I just checked my archives and this blog is going to be six years old in March with over 1885 posts and over 2.3 million visitors and counting ( thanks for dropping by). That’s also a lot of wallpapers. As much as I like doing them I’ve decided to scale back posting the wallpapers to Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I will still be posting pictures, graphs and plan to continue putting up more videos. So it’s not like there will not be plenty of nature and science eye candy to enjoy.
They’ve Done It Again: An Albatross Chick
To the delight of scientists, a pair of lovers returned to Hawaii this year for what might turn out to be an annual sojourn. The two birds are endangered short-tailed albatrosses, and for the second time in the species’ recorded history, they nested there, producing a chick on American soil.
Most short-tailed albatrosses breed on a volcanic island in Japan, and scientists hope they are seeing the beginning of a new breeding colony that could help ensure the species’ survival in the event of a catastrophic eruption.
A short-tailed albatross with its newborn chick. Photo- Pete Leary/U.S.F.W.S.A
It’s a little scary that a good-sized volcanic eruption could wipe out the short-tailed albatross (or Steller’s Albatross, Phoebastria albatrus) species. Until the turn of the 20th century there were millions of short-tailed albatrosses. A small population was rediscovered of about 40 individuals. While they are still not up to the millions yet, that small population discovered on a Japanese island has grown to 3,000 individuals. A precarious success story, but one conservationists can take pride in.
Amazon rainforest mapped in unprecedented detail
Scientists record Amazon’s structure and biodiversity by bouncing laser beams off forest 400,000 times per second.
“[It's] the critical information that’s missing for managing these systems, for conserving them and for developing policy to better utilise the Amazon basin as a resource, while still protecting what it has in terms of its biological diversity.”
As well as measuring how the forest ecosystem is responding to the 2010 Amazon drought – the worst ever recorded – the technology accurately monitors deforestation and degradation, and has revealed unexpectedly high levels of biodiversity in high forest on the Andean rim of the Amazon basin.
The data could prove critical to the United Nation’s Redd (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) initiative, which will be the biggest future source of funding to protect the planet’s tropical forest.
The programme is designed to compensate tropical countries for reducing deforestation and forest degradation.
The still photo just doesn’t do justice to the detail, but there is one at the link for those who might be interested.
French designer Arthur Kenzo, focusing on a concept of a new electric scooter taxi called “Fluidi”, a name inspired by the fundamental idea of flow and safety at the base of the project. Arthur Kenzo, in collaboration with a team of five students, has developed with creativity, based on a model of scooter with cabin, this new mean of transport with futuristic shape and design, which due to its small size and an aluminum structure, allows quick and agile movements even in the chaotic city streets, with attention to the environment and reduced consumption. Small dimensions that don’t affect the interior space, in fact they allow you to carry, comfortably and safety, a passenger and all his luggage, functioning as taxi, or use the entire space available for the carriage of goods of various kinds.
An interesting addition to a new way of thinking about getting around in urban and highly congested suburban areas using a minimal amount of energy.
Sadly the media who are supposed to serve as unbiased watchdogs Has Not Given Equal Time to Those Opposing Keystone Pipeline
A Media Matters analysis shows that as a whole, news coverage of the Keystone XL pipeline between August 1 and December 31 favored pipeline proponents. Although the project would create few long-term employment opportunities, the pipeline was primarily portrayed as a jobs issue. Pro-pipeline voices were quoted more frequently than those opposed, and dubious industry estimates of job creation were uncritically repeated 5 times more often than they were questioned. Meanwhile, concerns about the State Department’s review process and potential environmental consequences were often overlooked, particularly by television outlets.
Pro-Pipeline Voices Were Quoted More Frequently
All But Two Major News Outlets Quoted More Pipeline Supporters Than Opponents. With the exceptions of USA Today and the Los Angeles Times, every news outlet included in this study quoted or hosted more people in favor of the pipeline than opposed.
BROADCAST: Among the broadcast networks, 79% of those quoted or interviewed were in favor of the pipeline. NBC and ABC did not quote anyone opposed.
CABLE: On Fox News, 66% of those quoted or hosted were in favor and 13% were opposed. CNN featured 54% in favor and only 14% opposed. MSNBC was the most balanced, with 38% in favor and 31% opposed.
PRINT: Of those quoted by the major newspapers, 45% were in favor of the pipeline and 31% were opposed. The New York Times was the most balanced, quoting 35% in favor and 27% opposed. The Wall Street Journal was the least balanced, with 52% in favor and 21% opposed.
Op-Eds/Editorials Supporting Keystone XL Outweighed Those Opposed. The editorial boards of the Washington Post, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal have come out in favor of the Keystone XL pipeline. Those three newspapers published 16 op-eds or editorials supporting the pipeline and only one opposed.
The media, by way of their bias toward the pipeline are doing a disservice to the public by perpetuating the myth that the XL will be a great job creator. Congress also has its biases, with Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) having invested in XL stocks.
For those that stop by here in the morning, enjoy some inspiration to get off to a positive start, Together We Can – Wildlife Music Video Celebrating the Biodiversity of Our World
