Dengue outbreak affects at least 22 in Japan

Dengue outbreak affects at least 22 in Japan - An outbreak of dengue fever in Japan -- the first since World War II -- has affected at least 22 people, the government said Monday, with all cases believed to be linked to a Tokyo park.

The health ministry said 19 new infections have been confirmed since last week.

All are believed to have visited Tokyo's Yoyogi Park or its environs, one of the major green lungs of the metropolis, popular with residents and tourists alike.

The park, one of the largest open spaces in central Tokyo, is believed to be the source of the mosquito-borne disease.

The first three sufferers, who were found to be infected last week, had also visited the park, where Tokyo officials have now sprayed about 800 litres (210 US gallons) of pesticide in a bid to kill off the insect colony.

None of those found to have contracted dengue had travelled overseas recently, the health ministry said. None is in a life-threatening condition, officials have said.

A worker sprays insecticide at Yoyogi Park, believed to be the source of a dengue fever outbreak, on August 28, 2014 (AFP Photo/Jiji Press)

The last domestic infection of dengue fever was in 1945, although there are around 200 cases annually among Japanese who have travelled abroad, mainly in Southeast Asia. 

Dengue fever is not transmitted directly from person-to-person and symptoms range from mild fever to incapacitating high temperatures, according to the World Health Organization.

There is no vaccine or any specific medicine to treat dengue and patients should rest, drink plenty of fluids and reduce the fever using paracetamol, it says.

The disease is carried by the tiger mosquito, which is endemic to Japan.

Meanwhile, shares in home pesticide maker Fumakilla were up 22.85 percent at 430 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. That follows a nearly 25 percent rise one day last week. ( AFP )

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Seals take scientists to Antarctic's ocean floor

Seals take scientists to Antarctic's ocean floor - (Reuters) - Elephant seals wearing head sensors and swimming deep beneath Antarctic ice have helped scientists better understand how the ocean's coldest, deepest waters are formed, providing vital clues to understanding its role in the world's climate.

The tagged seals, along with sophisticated satellite data and moorings in ocean canyons, all played a role in providing data from the extreme Antarctic environment, where observations are very rare and ships could not go, said researchers at the Antarctic Climate & Ecosystem CRC in Tasmania.

Reuters/REUTERS - A Southern Ocean elephant seal wears a sensor on its head as it sleeps on an island in the Southern Ocean, Antarctica in this handout photo taken February 27, 2012. Elephant seals wearing head sensors and swimming deep beneath Antarctic ice have helped scientists better understand how the ocean's coldest, deepest waters are formed, providing vital clues to understanding its role in the world's climate. The tagged seals, along with sophisticated satellite data and moorings in ocean canyons, all played a role in providing data from the extreme Antarctic environment, where observations are very rare and ships could not go, said researchers at the Antarctic Climate & Ecosystem CRC in Tasmania. The sensor weighs about 100 to 200 grams and has a small satellite relay which transmits data on a daily basis. Picture taken February 27, 2012. To match story AUSTRALIA-ANTARCTIC/SEALS REUTERS/Mark Hindell/Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC/Handout (ANTARCTICA - Tags: ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY ANIMALS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. NO SALES. NO ARCHIVES 

Scientists have long known of the existence of "Antarctic bottom water," a dense, deep layer of water near the ocean floor that has a significant impact on the movement of the world's oceans.

Three areas where this water is formed were known of, and the existence of a fourth suspected for decades, but the area was far too inaccessible, until now, thanks to the seals.

"The seals went to an area of the coastline that no ship was ever going to get to," said Guy Williams, ACE CRC Sea Ice specialist and co-author of the study.

"This is a particular form of Antarctic water called Antarctic bottom water production, one of the engines that drives ocean circulation," he told Reuters. "What we've done is found another piston in that engine."

Southern Ocean Elephant seals are the largest of all seals, with males growing up to six meters (20 feet) long and weighing up to 4,000 kilograms (8,800 lbs).

Twenty of the seals were deployed from Davis Station in east Antarctica in 2011 with a sensor, weighing about 100 to 200 grams, on their head. Each of the sensors had a small satellite relay which transmitted data on a daily basis during the five to 10 minute intervals when the seals surfaced.

"We get four dives worth of data a day but they're actually doing up to 60 dives," he said.

"The elephant seals ... went to the very source and found this very cold, very saline dense water in the middle of winter beneath a polynya, which is what we call an ice factory around the coast of Antarctica," Williams added.

Previous studies have shown that there are 50-year-long trends in the properties of the Antarctic bottom water, and Williams said the latest study will help better assess those changes, perhaps providing clues for climate change modeling.

