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Here Come The Layoffs

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Danzig

Rep. Bishop responds to NASA's efforts to end the Constellation, Cache Valley Daily

"This recent directive handed down by NASA officials shows blatant disregard for the laws set forth by Congress to prevent this very action," says Rep. Bishop. "The administration is disregarding these policies with reckless abandon and doing so in a way that I find to be in complete violation of the legal parameters."

Hutchison says NASA is skirting law by shutting down Constellation, The Hill

"For months, NASA's leadership has claimed they are not working to subvert Constellation despite information to the contrary," Hutchison said in a statement."

NASA orders immediate cuts; job losses expected, KENS5

"At the time, economists predicted as many as 7,000 jobs could be lost in Houston as the space shuttle program was phased out and Constellation winded down. Another 4,000 indirect jobs at local businesses were predicted to be on the line."

Constellation contractor Boeing makes Huntsville job cuts, WAFF

"The cancellation of the NASA Constellation program is having an impact on contractors in Huntsville. Boeing spokesperson Ed Memi said they could possibly lay of 60 percent off the 300 people who work on the Constellation and Ares project."

Boeing will issue termination notice to Constellation workers here July 2, Huntsville Times

"Boeing spokesman Ed Memi said notices will go out July 2 with workers leaving the job Sept. 3. Boeing will try to place as many employees as possible on other programs, he said."

Seals do it with whiskers, sharks do it with noses – tracking fish with supersenses | Not Exactly Rocket Science

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Danzig

Predators that swim after fish all have to accurately track the movements of fast-moving prey, often in murky waters. Different groups accomplish this feat with different abilities – sharks use their keen sense of smell, while seals depend on touch, thanks to their long, sensitive whiskers. Now, two new studies reveal just how good these supersenses are.

Fish might not leave any tracks when they swim, but they do leave behind turbulent wakes – even a 10cm long goldfish leaves behind a distinctive flow of water behind itself. While invisible to us, these trails are just as informative to any animal with the right tools to read them. And seals certainly have those – their faces are studded with long, sensitive whiskers that act as motion sensors.

At the University of Rostock, Guido Deinhardt has been studying the whiskers of seals for over a decade. In 1998, he was the first to show that seals use their whiskers to detect minute water movements. He later put paid to the idea that this was a short-range ability by showing that harbour seals could use their whiskers to track a mini-submarine for around 40 metres. Now, he’s at it again, blindfolding Henry the harbour seal at Cologne Zoo to test his skill at tracking a more fish-sized quarry.

To ensure calm water, graduate student Sven Wieskotten set up a closed box at the bottom of Henry’s pool with a small hole in the side. They trained Henry to stick his head through after they swept a rubber fin through the water. Henry’s task was to indicate which direction it was moving in, and to mask his other senses, his eyes were covered by a blindfold and his ears were covered by headphones playing white noise.

Regardless, he could still track the fin very well. After a 5 second delay, his accuracy was hovering around the 95% mark. And even after 35 seconds, he still tracked the fin with an accuracy of 70%, significantly better than chance. Only after 40 seconds did Henry lose the trail. That’s a remarkable achievement – in that time, a herring or a cod could cover around 30-40 metres, so tracking it would be invaluable to the seal.

By adding small particles to the water and filming their movements, Wieskotten showed that the moment Henry’s whiskers touched the fin’s wake, it took him just half a second to jerk his head in the right direction. Of course, it’s still unclear how exactly seals “read” the turbulence they encounter. Wieskotten suspects that they can sense the complex structure of the wake, from the central jet of water to the swirling vortices that surround it. He also reckons that seals should be able to distinguish between the trails produced by different fishes, so they can home in on their favourites. That’s a study for another time.

Meanwhile, Jayne Gardiner and Jelle Atema have focused their attention on the tracking skills of sharks. Sharks can famously detect the electric fields of living things, but they also hunt with a keen sense of smell. And it turns out that they can tell where an odour is coming from by working out which nostril picks it up first, even if the smell arrives at the other nostril just a tenth of a second later.

Many people believe that sharks are attuned to differences in the concentration of molecules hitting each nostril. But that would only work if underwater smells spread outwards in an even way. In real life, they are carried outwards in turbulent plumes with chaotic patches and swirls. Steering by concentration just wouldn’t work and attempts to do so with a robot only worked under very limited circumstances. Instead, Gardiner and Atema showed that the shark’s skill is all in the timing.

