Pound 360

Shadowy costs of coal mining killing Appalachian region

2009-06-25T01:17:00.001-07:00

The coal industry drives $8 billion each year to the Appalachian region (in jobs, taxes, etc). But premature deaths caused by coal mining (from pollution, for example) are costing the region $42 billion each year. (Climate Progress)

Lame. This example demonstrates "the Ponzi scheme our US economy is built on."

'Stunning' images show volcano blowing a hole in the sky

2009-06-25T01:16:00.004-07:00

High above a remote Russian island in the North Pacific, the international space station captured this image of a volcano blowing a hole through the clouds (Daily Mail)…

The initial shockwave from the eruption probably blew the hole in the cloud-deck where the five mile-high mushroom cloud emerged.

The international space station orbits about 220 miles above the ground.

Salt water on Saturn moon may indicate underground ocean

2009-06-25T01:16:00.003-07:00

NASA's Cassini probe (currently in the midst of a truly remarkable mission to the Saturn system) has detected evidence of sodium in the water vapor streaming from cracks at the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus. (BBC) So? "Liquid water that is in prolonged contact with rock will leach out sodium - in exactly the same way as Earth's oceans have become salty over time."

30 pct of shark species 'threatened with extinction'

2009-06-25T01:16:00.001-07:00

Global warming? Nope. Overfishing is to blame for threatening shark species, according to the first International Union for Conservation of Nature study looking at open ocean sharks. (BBC) Thirty percent of sharks are "threatened with extinction", 24 percent are "near threatened."

Sharks are particularly vulnerable since they take years to mature and don't have many offspring.

What can you do? Don't eat tuna or swordfish. "Many sharks are caught in high seas tuna and swordfish fisheries."

Images from a doomed Japanese lunar probe

2009-06-22T12:00:00.003-07:00

Japan's first lunar orbiter, Kaguya, ended its two year mission this week with a suicide swan dive into the moon's surface. As the probe descended, it sent back some very cool images (Popular Science)…

Kaguya's objective was to learn more about the moon's origin and evolution, to measure its magnetic and gravitational fields, and set the stage for an unmanned moon lander in the next decade. (MSNBC) After that, Japan expects to land a manned spacecraft on the moon by 2025.

In case you missed it, here's a remarkable, high-def update of the Apollo-era Earthrise shot by Kaguya (MSNBC)…

Scientist slowly unravel 'mystery of quiet sun'

2009-06-22T12:00:00.002-07:00

The sun has been strangely "dead" for the last year. Sunspot activity on the sun's surface reached a 95-year low, and other solar activity (solar wind, flares and eruptions) have been practically non-existent. What's going on? Two new studies (reported at New Scientist) shed light on how, but not why this is happening.

One study shows "jet stream" activity slightly below the sun's surface has slowed. (No, the study doesn't say why jet stream activity is down.) The second study reveals more details on the "arrangement of the intense magnetic tangles" within sunspots, and suggests low sunspot activity is due to a low inclination of the sun's magnetic field.

Construction begins on world's first commercial spaceport

2009-06-22T12:00:00.001-07:00

Work began on the first commercial spaceport in the world this week, "Spaceport America." (Reuters) Where? The same state where the Roswell UFO incident happened, of course: New Mexico. The New Mexico government is funding the $198 million dollar project, and Virgin Galactic plans on using the facility to send tourists into space for $200,000 a seat.

Pound360 wonders if the seatbacks on the Virgin Galactic flights will have video screens like they do aboard Virgin America's. That way, passengers can play Duke Nukem and practice slaying aliens, giving them a fighting chance in case they are caught in a tractor beam and boarded by hostile ETs.

Standard theories cannot explain the size of many exoplanets

2009-06-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

The size of many exoplanets (planets discovered outside our solar system) defy explanation by standard theories. (New Scientist) But a new theory by Princeton University astronomer Laurent Ibgui suggests elliptical orbits are the cause for some unusually large gas giants.

Following an elliptical orbit, a gas giant would be "squeezed and stretched" as they get closer and then move away from their stars (the gas would expand when the planet is closer, warmer). This would result in "tidal heating", an effect than can last for a billion years, goes the theory.

