious diseases.

 

But not all good times are beneficial for your cells.  The well being derived from true happiness makes them healthier, but a temporary self-indulging activity does not.  Cells respond positively to the first, and negatively to the latter.

 

"We can make ourselves happy through simple pleasures, but those 'empty calories' don't benefit us physically," said research team leader Stephen W. Cole of the University of California. "At the cellular level, our bodies appear to respond better to a different kind of well-being, one based on a sense of connectedness and purpose."

 

Past work by Cole and colleagues discovered the connection between chronic stress and a change in gene expression that resulted in a variety of illnesses including inflammation, arthritis, heart disease and a weakened immune system.

 

But if all happiness is created equal, and equally opposite to ill-being, then patterns of gene expression at the cellular level.

 

Not so, found the researchers.

 

Read more - http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130729161952.htm

Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/health-news-human-cells-can-tell.html
 

CELLPHONE USE DANGER - FURTHER EVIDENCE

Cellphone use is the new smoking - A hard-to-break habit. 
Could you live without your cellphone?  Can you safely live with it?

Comparing heavy mobile phone users to non-users, an Israeli study found that the saliva of heavy users showed indications of higher oxidative stress -- a process that damages all aspects of a human cell, including DNA -- through the development of toxic peroxide and free radicals. More importantly, it is considered a major risk factor for cancer.

 

This field of research reflects longstanding concerns about the impact of cell phone use, specifically the effects of radiofrequency non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation on human tissue located close to the ear, say the researchers. And although these results don't uncover a conclusive "cause and effect" relationship between cellular phone use and cancer, they add to the building evidence that cell phone use may be harmful in the long term, and point to a new direction for further research.

Read more - http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130729133531.htm

RELATED

Your favorite phone may be harming your health
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/09/26/cell-phone-and-harmful-health-_n_1916290.html

Is your cellphone cooking your brain?
http://news.menshealth.com/cell-phone-brain-damage/2012/12/18/


Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/cellphone-use-danger-further-evidence.html

PICTURES - MAGICAL VIEWS OF SPACE OVER BRITISH LANDMARKS

A dream world.

Beautiful pictures submitted to the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition.

See the Milky Way, the aurora borealis, the Transit of Venus, a meteor, the Sun, the Moon, noctilucent clouds, constellations, and nebulas - several of them from the perspective of a landscape transformed by twilight or nocturnal light.

See series of pictures here - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2380910/Astronomy-Photographer-Year-competitions-magical-views-space.html

DRUG RESISTANT BACTERIA - PROFIT VERSUS HEALTH - GUESS WHO IS WINNING

Previous studies have pointed to reckless use of antibiotics on farm animals as the reason for the surge in drug-resistant bacteria,  which often wreak havoc in hospital settings and among people with compromised immune systems. 

 

Scientists and health experts fear that that drug-resistant bacteria from farms are escaping via farmworkers or meat.

 

The major problem has been lack of data. Many farmers are reluctant to allow scientists access to their facilities, and farmworkers — many of whom, in the United States, are undocumented immigrants — are wary of anyone who might want to sample them.

 

Microbiologists are engaged in detective work, acquiring more data to prove their point beyond the shadow of a doubt.

 

The main effort now is on obtaining further data.  The question is, how much more data does the government need to curtail the use of antibiotics on farm animals for anything other than to treat disease.  

 

This farm practice is only one of many that are considered possibly harmful to human health, but that are allowed to continue for the sake of profit - in this case by farms and the pharmaceutical industry.

 

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has troubled hospitals around the world for more than four decades and infecting people outside of health-care settings since at least 1995.

 

Last year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended more restraint in the use of antibiotics in livestock, following the lead of regulatory authorities in other countries. But the meat and agricultural industries are fighting those restrictions.

 

STRUGGLING FARMERS SAY THEY HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO USE ANTIBIOTICS.  IT MAKES PIGS GROW BIGGER.