The duo fitted a smooth dogfish with headgear designed to deliver the enticing aroma of squid to its nostrils are different times and different concentrations. For delays of anywhere from 0.1 to 0.5 seconds, the shark turned its head towards the side that the smells first arrived from. If the delay was a second long, it might as well have been guessing. And as predicted, concentration didn’t matter. If both nostrils caught a whiff of squid at the same time, the shark turned to either side just as often even if one nostril received 100 times more odour.

Gardiner and Atema also noted that when following a smell, dogfish swim at a slow and steady pace of 1 metre per second, less than a third of their top speed. They reckon this is the optimal cruising speed for tracking an odour plume. Swim too fast, and it risks shooting out of the plume before its brain can steer it back. Swim too slowly, and the plume could diffuse before it can be tracked.

The ability to track such wafts of smell improves as the distance between the nostrils increases, and Gardiner and Atema suggest that this advantage may have driven the evolution of the distinctive heads of hammerhead sharks.

Their wide heads give them excellent binocular vision, but their widely spaced nostrils also allow them to sample a greater area of ocean in search of delectable smells. They could resolve subtler differences between the arrival of smells at either nostril, and they could perhaps swim faster while tracking such smells. For now, that’s just a hypothesis, but the duo are keen to test it by repeating their dogfish experiment on a variety of hammerheads with differently sized hammers.

References: Seal paper in J Experimental Biology http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jeb.041699; and shark paper in Current Biology http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2010.04.053

Images: seal by Andreas Trepte; shark by NOAA

More on seals and sharks:

NCBI ROFL: The novel use of wooden spoons for control of massive intra-abdominal hemorrhage. | Discoblog

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Danzig

Photo on 2010-06-10 at 14.24 “Massive intra-abdominal hemorrhage represents a challenging operative emergency. Temporary control of the aorta and inferior vena cava (IVC) using intra-luminal balloon occlusion, preemptive trans-thoracic clamping or infra-diaphragmatic clamping has been achieved with variable success. We report the use of wooden spoons with convex arches cut from their bases as a cheap and effective alternative. They can be used to compress the aorta or IVC against the vertebrae, giving vascular control while leaving good surgical access. This equipment requires minimal financial investment and only basic woodworking skills.”

Thanks to Neil for today’s ROFL!

WTF is NCBI ROFL? Read our FAQ!

JSC Begins Constellation Changes

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Danzig

NASA JSC Internal Email: Constellation Program FY2010 Replanning Update

"This morning, Ellen Ochoa met with our civil service supervisors from across the Center as well as members of the Joint Leadership Team to discuss replanning of Constellation operations for the remainder of this fiscal year. Ellen was joined by Dale Thomas, Acting Constellation Program Manager, and Charlie Stegemoeller, Constellation Program Planning and Control Manager. They noted that the Constellation Program has been given the authority to proceed immediately to assign preliminary adjustments and funding reductions. This replan will have an impact on contracts, workforce, and planned content of the Constellation Program. We don't know the specific impacts at the Center levels or at JSC yet. The Program is working through the projects and implementing organizations to determine plans and numbers of team members that will be affected."

Gulf Oil Syndrome

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Danzig

More than 50 days after oil began spewing into the crystal waters of the Gulf of Mexico, I want to take a step back from all the finger pointing and political speculation, and talk about the innocent lives at stake because of the health hazard this disaster has created: Gulf Oil Syndrome.

With reports of oil spill workers falling ill, and in some cases, even being hospitalized with flu-like symptoms including nausea, headache, dizziness and even chest pains — presumably due to exposure to toxic chemicals being emitted from the 33-million gallon slick, it’s only a matter of time before people start coming down with Gulf Oil Syndrome.

Remember 9/11? Of course you do, it’s a day in American history that none of us will ever forget. After those horrific acts of terrorism claimed the lives of thousands, we watched as first responders worked round the clock to try to pick up the pieces. And as the days rolled on, and their search and rescue missions turned to search and recover, we praised their dedication in their efforts to bring closure to grieving families.

In the months that followed, conversations started to emerge about the potential health hazards the rescue personnel may be exposed to during the massive cleanup. Immediately after the attacks, of course, no one focused on any of these concerns because there were more urgent needs.