The United States returns to the moon

2009-06-22T06:36:00.003-07:00

On Thursday, an Atlas rocket carrying the (unmanned) Lunar Reconnaissance Oribiter (LRO) took off from Cape Canaveral, kicking off NASA's mission to return astronauts to the moon around 2020. (Reuters) LRO's mission is to pave the way for astronauts by scouting landing sites (one of LRO's camera's can see objects as small as 20 inches) and creating a detailed temperature map. And check this out, LRO is carrying a patch of synthetic human skin to track how radiation out there may affect astronauts.

Exoplanet discoveries slows to a trickle

2009-06-22T06:36:00.001-07:00

According to a chart at Wikipedia, it's been a very slow year for exoplanet discovery. So far this year, just nine planets have been discovered outside of our solar system. During each of the last two years, 62 planets were detected. Three hundred have been found since 2000. The total list of exoplanets is 330 strong.

New Scientist: 'Grey hair may be protecting us from cancer'

2009-06-22T06:35:00.003-07:00

Japanese researchers suggest the process that produces grey hair may be protecting us from cancer. (New Scientist) Hair color is maintained by cells called melanocytes, which are created by stem cells. As we age, the stem cells eventually, permanently turn into melanocytes (perhaps when their DNA is mutated), no longer capable of creating more melanocytes.

"A cancer researcher at Harvard Medical School, suggests such processes may help protect us from cancer, by discouraging the proliferation of stem cells with damaged DNA, which could pass on mutations."

200 million climate refugees expected by 2050

2009-06-22T06:35:00.001-07:00

Global warming may create 200 million refugees looking for food and work by 2050 according to a CARE International report. (CNN) This could wipe out gains in the fight against poverty.

One solution is to, you know, stop pumping so much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. But we all know how likely that is (not very). Another solution is to convince at-risk populations to change their livestock and agricultural practices. That's not very likely either. Recommended changes are raising ducks instead of chickens in flood-prone regions of Bangladesh, and having farmers switch from "water-craving crops to more resilient foods."

Doctors "startled" by results of recent prostate cancer test

2009-06-22T06:34:00.000-07:00

Researchers testing the effect of immune drug "ipilimumab" on prostate cancer were startled recently by the results. (BBC) In three men with advanced (usually terminal) prostate cancer, the tumors shrank to the point where surgeons could operate.

"Our surgeons had never seen this happen before," said one researcher. "The pathologist (who was working during surgery) asked if we were sending him samples from the same patient."

Further testing is required to see whether or not the results can be reproduced or if they were just a, you know, miracle.

Scientists identify 'gangsta gene'

2009-06-19T07:46:00.001-07:00

Males with the MAOA gene are twice as likely to join a gang. (New Scientist) Gang members with "these mutations" are also more likely to use weapons. What do you do with this info? Throw anyone in jail that has the MAOA gene? That would be a little too Minority Report-ish, a little absurd. But there is a practical application here. You "can alter the environment" in a way that would "blunt that genetic effect," said one researcher.

PETA 'miffed', 'condemns' Obama fly 'execution'

2009-06-19T07:45:00.002-07:00

According to news sources around the web, a miffed PETA is condemning President Obama for swatting and killing a fly on camera. Wow, for serious?

Responding to what they call an "execution", PETA said of Obama, "He isn't the Buddha, he's a human being, and human beings have a long way to go before they think before they act… we believe that people, where they can be compassionate, should be, for all animals." (Reuters)

To save more flies from being killed by the President, PETA "sent Obama a device that traps a fly so it can then be released outside."

Of all the battles to pick, Pound360 wonders why PETA chose this one. Then again, here we are blogging about it, and look at all the press.

First-ever public health emergency declared by EPA

2009-06-19T07:45:00.001-07:00

For the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency has declared in a health emergency. (New York Times) The location: Libby, Montana. The problem: asbestos contamination. For decades, townspeople worked an asbestos mine near Libby. Now, 200 are dead and hundreds (in the town of just 2,600) are sick. Mine executives (of the WR Grace & Company) were acquitted of any wrong doing recently, though they've agreed to contribute $250 million to cleanup of the site.

Would human society exist if we were natural meat eaters?

2009-06-18T12:00:00.001-07:00

A recent article at Alternet suggests "eating meat is not natural" (for humans), based on the scientific evidence. One reason, "most of us (hopefully) lack the instinct that would drive us to chase and then kill animals and devour their raw carcasses." Interesting idea. And it made Pound360 think, if we did have these instincts, could we ever develop (mostly) peaceful societies?