 

Studies have found that certain antibiotics can increase pigs' growth rate by 2.5%, enough to make the difference for farmers between profit and loss. In the current US market, a farmer might get around US$1 per pound for a pig that costs about $0.94 per pound to produce.

 

Although farm owners do not always reveal the quantities or types of antibiotics they use, an analysis of FDA data by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future in Baltimore found that in 2009, some 13.1 million kilograms — 80% of the antibiotics sold in the United States that year — were used on farms.

 

In a 1976 study, Stuart Levy, a microbiologist at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts, found that when farmers started using tetracycline, the numbers of tetracycline-resistant bacteria on the farms spiked. Within months, resistance had spread to microbes in farmworkers' intestinal tracts. “You don't have to look that far to see resistant bacteria moving to the environment,” Levy says.

 

Read more - http://www.nature.com/news/mrsa-farming-up-trouble-1.13427

 

RELATED:

 

Medline Plus:  Some farm workers harbor antibiotic-resistant bacteria, study finds  - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_138399.html

 

PBS FRONTLINE:  Is your meat safe? -

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/meat/safe/overview.html

 

New York Times: Tracing germs through supermarket aisles -

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/30/health/tracing-germs-through-the-aisles.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

 

~~~~~~~~~~
 

Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/drug-resistant-bacteria-profit-versus.html

 

*****************************************************************************

 

BREASTFED BABIES LESS LIKELY TO GET ADHD LATER ON

Breastfeeding not only good for the baby's immune system and for mom-baby bonding, but it may also have long lasting physical and mental health benefits, such as prevention of ADHD.

 

We know that breastfeeding has a positive impact on child development and health -- including protection against illness. Now researchers from Tel Aviv University in Israel have shown that breastfeeding may also help protect against Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the most commonly diagnosed neurobehavioral disorder in children and adolescents.

 

The researchers found a clear link between rates of breastfeeding and the likelihood of developing ADHD, even when typical risk factors were taken into consideration. Children who were bottle-fed at three months of age were found to be three times more likely to have ADHD than those who were breastfed during the same period.

Read more:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130722152739.htm

RELATED:

Benefits of breastfeeding -  http://www.nrdc.org/breastmilk/benefits.asp

Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/breastfed-babies-less-likely-to-get.html

FOX WITH HIS HEAD STUCK IN A JAR ASKS FOR HELP

The young fox was in a jam, with his head stuck in a jar. 

He had no choice but to ask for help from two men walking on a Russian country road.  Instead of running away he scurried towards them.  Although nervous and afraid, the young fox eventually stood still while one of the men tried to remove the jar.  He grabbed the fox by the scruff of his neck and pulled the jar away with his other hand.

Once free, the animal ran away as quickly as he could.  He was taking no more chances.  He was a fox after all.

Watch video and see pictures here - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2343002/Amazing-moment-tiny-fox-head-stuck-jar-approaches-men-help.html

ANIMAL PICTURES - LIONS PLAYING, PRACTICING MARTIAL ARTS, PROTECTING THEIR YOUNG AND JUST LOOKING CUTE

It's the weekend!  - Let's take a break from the news

Curious lion encounters a porcupine - Look but don't touch
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2379072/Curious-lion-risks-prickly-paw-tries-porcupine.html

Play fighting lions show off their martial arts skills 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2372274/Wonder-cats-Play-fighting-lions-perform-spectacular-martial-arts-moves-display-strength.html

Two lionesses' fierce battle to protect their cubs
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2368293/Mothers-fight-protect-cubs-groups-lions-cross-paths--walk-away-scratch.html

Super cute - Lion cubs that look like sheep
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2358820/Proud-zoo-unveils-adorable-fluffy-white-lambs-actually-white-LION-cubs.html


Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/animal-pictures-lions-playing.html

TIME TRAVELLERS COULD NOT SURVIVE IN A YOUNG EARTH

In Canada where the Tar Sands development in northern Alberta represents ONLY TWO PERCENT of the country's domestic product - while doing immense damage to the environment - what is the real value of nature?

 

The value of nature is tough is to pin down, writes David Suzuki, Canadian scientist and environmentalist. 

 

