July 26, 2006, 5:03 PM CT

Global Coral Reef Assessment

A first-of-its-kind survey of how well the world's coral reefs are being protected was made possible by a unique collection of NASA views from space.

A team of international researchers using NASA satellite images compiled an updated inventory of all "marine protected areas" containing coral reefs and compared it with the most detailed and comprehensive satellite inventory of coral reefs. The global satellite mapping effort is called the Millennium Coral Reef Mapping Project and was funded by NASA. The study was reported on recently in the journal Science.

The assessment found that less than two percent of coral reefs are within areas designated to limit human activities that can harm the reefs and the sea life living in and around them. Countries around the world have created these protected ocean and coastal zones where human activities such as shipping, fishing, recreation and scientific research are restricted to varying degrees.

"The contribution of NASA images to this project was crucial," says study lead author Camilo Mora, a marine biologist at Dalhousie University, Canada. "The satellite images allowed us to pinpoint where coral reefs are actually located within coastal marine ecosystems".

The Millennium Project collection of global satellite images of coral reefs was first released in 2003; maps derived from these images were released in 2004. The images are now publicly available from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Landsat 7 was designed by NASA and launched in 1999. The Landsat Program is a series of Earth-observing satellite missions jointly managed by NASA and the Department of the Interior's U.S. Geological Survey.........

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July 24, 2006, 11:18 PM CT

Vanishing Species

See this site with excellent paintings on vanishing species!

The artist writes:

In my recent work, I explore the dimensionality - emotional, perceptive and symbolic - of vanishing species and traditions. Wildlife and people are reverently depicted, using maps in unique ways to convey the importance of place. These paintings signal the fundamental dichotomy of the beauty and value of wildlife and the longing for resolution of that which is threatening them.

My paintings reflect a balance between the reality of representational shapes and forms juxtaposed with abstract backgrounds. The addition of maps weaves a distinctive tapestry that adds complexity and texture.

My affection for wildlife often reveals, at the same time, the violence and the tenderness of our times. I search for new ways to express the singularity and the diversity of our fragile world.

About the Artist

Sklar's recent body of "Vanishing Species" works builds on her ongoing exploration of landscapes and wildlife, mainly using watercolors. She took up art seriously only 11 years ago, attending workshops throughout the Bay Area and training with a private watercolor master in Madrid. She draws inspiration from her extensive travels to such wildlife-rich places as Peru, the Galapagos (Ecuador) and most recently, Namibia in Southern Africa. An avid birdwatcher, Sklar often has to go no farther than the Bay Area's own backyard - its Bay and a number of preserves and natural areas - to find material for her paintings.........

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July 24, 2006, 11:08 PM CT

Clam Worm

What type of habitat do clam worms prefer?

Despite their name, clam worms are common in a variety of benthic habitats, including sandflats, mudflats, shellfish beds, and algal mats. Some species can also be found living among barnacles and encrusting algae (fouling communities) on man-made structures, such as pilings.

Where can they be found in the coastal U.S.?

Clam worms are ubiquitous in distribution, common in marine and estuarine waters along the West, East, and Gulf Coasts. Some species can be found in the intertidal zone among rocks or in mudflats and sandflats of higher salinity waters; others are found in marshes reaching salinities of 9 practical salinity units (psu) at low tide.

What do clam worms look like?

Clam worms are segmented worms belonging to the class polychaeta, meaning "a number of bristles." Each body segment has a pair of small paddle-shaped appendages (parapodia), in which are embedded tiny hairs or bristles. Clam worms have four pairs of tentacles, one pair of antennae, and one pair of fleshy lobes (palps) on the head region.

Why are they important benthic species?

Clam worms play important ecological roles in the lower food web. They consume algae and small invertebrates (such as other worms) and serve as food for larger invertebrates and bottom-feeding fish.........

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July 24, 2006, 10:58 PM CT

Secret Sisterhood With Spiders

Velvet worms, living fossils that look like a child's rendition of caterpillars, are more closely correlation to spiders and scorpions than to butterflies, as per new research.