In the years since the attacks, complaints of significant health issues and even death in Ground Zero responders and survivors have been heard and lawsuits have been filed. Finally, in July 2009, New York legislators introduced the James Zadroga 9/11 Health Compensation Act, and we seem to be making progress as health coverage and compensation for victims and their families remain a priority for legislators championing these programs.

But why did it take so long? What have we learned from the mistakes and injustices that these people suffered through to change the course of how we look after the health of Americans who respond in times of disaster?

On day 15 of the oil spill, I wrote a blog about the health implications of a spill of this magnitude, titled “Will the Oil Spill Be Dangerous to Your Health?” I pointed out the potential health hazards of the hydrocarbons and alkenes in the oil, both of which are carcinogens.

I described the damaging effects that heavy metals can have on the immune system of pregnant women and people with compromised immune systems or underlying respiratory diseases. Some of our viewers responded by calling me an alarmist, accused me of fear mongering and told me how stupid I am not to realize that dilution is the solution, and that these toxins only posed a threat through repeated exposure.

Today, reports have begun to surface that county health departments in Florida’s western Panhandle have started posting warnings off a six-mile stretch of beach, advising people not to swim or fish in the oil-polluted waters. Officials are warning beachgoers — pregnant women and children in particular — to avoid skin contact with oily waters and dead sea animals; obvious casualties of the massive spill.

"Young children, pregnant women, people with compromised immune systems and individuals with underlying respiratory conditions should avoid the area," the advisory states.

Theoretically, people suffering from this Gulf Oil Syndrome may not see the same effects as the workers who have been entrenched in the toxins since day one. But my prediction is that citizens living in the areas surrounding the spill site, will start to report symptoms like chronic fatigue, weakened immune systems, chronic respiratory illnesses, and skin irritation.

We don’t know the long-term health effects that this catastrophe will have on the clean-up workers and communities exposed but Gulf Oil Syndrome will surely linger for decades.

I can only hope that the federal government has learned from their mistakes with the handling of the health crises following 9/11, and will start setting aside some money to take care of the next wave of victims facing a future of health problems.

What Happens When a BP Exec Spills His Coffee–and More Cathartic Comedy | Discoblog

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Danzig

Need a little relief from oil-soaked pelicans and dead dolphins, angry Louisiana officials and ambiguous BP representatives, top kills and containment domes?

The following hope to entertain, amuse, and mitigate (temporarily) depression and despair.

A New Logo

Greenpeace has started a contest to create a more fitting BP logo, such as the one on the left, featured on flickr. The flickr page boasts almost 1,000 fury-fueled entries so far.

A PR Twitter Feed

Fictional updates all day long about BP’s goings-on.

“Wait, Oil PLUMES? We thought you asked about oil PLUMS in the ocean. How silly! Yes, yes, there are TONS of oil plumes!”

A Coffee Spill?

Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre has given viewers a look at what might happen after a BP executive spills his coffee.

“Everybody calm down. I’ve got Kevin Costner on the phone. He’ll know what to do for sure.”

Recent posts on the Gulf oil spill:
80beats: Meet the Oil-Covered Pelicans, Symbols of the BP Oil Spill
80beats: This Hurricane Season Looks Rough, And What If One Hits the Oil Spill?
80beats: We Did the Math: BP Oil Spill Is Now Worse Than the Exxon Valdez
80beats: “Top Kill” Operation Is Under Way in Attempt to Stop Gulf Oil Leak
80beats: Scientists Say Gulf Spill Is Way Worse Than Estimated. How’d We Get It So Wrong?

Image: flickr / Amy Phetamine

Tech Prize Goes to Inventor Who Wants to Turn Skyscrapers Into Generators | 80beats

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Danzig

Michael Gratzel has come clean and revealed that he stole his award-winning design for a new kind of solar cell–stole it from a leaf, that is. The Swiss inventor and first prize-winner of the $960,000 Millennium Technology Prize believes he has a cheap way to power everything from cell phones to street lamps, copying plants’ power to harness sunlight and turn it into energy.

“I was always intrigued with natural photosynthesis,” Gratzel says in a Millennium Technology Prize video (see below), “the way the plant uses molecules to generate charges.”

His solar cells aren’t as efficient as the current silicon photovoltaic panels, but they do use cheaper manufacturing materials.