Imagine a group of time travellers on a time machine setting their time destination billions of years back, before life appeared on Earth.

 

Once outside the capsule they would not be able to survive.

 

There would be no oxygen, for starters. 

 

Only after life evolved a way to exploit the sun’s energy through photosynthesis was carbon dioxide removed and oxygen released as a byproduct. Over millions of years, photosynthesis liberated oxygen, which built up to become 20 per cent of the atmosphere. To this day, all green things on land and in oceans maintain the balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide.

 

There would be no water to drink.

 

Life is part of the hydrologic cycle that circulates water around the world in rivers, lakes, oceans and air. Soil organisms such as fungi and bacteria, as well as plant roots, filter molecules from water to render it drinkable.

 

There would be no food, no animals, no plants. 

 

Suppose the time travellers brought seeds to grow food.

 

There would be no soil.

 

There would be dust, sand, clay and gravel, but no soil because it’s formed by the accumulation of molecules from the remains of plants and animals.

 

They are feeling cold and want to build a fire. 

 

There would be no fuel.

 

Wood, peat, dung, coal, oil and gas all store the sun’s energy as photosynthetic products that we burn to liberate fire. Before life, there was no fuel. Again, in anticipation we brought wood, kindling and paper and set them up for a fire. But fire requires oxygen, so nothing happens when we strike the match.

 

The point of this exercise, writes David Suzuki, is to illustrate that the very foundations of our lives – air, water, photosynthesis, soil and food – are made possible by the web of life that evolved on a once-sterile planet.

 

Living organisms on land and in oceans, including us, create, cleanse and regenerate those vital elements.  Who needs nature? We do. Without nature, we would not be here. How do we put an economic value on that?

 

Read more http://www.davidsuzuki.org/blogs/science-matters/2013/07/whats-the-value-of-something-we-cant-live-without/  

 

More on the Tar Sands (a crime against nature) on this blog - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/06/environment-news-two-disasters-in.html

 

Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/time-travellers-could-not-survive-in.html

 

******************************************************************************

 

FOG FLOWING OVER SAN FRANCISCO IN BEAUTIFUL TIME LAPSE FILM

Two years of fog flowing over San Francisco condensed into a 4.5 minute film.  A dream-like experience.  Absolutely gorgeous.   

 

Click here to see film  ADRIFT here and read comments by film maker Simon Christen. -

http://io9.com/incredible-time-lapse-of-fog-flowing-over-san-francisco-683756107

S|imon Christen's website - http://www.simonchristen.com/


Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/fog-flowing-over-san-francisco-in.html

FAROES FISHERMEN TURN SEA RED WITH WHALE BLOOD EACH YEAR

A tradition?  A sport?  A primitive and gory spectacle?

Faroe Island fishermen murder hundreds of pilot whales every year.  They say it's tradition.

 

The Faroe Islands, located between Norway and Island, are a sovereign country but within the  Denmark's realm.  Their population is only 50,000.

 

Haunting images of local residents slashing whales, turning the water red with blood, have fueled protests from environmental activists who say the hunt is cruel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Warned by their own Faroes Chief Medical officer:  Whale meat is not fit for human consumption.

On 26 November 2008, the Chief Medical Officer in the Faroes, Dr Høgni Debes Joensen, together with Dr Pál Weihe of the Department of Public and Occupational Health, issued a joint press statement with a recommendation that the meat and blubber of pilot whales was no longer fit for human consumption because of the  high levels of mercury and other toxins that accumulate in the meat and organs of the whales and a comparatively high incidence of Parkinson’s disease, diabetes and other serious health issues in the Faroes linked to these contaminants.

Read more - http://www.campaign-whale.org/campaigns/the-faroes-cruel-whale-slaughter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If whale meat is not good for human consumption, then the killing orgy takes place for the fun of torturing and murdering animals that don't do any harm to anyone.

FAROE FISHERMEN KILL WHALES FOR FUN (disturbing images)
http://inserbia.info/news/2013/04/faroe-islands-locals-kill-dolphins-for-fun-disturbing-images/


RELATED:

Read more and see pictures -

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-faroe-island-whale-hunt-2013-7

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1189161/Pictured-The-brutal-slaughter-pilot-whales-annual-Faroe-Island-tradition.html

Faroe Islands - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faroe_Islands