Known to researchers as onychophorans, velvet worms have been believed to be similar to the ancestors of modern arthropods, the jointed-legged creatures that includes insects.

Fossils that look very much like today's onychophorans can be found in rocks 540 million years old.

"When I looked at their brains, I was shocked because I didn't expect to see what I saw," said Nicholas J. Strausfeld of The University of Arizona in Tucson. "I just felt from their organization that these looked like spider brains, that they had more in common with spider brains than with other arthropod brains."

Strausfeld, a UA Regents' Professor of neurobiology and the director of UA's Center for Insect Science, is a pioneer in using the architectures of cell arrangements within brains to tease out evolutionary relationships among arthropods, the animal phylum that includes all kinds of creepy crawlies, including insects, crustaceans such as lobsters and crabs, and spiders and scorpions.

Onychophora live in groups, defend territories and subdue their prey with sticky goo. The small, sometimes brightly colored, worm-like carnivorous creatures have lobed appendages and live in leaf litter in tropical areas.........

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July 24, 2006, 6:51 AM CT

Life on Earth More Than 3.8 Billion Years Ago

Ten years ago, an international team of scientists reported evidence, in a controversial cover story in the journal Nature, that life on Earth began more than 3.8 billion years ago-400 million years earlier than previously thought. A UCLA professor who was not part of that team and two of the original authors will report in late July that the evidence is stronger than ever.

Craig E. Manning, lead author of the new study and a professor of geology and geochemistry in the UCLA Department of Earth and Space Sciences, painstakingly mapped an area on Akilia Island in West Greenland where ancient rocks were discovered that may preserve carbon-isotope evidence for life at the time of their formation. Manning and his co-authors-T. Mark Harrison, a UCLA professor of geochemistry, director of UCLA's Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, and University Professor at the Australian National University; and Stephen J. Mojzsis, assistant professor of geological sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder-conducted new geologic and geochemical analysis on these rocks. Their findings would be reported in the new issue of the American Journal of Science. Harrison and Mojzsis were co-authors on the Nov. 7, 1996, study in Nature.

"This paper shows, with far greater confidence than we ever had before, that these rocks are older than 3.8 billion years," said Manning, who has conducted extensive research in Greenland. "We have shown that the rocks are appropriate for hosting life.........

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July 22, 2006, 11:16 PM CT

Yeast In Space

Far above the heads of Earthlings, arrays of single-cell creatures are circling Earth in nanostructures.

The sample devices are riding on the International Space Station (courtesy of Sandia National Laboratories and the University of New Mexico, NASA and US Air Force) to test whether nanostructures whose formations were directed by yeast and other single cells can create more secure homes for their occupants - even in the vacuum and radiation of outer space - than those created by more standard chemical procedures.

Sandia is a National Nuclear Security Administration laboratory.

"Cheap, tiny, and very lightweight sensors of chemical or biological agents could be made from long-lived cells that require no upkeep, yet sense and then communicate effectively with each other and their external environment," says former UNM graduate student and Sandia consultant Helen Baca, lead author on the paper. Baca was advised by Sandia Fellow and UNM professor of chemical engineering, molecular genetics & microbiology Jeff Brinker.

Groups of such long-lived cells may also serve as models to investigate how tuberculosis bacteria survive long periods of dormancy within human bodies.

En masse, they also may be used to generate signals to repel harmful bacteria from the surfaces of surgical tools like catheters.........

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July 20, 2006, 6:41 PM CT

Bird House For Purple Martins

Watch the mosquito eating frenzy begin! Panels lift for easy cleaning & for removing old nests. Safety railing helps stop baby birds from falling. The 12 house nest is designed with excellent ventilation & is 20" x 19" x 18".

Easy snap fit assembly in less than 15 minutes. Pole not included. Limited lifetime warranty.........

Posted by: Kelly      Permalink         Source

July 18, 2006, 9:20 PM CT

Coffee, Black, Decaf And A Little Llama

Three llamas and two camels have provided a way to tell whether your waiter swapped regular coffee for decaf in your after-dinner cup. Using the heat-resistant antibodies these camels and llamas make, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are developing a quick test for caffeine that works even with hot beverages.