“Gratzel’s innovation is likely to have an important role in low-cost, large-scale solutions for renewable energy,” Ainomaija Haarla, president of Finland’s Technology Academy, says in a prepared news release on the group’s website. [CNN]

Gratzel can also make his solar cells transparent or flexible. This means that designers might integrate them into existing structures, for example windows or even furniture.

“You can imagine using those cells as electricity producing windows…. What’s very exciting is that you collect light from all sides, so can capture electricity from the inside as well as the outside…. You could think that the glass of all high-rises in New York would be electricity generating panels,” he said. [BBC]

In 1991, Gratzel published a paper in Nature on how the cells, which use a mixture including a (not necessarily green) dye, absorb light and create an electric current.

Only 10 micrometers thick, the [dye] mixture is sandwiched between two glass plates or embedded in plastic. Light striking the dye frees electrons … [and] semiconducting titanium dioxide particles collect the electrons and transfer them to an external circuit, producing an electric current. [eWeek]

Gratzel believes the cheap cell will prove essential in India and Africa, where he foresees its use for communications and medical purposes.

Image: flickr / seeks2dream

Is Google Trying to Copy Bing?

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Danzig

What was supposed to be a 24-hour experiment on June 10, 2010 was cut short due to a "bug," which erased a link under the search bar on google.com. This link explained why Google's homepage was taking a colorful look.

A week prior, Google had announced that it would beg

Corexit Linked to the Blackstone Group & Lord Jacob Rothschild

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Danzig

http://theintelhub.com/2010/06/10/corexit-linked-to-the-blackstone-group-lord-jacob-rothschild/

Regardless of whether the Deepwater Horizon Disaster is an accident or a False Flag Event, the inescapable truth is that the United States is faced with a disaster of unprecedented proportions. The quantity of oil being released into the Gulf of Mexico is uncertain, although it is safe to say that it is in the millions of gallons and covers thousands of square miles.

The purpose of this article is to inform, educate and warn the reader of what is probably about to take place, and what steps might be taken to deal with this emergency as it may develop over the next few weeks and months .

The statements within this article are factual, but by no means complete, and there will be updates when possible. One thing is for certain, the Gulf of Mexico region now contains millions of gallons of oil that IS going to spread to other parts of the Gulf of Mexico as well as along the East Coast of the United States.

Computer animation models created by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), which at the time of this article is off-line, predicts probable flow paths; scenarios of the oil dispersal in the region.

A shocking discovery reveals that the dispersant COREXIT is a product of Nalco Holding Company which in turn is owned by The Blackstone Group, who has as a member of its International Advisory Board, Lord Jacob Rothschild – so much for conspiracy theories. An excerpt from The Blackstone Group site:
Lord Jacob Rothschild is a Member of the International Advisory Board.

“Lord Rothschild is Chairman of RIT Capital Partners, an investment trust company listed on the London Stock Exchange. He has been a founding partner and investor in a number of financial service companies including Global Asset Management, a money manager, and St James’s Place Capital, a unit linked life assurance company.”

A brief history of The Blackstone Group from Wikipedia
Since 2008:

“Since the closure of the credit markets in 2007 and 2008, Blackstone has managed only to close a small number of sizeable transactions. In January 2008, Blackstone co-invested alongside TPG Capital and Apollo Management in their buyout of Harrah’s Entertainment, although that transaction had been announced during the buyout boom period. Other notable investments that Blackstone completed in 2008 and 2009 included AlliedBarton, Performance Food Group[77][78], Apria Healthcare and CMS Computers.

Among the firm’s two largest investments since the buyout boom have been The Weather Channel and the announced acquisition of Busch Entertainment. In July 2008, Blackstone, together with NBC Universal and Bain Capital agreed to purchase The Weather Channel from Landmark Communications.[79][80] In October 2009, Anheuser-Busch InBev announced the sale of its Busch Entertainment Corporation theme parks division to Blackstone for $2.7 billion.[81][82]
The Financial Times has reported that Merlin Entertainments owned by Blackstone Group will file an IPO[83] in the 2nd quarter of 2010. Merlin will be listed on the London Stock Exchange. If true this would be the second of 8 reported IPOs Blackstone Plans[84], the first being Team Health Holdings, Inc.[85]. Blackstone reported at the end of 2009 revenues of $1.8bln, compared to -$349mln revenues in 2008[86].”