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/faroes-fishermen-turn-sea-red-with.html

 

**************************************************************************

PICTURES OF BABY POLAR BEAR STRUGGLING TO KEEP UP WITH MUM

Only the strong survive in the Arctic, and mother bear is teaching her small cubs a lesson in toughness. 

 

Mother bear guides her two cubs through difficult terrain in the Arctic wilderness, even having to climb over slippery rocks.  One cub seems to have more difficulty than the other, something he will have to overcome.  He tries again and again, and makes it.

See delightful pictures here - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2379598/Wait-I-need-helping-paw-Adorable-polar-bear-cubs-struggle-mum-scale-rock-Arctic-snow.html

FAMILY FINDS RARE OCTOPUS - THEY KILL IT AND EAT IT

American family catch extremely rare six-tentacled octopus during Greek vacation. So they kill it and serve it with a slice of lemon.

 

So far only two of this type of octopus have been ever seen.

See pictures here - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2378775/Family-catch-eat-octopus-tentacles-Greek-vacation--second-specimen-rare-hexapus-found.html


RELATED

The intelligence of the octopus is amazing:

http://io9.com/5858783/the-growing-evidence-for-octopus-intelligence
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=are-octopuses-smart
http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/6474/

Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/family-finds-rare-octopus-they-kill-it.html

A CENTURY OF QUANTUM PHYSICS

Quantum physics revolutionized our concept of matter, energy and the universe. 

Our understanding of the quantum world began with Niels Bohr's discovery of the quantum atom in 1913.

This field emerged to explain the common sense-defying behaviour of atoms, molecules and light at the smallest scales, forming the foundations on which we have built one of the greatest and most successful theories of all time — quantum mechanics.

He saw that electrons were behind the electric currents flowing in wires, the red hot glow of molten iron, and the production of light from electric discharges in gas-filled tubes.

Bohr took the important elements of the emerging theories to explain all these different things, invented some new quantum mechanical principles and made it all work.

Read more - http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2013/07/18/3800168.htm

LIGHT STOPPED AND STORED FOR 60 SECONDS

Sounds like something out of a superhero story. 

 

A team of researchers at Germany's University of Darmstadt has succeeded in causing light to stop and then to be held in place for 60 seconds.

 

This feat will have applications in the construction of a quantum computer. 

 

Stopping light and holding it in place, then releasing it is an important step towards the creation of a quantum repeater, a necessary component of a future quantum computer. Light carrying data must be held for a time then retransmitted to a destination based on data it's carrying.

 

To stop light and hold it the researchers started with a crystal that doesn't normally transmit light at all. They cooled it to a very low temperature then fired a laser at it to cause a quantum superposition of two states, making it transparent for a precise range of frequencies.

 

Next, they fired another laser through the now transparent crystal while turning off its transparency, trapping the light from the laser inside. They found they were able to hold the light in place for up to 60 seconds.

 

Using the same technique the team found they were able to hold a pattern of light (three stripes) in place for the same amount of time. An analogy might be shining a flashlight into a dark room through a door, then shutting the door, waiting for a minute than opening a door on the other side of the room to let the light out. For light to be held, it has to be stopped, and that's what the team did with their crystal and lasers.

 

The researchers report that their findings suggest longer light-holding times should be attainable using other crystals. In order to apply their technique in a real-world computer, however, a way will have to be found to allow for holding then transmitting light at room temperature.

 

Read more -
http://phys.org/news/2013-07-seconds.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2380028/Scientists-stop-light-completely-record-breaking-MINUTE-trapping-inside-crystal.html

 

RELATED 

 

The nature of light -

http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/science/light-the-nature-light.html

http://physics.info/light/

 

Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/light-stopped-and-stored-for-60-seconds.html

 

SCIENTISTS IMPLANT FALSE MEMORIES IN MICE

The perfect job for twisted sadists - Be an experimental scientist torturing defenceless animals.

The ultimate goal in the increasing interest in many mind experiments lately is to be able to fully understand and control the human mind.  It is chilling.