Why do we have fingerprints? It's (probably) not what you think.

2009-06-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

Why did humans evolve fingerprints? Ask (almost) anyone, and they'd probably tell you it's friction. Fingerprints increase the surface area on your finger tips, which would naturally increase friction, making it easier for people to grip things. But no. According to a Manchester University study, finger prints actually decrease surface area and decreases friction (on smooth surfaces). (Science Friday)

So what are fingerprints doing on our fingers, the fingers of other primates, Koala bears and the tails of South American primates? It probably has something to do with climbing around in trees. And fingerprints may increase friction on rough surfaces (like branches), but more tests are needed.

But if tests show fingerprints do not increase friction on rough surfaces? The University of Manchester's Roland Ennos suggests fingerprints protect from blisters.

Found! ' First unambiguous evidence of shorelines on Mars'

2009-06-17T20:52:00.000-07:00

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter recently snapped shots of Martian beaches along a canyon that was probably once a lake. (Reuters) The finding represents "the clearest evidence yet of a standing lake on the surface of Mars," and at a time when scientists believe standing water had already disappeared from the Red Planet.

So what? First, "water is key to life." Second, explorers could use water reserves when surveying, colonizing Mars.

Global warming is 'real, serious and getting worse'

2009-06-17T20:50:00.000-07:00

Some of the country's finest believe global warming is a hoax. That may be true, but "a major government report… says the effects of global warming in this country are already with us. They're real, they're serious and they're getting worse"…

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Another glacier defies global warming

2009-06-17T20:49:00.000-07:00

Despite shedding "icebergs the size of apartment buildings," and the whole global warming thing (which of course is a hoax), Argentina's Perito Moreno glacier is still growing. (AP) Scientists don't know why the glacier, "nourished by Andean snowmelt" isn't retreating.

Further north, Mt. Shasta is home to the last growing glaciers in the US. The mountain is lucky to receive more precipitation from a warming Pacific Ocean.

Humans are not natural carnivores

2009-06-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

We at Pound360 hear it all the time. All the time. "Being a vegetarian is unhealthy. You need to eat meat. It's natural." Well, "that’s simply not true, scientifically." (Alternet)

You may love eating meat, and that's fine. Do it. But be careful, "when we kill animals to eat them, they end up killing us, because their flesh, which contains cholesterol and saturated fat, was never intended for human beings, who are natural herbivores.”

What about lions and tigers? They eat meat and they seem perfectly healthy. They are. But that's because in nature, "carnivores have short intestines so they can quickly get rid of all that rotting flesh they eat."

Oh, but humans have canine teeth for devouring prey, right? No. "[human canines] bear little resemblance to the canines of carnivores

So how did we end up as "behavioral omnivores"? Early humans may have scavenged meat from animals killed by carnivores during times of scarcity, developed a taste for it, and started herding animals about 10,000 years ago.

Can decoding the human mind unlock secrets of the universe?

2009-06-17T20:45:00.000-07:00

Before we spend any more time trying to understand the universe, biomedical researcher Robert Lanza suggests we figure out how the human mind works in his new, controversial book "Biocentrism." (MSNBC) Why? Until we know how the human mind interprets (twists?) facts and stimuli (vision, sound, etc), we may never be able to connect all the dots.

Earth is only habitable for another 2.3 billion years

2009-06-04T12:00:00.002-07:00

That's it and the party's over. Life has 2.3 billion years to figure out a way off this rock so the flame of reason isn't extinguished from the universe, according to a new report by Caltech. (Wired)

Previous studies predicted the Earth would only be inhabitable for a billion years before the sun got too bright, the atmosphere too hot for life to survive (assuming, of course, that life doesn't evolve to survive in higher temperatures). However, earlier studies neglected the role of atmospheric pressure in regulating temperature.

"The world's oceans will be empty of fish" by 2048

2009-06-04T12:00:00.001-07:00

Last year, Pound360 mentioned a study (referenced by the NY Times) that predicted commercial fish stocks would be wiped out by 2048 thanks to overfishing.

But it's worse than that. It actually predicts "the world's oceans will be empty of fish… due to overfishing, pollution, habitat loss, and climate change." (CBS News)

The study was lead by the University of Halifax, Nova Scotia and included scientists from the US, UK, Sweden and Panama.