Further, on The Blackstone Group site is a detailed bio of the CEO – Stephen A. Schwarzman
Stephen A. Schwarzman
Chairman, CEO & Co-Founder
Executive Offices

New York

Stephen A. Schwarzman is Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder of Blackstone and the Chairman of the board of directors of its general partner, Blackstone Group Management L.L.C. He has been involved in all phases of the firm’s development since its founding in 1985.

Mr. Schwarzman began his career at Lehman Brothers, where he was elected Managing Director in 1978 at the age of 31. He was engaged principally in the firm’s mergers and acquisitions business from 1977 to 1984, and served as Chairman of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions Committee in 1983 and 1984.

Mr. Schwarzman is a member of The Council on Foreign Relations and The Business Council. He is on the board of The New York Public Library, and The Asia Society. He serves on The JP Morgan Chase National Advisory Board, The New York City Partnership Board of Directors and The Advisory Board of the School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing. Mr. Schwarzman is a Trustee of The Frick Collection in New York City and Chairman Emeritus of the Board of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He also was awarded the Légion d’honneur by President Jacques Chirac.

Mr. Schwarzman holds a BA from Yale University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He has served as an adjunct professor at the Yale School of Management and on the Harvard Business School Board of Dean’s Advisors.

Monitoring of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and the Deepwater Horizon Response site provide much material for further research.

One fact of significant importance is that, according to the Wikipedia COREXIT page;

One variant was used in the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska. In 2010, Corexit EC9500A and Corexit EC9527A [2] were used in unprecedentedly large quantities in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.[3] On May 19, 2010 the Environmental Protection Agency gave BP 24 hours to choose less toxic alternatives to Corexit, selected from the list of EPA-approved dispersants on the National Contingency Plan Product Schedule [4], and begin applying them within 72 hours of EPA approval of their choices but BP refused since they are co-producing Corexit with Nalco – the official maker of Corexit.[5] BP has used Corexit 9500A and Corexit 9527A thus far, applying 800,000 US gallons (3,000,000 l) total[6], but more accurate estimates run as high as 1,000,000 US gallons (3,800,000 l) underwater.[7]

More detailed information on the Toxicity of COREXIT from Wikipedia explains –

The safety data sheet states “The potential human hazard is: High.”

Additionally, “According to the Alaska Community Action on Toxics, the use of Corexit during the Exxon Valdez oil spill caused “respiratory, nervous system, liver, kidney and blood disorders” in people.[9] According to the EPA, Corexit is more toxic than dispersants made by several competitors and less effective in handling southern Louisiana crude.[14] However, the oil from Deepwater Horizon is not believed to be typical Louisiana crude.
Reportedly Corexit is toxic to marine life and helps keep spilled oil submerged. The quantities used in the Gulf will create ‘unprecedented underwater damage to organisms.’[15] 9527A is also hazardous for humans: ‘May cause injury to red blood cells (hemolysis), kidney or the liver’.[16]
Alternative dispersants which are approved by the EPA are listed on the National Contingency Plan Product Schedule[4] and rated for their toxicity and effectiveness.[17] “

In conclusion, there is much information presented in this article, however, the main point to be stressed is that the Gulf of Mexico and Eastern Coast of The United States are possibly in very real danger.

In this time of crisis, it is important to remain calm and make preparations – in terms of WATER and FOOD and things that are required on a daily basis, including medications and whatever else might not be available in a panic situation.

It doesn’t take much research to see that a crisis of unprecedented proportions is unfolding.

There is time to take steps to prepare for almost any contingency. Not to leave any stone unturned, is it time to put down the remote control and get ready, and yes, that does mean the purchase of a Firearm and some training. I encourage the reader to please review the information presented and take action –

Knowledge is not Power – ACTION is POWER.

Caption This for 06/11/10

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Danzig

This week's image:

Be sure to vote for your favorite caption!

Congress and Contractors Fire Back

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Danzig

Hutchison: NASA Leadership Skirting the Law to Shut Down Space Programs

"Senator Hutchison today received a letter from NASA Administrator Bolden outlining the decision and NASA's justification. She noted that it further underscores the extent to which NASA has taken aggressive steps to move in a different direction without providing ample explanation or justification to Congress. The letter from Administrator Bolden contains language discussing the new "principles" to guide spending that are virtually identical to direction reportedly given by NASA headquarters in an email to the now reassigned Constellation program manager more than three weeks ago. The email with these operational instructions has been provided to the NASA Inspector General as part of the investigation Hutchison requested with Chairman Rockefeller into the reassignment of the Constellation program manager."