This is how they implanted false memories in mice:

 

MIT scientists conditioned mice to fear an environment, Room One, by delivering simultaneous shocks to the mice’s feet and flashes of blue light inside their skulls via fiber optic cable as a way of triggering neurons to create a memory of the pain.

 

The mice were next introduced to a different environment, Room Two, and the team found that when the blue light was used again, the mice reacted with fear, associating it with a pain that was not imminent.

 

All of the above, however, was published over a year ago by the team at MIT in the journal Nature, and is only a prelude to their more recent experiment.

 

More recently, the scientists introduced mice to a room, then placed them in a second environment, and then triggered the blue light and the shock.

 

Upon placing the mice back into the original chamber, which the mice should have associated with safety after having not been shocked there originally, the mice still reacted with fear when the blue light was triggered.

 

In essence, the experiments caused the mice to remember pain in an environment they had been trained to trust.

The science world reacted to the news with enthusiasm.

Psychologist Elizabeth Loftus told Fox News that the results were “very exciting.”

Read more -

http://dailycaller.com/2013/07/25/mit-scientists-successfully-implant-false-memories-in-mice/

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/26/science/false-memory-planted-in-a-mouse-brain-study-shows.html?ref=science

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2377934/Can-trick-people-feeling-scared-Scientists-implant-FALSE-memories-brains-mice.html


Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/scientists-implant-false-memories-in.html

OMG! IS THIS THE WI-FI SOUP WHERE WE LIVE?

Colorful illustration of what Wi-Fi waves would look like if we could see them.  The writer of this article seems quite taken with these pictures. 

 

But they can be frightening too.  This is where we live, work, and sleep.  Nothing less than nightmarish.  

An American artist has created stunning colourful representations showing what Wi-Fi waves, peaks and pulses would look like if we could see them.

 

Nickolay Lamm worked with former Nasa astrobiologist M. Browning Vogel to learn how the networks move, and based the designs on coverage data taken from around the White House and The National Mall in Washington. 

 

The images show the shape of the Wi-Fi signals.  Different colors were used to distinguish the different sub-channels.

 

See pictures here - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2377642/The-beautiful-world-Wi-Fi-Stunning-pictures-wireless-signals-look-like-them.html

 

Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/omg-is-this-wi-fi-soup-where-we-live.html
 

FEDS DEMAND USER ACCOUNT PASSWORDS

So, what's the big deal!  We know that they can already read anything, anywhere, anytime.  Personal privacy is history.

The U.S. government has demanded that major Internet companies divulge users' stored passwords. 

 

This according to two industry sources familiar with these orders, which represent an escalation in surveillance techniques that has not previously been disclosed.

 

If the government is able to determine a person's password, which is typically stored in encrypted form, the credential could be used to log in to an account to peruse confidential correspondence or even impersonate the user. Obtaining it also would aid in deciphering encrypted devices in situations where passwords are reused.

 

Whether the National Security Agency or FBI has the legal authority to demand that an Internet company divulge a hashed password, salt, and algorithm remains murky.

Read more - http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57595529-38/feds-tell-web-firms-to-turn-over-user-account-passwords/

Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/feds-demand-user-account-passwords.html

CAT DELIBERATELY BURNT WITH BOILING WATER CONTINUED TO CARE FOR HER KITTENS

Humans poured boiling water on stray mother cat. She suffered agonizing pain for several days but managed to take excellent care of her kittens until they were all rescued.  She was barely alive, but is expected to recover.

 

How wrong we are to use the term "animals" to refer to those who are brutal, sadistic and cruel - when the qualities we admire the most are so often found in animals, but not in humans.  In fact, all of us have learned kindness, loyalty, true friendship, unconditional love, and nobility from our pets and other animals. 

 

Here is one story, all too common, of humans behaving sadistically - and one cat that remained loving and devoted to her kittens although she was in horrible pain.

 

Daily Mail - A cat that was horrifically burnt in Britain when someone poured boiling water over her still managed to care for her three newborn kittens. 

 

Patch, a long hair tabby stray, was barely alive when she was found with her days-old litter.  She had suffered excruciating burns over a third of her upper body after the sickening attack and her wounds had become badly infected. 

 