The researchers plan to adapt their technology to a simple test ("dipstick") that can be used to check for caffeine in a variety of drinks. Their research will appear in the June 1 issue of the American Chemical Society's journal Analytical Chemistry.

Caffeine can cause restlessness, irritability, dehydration or heart arrythmias, and those who are highly sensitive to caffeine can feel its stimulant effects for as long as 20 hours. In addition, some medicines adversely interact with caffeine.

"We believe our test would be the first consumer test for caffeine and would be beneficial for anyone wishing to avoid caffeine for health or personal reasons," says senior author Jack H. Ladenson, Ph.D., the Oree M. Carroll and Lillian B. Ladenson Professor of Clinical Chemistry and director of the Division of Laboratory Medicine.

Interestingly, the key to the caffeine test comes from llamas and camels - pack animals that have transported caffeinated commodities such as coffee, tea and cocoa for centuries. These camelids happen to be among the few creatures whose immune systems can produce antibodies that aren't destroyed at the high temperatures common to brewed beverages.........

Posted by: Kelly      Permalink         Source

July 18, 2006, 5:58 AM CT

Canada Geese In Massachusetts

Perhaps no sound more clearly evokes an image of wildness than the honking of migrating geese. Canada geese have passed through Massachusetts on their journeys to and from their arctic breeding grounds for centuries. Previous to the 1930's, it was unusual for geese to nest here, yet today in Massachusetts you can find Canada geese any time of the year. In fact, in some areas, people feel that there are too a number of geese! Why the change?.

Description

Canada geese are large birds, averaging 10-14 pounds. Among waterfowl (ducks, geese & swans) of North America, Canada geese are second only to swans in size. Their long black neck and white cheek markings are especially distinctive.

Life History

The Canada goose is a grazer. Geese form permanent pair bonds, but if one bird dies, the other will seek a new mate in the next breeding season. Most Canada geese don't begin nesting until they are three years old. Adult females lay 4-6 eggs in a clutch. If the clutch is destroyed, geese generally don't re-nest, but with two large birds guarding a nest, the chances of success are good. Commonly by the time the young are 4-6 weeks old, the broods begin gathering in large flocks. Non-breeders and yearlings form separate flocks. By fall, they all gather into one large flock for the winter. In Massachusetts, there are two different populations of Canada geese. The first is the migratory population which passes through in the spring and fall. Massachusetts is one of a number of resting areas for these migrating birds. The second is the resident population: descendants of captive geese used by waterfowl hunters. When live decoys were outlawed in the 1930s, a number of captive birds were liberated. With no pattern of migration, these geese began nesting. Lawns at houses, golf courses and mowed parks, well-watered, fertilized and bordering water, provided an excellent source of food. In suburban areas, there were few predators. The habitat for grazers waccording tofect.........

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July 17, 2006, 7:39 PM CT

Need To Halt Destructive Fishing Practice

A long-awaited report by the United Nations shows the need for an international moratorium on bottom trawling and other destructive fishing practices that damage deep sea life, Conservation International (CI) said.

The U.N. Division for Ocean Affairs and Law of the Sea (DOALOS) evaluated measures to protect the vulnerable deep oceans of the high seas - the 64 percent of ocean that lies beyond the national jurisdictions of any individual nation. Its review, ordered by the U.N. General Assembly in 2004, was based on reports from member states on steps taken to stop destructive high seas fishing practices.

A draft version of the review posted July 14 on the DOALOS Web site said extremely vulnerable deep sea habitats require protection, but that fishing for newly discovered resources in the high seas often proceeds unregulated to the point of serious harm.

"A number of fisheries are not managed until they are overexploited and clearly depleted and, because of the high vulnerability of deep-sea species to exploitation and their low potential for recovery, this is of particular concern for these stocks," the review said.

The draft review called bottom trawling a particular concern, due to its tendency to over-fish both targeted and non-targeted species, and the damage it causes to vulnerable ecosystems that provide critical habitat for marine life. It cited an "urgent need" in some cases for interim steps such as a moratorium on bottom trawling until formal conservation and management systems can be set up.........

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