NASA Moves To Kill Moon Program Despite Congressional Prohibition, Florida Today

"The move to essentially kill Constellation comes despite joint legislation passed by the House and Senate Appropriations committees that prohibits NASA from terminating any Constellation work without congressional approval. It also comes despite rulings by both the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals that places all termination liability on the government rather than contractors. One case in point: A lawsuit brought by DuPont in the U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit, in April 2004."

Congress and contractors reject NASA move on Constellation moon plan , Orlando Sentinel

"ATK believes this was contrived on a recent NASA premise that ATK has been obligated to set aside termination liability estimates on this contract when in fact NASA's contracting officer provided ATK the exact opposite instruction on numerous occasions over the last several years, and directed that such costs not be accounted in any contract processes or procedures."

Contractors Told to Prepare for Moon Program's End, NY Times

"If this is to be the new agency policy and practice, then NASA should shift responsibility for termination liability on all of its current contracts, not simply Constellation," Dr. Pace said. "As it stands, this appears to be purposefully punitive against a specific set of NASA contractors."

The Future of NASA!!!

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Danzig

I am one to support most of the research that NASA does and all of the great things that have come from space exploration. A lot of different advancements have been made to our lives due to it. But we do spend billions of dollars into something that many consider a waste. These days, it seems that ,

Dependency on OIL

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Danzig

Ok, I do not understand why we have become so dependent on oil when we have the knowledge to develop many other means of fueling our vehicles. Fuel cells come to mind. Is that the lobbyist from the big oil companies keeps the entire world from making much a leap in technology to cut our dependency o

Recycling Fiberglass Insulation

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Danzig

Good day,

Here at ESM in Cincinnati Ohio we have post industrial (clean) fibergalss insulation that we use for our duct work. We are disposing of about 100lbs a week and it is taking up a large portion of our waste cost. I am interested to know if there is a recycling process for this material.

Should We Just Euthanize the Gulf’s Oil-Soaked Birds? | 80beats

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Danzig

People have now recovered nearly 500 oiled-but-alive birds from the Gulf region. Many of these are the brown pelicans, which—adding insult to tragedy—is Louisiana’s state bird. They have become grimy symbols of BP’s catastrophe, and responders are racing to save the birds and clean them.

But increasingly, the disheartening but necessary question has arisen: Should we euthanize them instead of trying to save them?

YES

Ron Kendall, director of the Institute of Environmental and Human Health at Texas Tech University, told the AP that it might be hard to stomach the thought, but trying to save the brown pelicans and other oily birds could be futile. To help the birds, responders must capture them, hold them in captivity, go through the exhaustive process of cleaning them, and set them free somewhere where they won’t fly back to the oil. In the case of BP’s leak, oil has spread so far that rescuers are currently taking Louisiana birds all the way to Tampa Bay, Florida.

Kendall, for one, is skeptical that our efforts do much good, and the data aren’t encouraging.

The arm of the federal government that nominally oversees offshore rigs agrees with Kendall, and has for some time. “Studies are indicating that rescue and cleaning of oiled birds makes no effective contribution to conservation, except conceivably for species with a small world population,” the U.S. Minerals Management Service said in a 2002 environmental analysis of proposed Gulf oil drilling projects. “A growing number of studies indicate that current rehabilitation techniques are not effective in returning healthy birds to the wild” [AP].

UC-Davis Ornithologist Daniel Anderson points out that we can’t really address damage oil has done to internal organs, either, which is part of the reason the numbers show no significant survival rates for the hard-to-save animals over the long term. He says:

“It might make us feel better to clean them up and send them back out. But there’s a real question of how much it actually does for the birds, aside from prolong their suffering” [Newsweek].

But, Anderson counters, maybe we just owe it to them.

“If nothing else, we’re morally obligated to save birds that seem to be savable,” Anderson said [AP].

And methods seem to be improving, at least slightly, as responders sadly get more practice.

In the past, birds were cleaned right away, and volunteers often worked through the night bathing rescued birds. But, as research has since shown, the stress of capture and cleaning can be profoundly deleterious to a bird’s health—knocking hormones out of balance and exacerbating organ damage. So now, captured birds are left to rest for a day or two before being cleaned, and only washed during the day, so as not to disrupt their circadian rhythms [Newsweek].