A member of the public took her and her kittens to vets in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, who said she would have died within a day had she not been found.  But remarkably her three kittens needed no medical attention because Patch had taken such good care of them despite her pain.  Patch is now recovering and along with her kittens waiting to be adopted.

 

"Her skin was hanging off in large areas, and her wounds had become terribly infected", said carer Pam McNicol. "She must have been in terrible pain, yet when we collected her she was caring for her kittens, cleaning them and being very protective", she added.

 

Patch needed emergency veterinary treatment to clean and repair the damaged skin. She will have permanent fur loss, scars, and may lose an ear.  She will have several operations ahead, but is expected to make a good recovery. 

 

Vet Cees Bennett, who is treating her said "This is the most callous and cowardly act of cruelty I have ever come across and this defenceless animal was left to endure pure agony for days as a result".  Her kittens, named Luca, Lola and Carrie, are aged around six weeks old and are all healthy.

See picture of Patch and her kittens here - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2377893/Brave-cat-horrific-burns-yobs-poured-boiling-water-manages-tend-kittens.html

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another story of a heroic mother cat, Scarlett, who went into a burning building to save her kittens

Read about Scarlett here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarlett_(cat)

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2059858_2059863_2060460,00.html

http://www.examiner.com/article/a-mother-s-love-scarlett-the-cat-that-rescued-her-kittens-from-fire

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/cat-deliberately-burnt-by-boiling-water.html

DANGEROUS FLUORIDE LEVELS IN NON-ORGANIC FOOD INCLUDING TEA BAGS

Many pesticides stay in crops and can be harmful to your health.  Non-organic food can contain up to 180 times more fluoride than tap water, says expert Jeff Green.

 

Fluoride-based pesticide chemicals are commonly used on non-organic food crops because they are highly effective at killing pests and protecting crops against pests. 

 

Those chemicals persist in the agricultural products.  Non-organic citrus fruits, potatoes, raisins, lettuce, cereals and juices, among many other food products, are all contaminated by pesticides that contain large amounts of fluoride.   

 

Author Jeff Green in a piece entitled "Hidden Fluoride in our Food"  wrote:  "The common pesticide cryolite (sodium aluminum fluoride containing both aluminum and fluoride) is found at alarmingly high rates in foods that easily absorb chemicals, such as potato skins, white grapes and strawberries."

 

What this all means is that the average person's cumulative exposure to fluoride from food, beverages, personal care products, and water is up to seven times the recommended maximum level, according to a government-compiled toxicological profile. Fluoride ions are smaller than water molecules, after all, which means they easily pass through the natural filtration mechanisms found in many fruits and vegetables, not to mention water filtration systems, the vast majority of which are incapable of filtering out fluoride ions.

Read more - http://www.naturalnews.com/041311_fluoride_exposure_foods_consumption.html

Interview with Jeff Green on hidden fluoride in non-organic food - http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/02/04/jeff-green-on-fluoride-toxins-part-2.aspx

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CHEAP TEA BAGS CONTAIN HIGH LEVELS OF FLUORIDE -  ENOUGH TO DAMAGE TEETH, BONES AND MUSCLE.

Many supermarket value brands have been found to contain potentially harmful levels of fluoride - a mineral that can severely damage bones in large amounts, a study reveals.  And just four cups a day are enough to generate worrying levels, say researchers.

 

Lower quality teas are made from older leaves that have accumulated higher levels of fluoride from the soil than the rest of the plant.

Read more -   http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2376032/Could-cheap-tea-bags-make-ill-Study-reveals-contain-high-fluoride-levels-damage-teeth-bones-muscles.html

Related

Natural News archive on Fluoride Dangers - http://www.naturalnews.com/fluoride.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/dangerous-fluoride-levels-in-non.html

CDC PULLS INFORMATION ON POLIO VACCINE DANGER FROM WEBSITE

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, has deleted a page on their website admitting that as many as 98 million Americans received polio vaccine contaminated with the cancer-linked monkey virus SV40.

 
A cached version is still available to view online.

Read more -  http://www.activistpost.com/2013/07/cdc-disappears-page-linking-polio.html

~~~~~~~~~~

RELATED

 

Millions of Americans could be at risk for cancer after receiving a Polio vaccination during the 1955 – 1963 time frame.  -  http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/vaccines-cdc-warns-of-vaccine-danger.html

Natural News in 2011 - The True Story of the Cancer-Causing Virus Hidden in Polio Vaccines -
http://www.naturalnews.com/032854_SV40_polio_vaccines.html

~~~~~~~~~~

Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/cdc-pulls-information-on-polio-vaccine.html

BLOGGER'S COMMENTS ON FARM FISH MUZZLED BY CANADIAN COURT

COURT SAID BLOGGER AND ACTIVIST DID NOT PRESENT FACTS AND DEFAMED FISH FARM COMPANY.

The British Columbia, Canada, Court of Appeal has muzzled an anti-salmon-farming activist and blogger and ordered him to pay $75,000 in damages to one of the province's biggest fish farming operations.

 

A three-member panel ruled unanimously that lower-court judge, Justice Elaine Adair, erred when she dismissed Mainstream Canada's defamation lawsuit against Don Staniford and upheld the campaigner's defence of fair comment.In written reasons,

 

Justice David Tysoe said the defamatory publications did not meet all four elements of a legal test because Staniford didn't reference the facts upon which he based his comments.

 

The court then ordered Don Staniford to pay $25,000 in general and $50,000 in punitive damages, referring in the latter award to the campaigner's conduct during the initial 2012 trial. Tysoe also referred to Adair's description of Staniford, saying the activist was "akin to a zealot," "virtually anything that conflicts with his view and vision is wrong, bad, disgraceful and worse," he "seems incapable of conceding he might be wrong on some things."  Besides damages and court costs, Tysoe also granted a permanent injunction, requested by the Norwegian-owned company, restraining Staniford from "publishing similar words and images in the future."

 

Laurie Jensen, a spokeswoman for Mainstream Canada, which owns 27 farms off the coasts of Vancouver Island, said she was pleased with the ruling, although she doesn't know how much the case has cost the company. "It wasn't about the money," she said. "It was about stopping these attacks, these vicious and malicious attacks."

Read more -
http://www.vancouversun.com/health/fish+farm+company+wins+cash+award+appeal+against+salmon/8692930/story.html

Alexandra Morton's website with report on Don Staniford's first trial in 2012 -  http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/alexandra_morton/2012/01/reporting-on-the-trial-of-don-staniford-vs-mainstream-by-elena-edwards.html

READ MORE ON THE PLIGHT OF WILD SALMON AND ABOUT THE PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH FISH FARMS ON ALEXANDRA MORTON'S WEBSITE.  http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/alexandra_morton/

Alexandra Morton is a reputable registered professional biologist living in British Columbia who has devoted her life to study whales, salmon and their ecosystems.  http://profile.typepad.com/6p0120a56ab882970c

Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/bloggers-comments-on-farm-fish-muzzled.html

DANGEROUS BACTERIA IN DOGS AND CATS SALIVA

Woman lost three limbs to bacteria in her lapdog's saliva. 

 

After being bitten by her small Shih Tzu mixed breed, she went into septic shock. 

 

Christine Caron, 49, had both her legs and an arm amputated after Buster gave her a small bite.  She brushed off the injury and allowed one of her three other dogs to lick the wound.  Three days later she went into septic shock, after her wound became infected with CAPNOCYTOPHAGA CANIMORSUS, a bacteria common in dog's saliva. 

 

The septic shock caused blood flow to be restricted to her limbs and left doctors no choice but to amputate.   Mrs Caron almost lost her life, and doctors were forced to put her into an induced comma for six weeks. 

 