Part of the argument for euthanizing could be that time would be better spent on saving habitats or endangered species as opposed to cleaning doomed birds. But, as Anderson points out, citizens demand it and will try to do it themselves if organized responders don’t. If you care about birds, or devoted your life to them, how could you not?

“What do you want us to do? Let them die?” said Jay Holcomb, executive director of the International Bird Rescue Research Center, who has aided oiled animals for 40 years [AP].

Image: flickr / IBRRC

What Do The Sears Tower; WTC, and Terror Drills Have In Common?

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Danzig

June 10, 2010

Shepard Ambellas and Alex Thomas

Larry Silverstein, owner of Silverstein Properties, Inc. and the man who leased the World Trade Center Towers also happens to be the owner of the Sears Tower in Chicago. The complex was renamed the Willis Tower on July 16, 2009 and is insured by global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings. The insurer is very important in the grand scheme as can be seen with the WTC, whose insurance settlement amounted to a cool 4.68 billion dollars.

A company named Kroll is is the company tasked with providing security for the Sears Tower. After 9/11, Kroll purchased Convair, the very company that was responsible for recovering data from WTC hard drives. Kroll also managed the bunker in the WTC and is known to have had a hand in the London 7/7 bombings.

The Willis Tower just so happens to have an asbestos problem much like the one that plagued the World Trade Center. Contrary to what many claim, there is clear evidence that shows the asbestos problem within the Willis Tower.

Remember that on September 11, 2001, NORAD was conducting a war games drill that simulated planes flying into towers. There is at the very least, a very eerie correlation with the upcoming terror drills that will be conducted in Chicago from June 13 through June 17. This terror drill is slated to be a full scale event carried out over a five day period and will include a simulated airplane crash, terror attack, and the release of a bio weapon.

Just a thought.

Happy chair is happy | Bad Astronomy

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Danzig

BABloggee John Kennedy (no relation, of course, to Jamie) sent me word about a fun pareidolia site: Happy Chair is Happy. It features inanimate objects that look like faces. It’s really a fun series to poke through, and it’s brought to you by the I Can Haz Cheezeburgers folks.

I’ll note with some amusement that in a recent entry they included a picture I featured here in March of an alien prickly pear cactus. They didn’t have the source, so I left a comment with a link. I do love that picture!

New Engine Design: Doyle Rotary

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Danzig

I'm posting here to hopefully get questions, comments, suggestions and criticisms. My dad has been developing a new engine for 25 years and now has a design (patent pending) that is ready to be released to the internet.

His design is a split-cycle rotary-piston engine that utilizes proven materia

Presentation on the Creating Resilient Communities EBM Tool Demonstration Project by Jocelyn Hittle of PlaceMatters

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Danzig

Date:

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Presentation on the Creating Resilient Communities EBM Tool Demonstration Project by Jocelyn Hittle of PlaceMatters (November 17, 3 pm US EST/Noon US PST). The Creating Resilient Communities project, supported by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation as an EBM Tool Demonstration project, is working with three counties in coastal South Carolina (Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester Counties) to model possible future scenarios for the region and evaluate possible outcomes related to natural hazards, sea level rise, community vulnerability, and biodiversity conservation. The region includes both urban areas (the cities of Charleston and North Charleston) as well as extensive rural and suburban areas, and its population is growing rapidly. The marine and coastal ecosystems of the region are facing significant pressures and threats related to growth, development, and resource use as well as hurricanes, storm surges and flooding, and rising sea levels. Three tools- NatureServe Vista, NOAA’s Community Resilience and Vulnerability Assessment Toolkit, and PlaceWay’s CommunityViz- are being used for the modeling and analysis. The project has encountered a number of substantial implementation challenges typical of tool use projects, including difficulties gathering usable data, engaging decision makers and the community, and working within local government planning processes. This presentation will give an overview of the project- including a brief overview of the toolkit involved- and will discuss obstacles encountered, possible ways of surmounting common obstacles with tool use, and lessons learned in this process. Learn more about the project at http://resilient-communities.org. Register for this webinar at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/796010449.

The Silent World, By Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Danzig

From Gizmodo:

Jacques-Yves Cousteau would be upset if he lived to see the Gulf Oil spill on his 100th birthday, tomorrow. Here, from the The Silent World, he describes using the first Aqualung to swim undersea as freely as a fish.

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