Doctors are unsure whether the infection came from the bite or from other dogs licking the wound.

Read more - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2374571/My-legs-black-arm-looked-mummified-Mother-loses-THREE-LIMBS-bitten-pet-Shih-Tzu-Buster.html

More on Capnocytophaga Canimorsus -

Approximately 26% of dogs carry this bacteria in their mouths. It is also present in cats.   -  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capnocytophaga_canimorsus

Additional information and case histories on the Journal of Medical Microbiology
http://jmm.sgmjournals.org/content/57/7/901.full

Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/dangerous-bacteria-in-dogs-and-cats.html

ANIMALS TALK - THEY JUST DON'T TALK TO US

PRAIRIE DOG LANGUAGE DECODED
 

We are familiar with our pets making sounds to let us know what they want.  The most common is of course the growl, the bark, the hiss and other expressions that mean Back off, or You're trespassing.  But there are others.  My own elderly cat makes a special whimpering sound that means "Would you please bring me some water?".

 

Scientists are constantly surprised by new studies that prove that animals can talk to others of their same species.  The list keeps getting longer. It includes whales, dolphins, elephants, birds, wolves, and many others. 

 

The amazing case of prairie dog language 

 

Con Slobodchikoff, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Biological Sciences of Northern Arizona University, has spent 30 years watching, listening, recording, and decoding prairie dog language.  He says that humans can learn to understand their language.  It has a very precise set of "words" or sounds for a large number of things, their size, their color, and other characteristics.

 

"They're able to describe the color of clothes the humans are wearing, their size and shape, even whether a human once appeared with a gun," he says.  For example, in one short chirp they can communicate "Tall, thin human wearing blue shirt walking slowly across the colony".

 

How he decoded prairie dog language: 

 

Slobodchikoff and his students went out into the prairie dog villages, hid behind bushes, and stuck out their microphones whenever a human, or a dog, or a coyote, or a hawk passed through. They recorded calls that the prairie dogs made in response to different predators.

 

Then he took his recordings to a lab and used a computer program to analyze the sounds. Any given sound is actually made up of different frequencies and overtone layers on top of one another.   Slobodchikoff's computer measured those frequencies and separated out all the component tones and overtones.

 

What Slobodchikoff discovered was that the calls clustered into different groups, and each cluster had its own signature set of frequencies and tones. Prairie dogs, in other words, don't just have a call for "danger" — they have one call for "human," another for "hawk" and a third for "coyote." They can even differentiate between coyotes and domesticated dogs.

Listen to interview with Prof Slobodchikoff on CBC radio - http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2013/06/21/learning-animal-language-from-prairie-dogs/
 
NPR -. Transcript and audio.  There is also an interactive sample of recordings "Can you speak prairie dog?"  -  http://www.npr.org/2011/01/20/132650631/new-language-discovered-prairiedogese
 
Watch video of prairie dog couple talking and saying good bye with a kiss -  http://now.msn.com/watch-two-prairie-dogs-romantic-goodbye-in-this-viral-video

Video where Prof Slobochikoff explains the subject - http://richardbrenneman.wordpress.com/2013/06/05/prairie-dogs-theyre-onto-your-game/

Book review of Prof Slobodchikoff's book Chasing Doctor Doolittle - http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-12-28/opinions/36072344_1_prairie-dogs-con-slobodchikoff-animal-language


Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/animals-talk-just-they-dont-talk-to-us.html