"Several of the seals foraged on the continental slope as far down as 1,800 meters (1.1 miles), punching through into a layer of this dense water cascading down the abyss," he said in a statement. "They gave us very rare and valuable wintertime measurements of this process." ( Reuters )

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Snowy owls soar south from Arctic in rare mass migration

Snowy owls soar south from Arctic in rare mass migration - Bird enthusiasts are reporting rising numbers of snowy owls from the Arctic winging into the lower 48 states this winter in a mass southern migration that a leading owl researcher called "unbelievable."

Thousands of the snow-white birds, which stand 2 feet tall with 5-foot wingspans, have been spotted from coast to coast, feeding in farmlands in Idaho, roosting on rooftops in Montana, gliding over golf courses in Missouri and soaring over shorelines in Massachusetts.

A certain number of the iconic owls fly south from their Arctic breeding grounds each winter but rarely do so many venture so far away even amid large-scale, periodic southern migrations known as irruptions.

"What we're seeing now -- it's unbelievable," said Denver Holt, head of the Owl Research Institute in Montana.

A snowy white owl takes flight in this undated handout photo courtesy of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Bird enthusiasts are reporting rising numbers of snowy owls from the Arctic winging into the lower 48 states this winter in a mass southern migration that a leading owl researcher called "unbelievable" according to Denver Holt, head of Owl Research Institute in Montana. REUTERS/U.S. Fish&Wildlife Service/Handout

"This is the most significant wildlife event in decades," added Holt, who has studied snowy owls in their Arctic tundra ecosystem for two decades.

Holt and other owl experts say the phenomenon is likely linked to lemmings, a rodent that accounts for 90 percent of the diet of snowy owls during breeding months that stretch from May into September. The largely nocturnal birds also prey on a host of other animals, from voles to geese.

An especially plentiful supply of lemmings last season likely led to a population boom among owls that resulted in each breeding pair hatching as many as seven offspring. That compares to a typical clutch size of no more than two, Holt said.

Greater competition this year for food in the Far North by the booming bird population may have then driven mostly younger, male owls much farther south than normal.

Research on the animals is scarce because of the remoteness and extreme conditions of the terrain the owls occupy, including northern Russia and Scandinavia, he said.

The surge in snowy owl sightings has brought birders flocking from Texas, Arizona and Utah to the Northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest, pouring tourist dollars into local economies and crowding parks and wildlife areas. The irruption has triggered widespread public fascination that appears to span ages and interests.

"For the last couple months, every other visitor asks if we've seen a snowy owl today," said Frances Tanaka, a volunteer for the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge northeast of Olympia, Washington.

But accounts of emaciated owls at some sites -- including a food-starved bird that dropped dead in a farmer's field in Wisconsin -- suggest the migration has a darker side. And Holt said an owl that landed at an airport in Hawaii in November was shot and killed to avoid collisions with planes.

He said snowy owl populations are believed to be in an overall decline, possibly because a changing climate has lessened the abundance of vegetation like grasses that lemmings rely on.

This winter's snowy owl outbreak, with multiple sightings as far south as Oklahoma, remains largely a mystery of nature.

"There's a lot of speculation. As far as hard evidence, we really don't know," Holt said. ( Reuters )

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'Elvis' Monkey, Psychedelic Gecko Found in SE Asia

'Elvis' Monkey, Psychedelic Gecko Found in SE Asia — A psychedelic gecko and a monkey with an "Elvis" hairdo are among 208 new species described last year by scientists in the Mekong River region of Southeast Asia, a conservation group announced Monday.

The animals were discovered in a biodiverse region that is threatened by habitat loss, deforestation, climate change and overdevelopment, the WWF said in a report.

The newly described species include a "psychedelic gecko" in southern Vietnam and a nose-less monkey in a remote province of Myanmar that looks like it wears a pompadour.

"While this species, sporting an Elvis-like hairstyle, is new to science, the local people of Myanmar know it well," the Switzerland-based group said in its report.

The region is home to some of the world's most endangered species, including tigers, Asian elephants, Mekong dolphins and Mekong giant catfish, the group said.

"This is a region of extraordinary richness in terms of biodiversity but also one that is extremely fragile," said Sarah Bladen, communications director for WWF Greater Mekong. "It's losing biodiversity at a tragic rate."

The Mekong flows through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. In October, WWF announced Vietnam has lost its last Javan rhinoceros, making the 40 to 60 Javan rhinos living in Indonesia the last remaining members of their species. ( AP )

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Receding floods reveal crocs lurking in Bangkok

Receding floods reveal crocs lurking in Bangkok — Murky floodwaters are receding from Bangkok's inundated outskirts to reveal some scary swamp dwellers who moved in while flooded residents were moving out — including crocodiles and some of the world's most poisonous snakes.

Special teams from the Thai Fishery Department have responded to numerous reports of reptilian menaces, like the 3-foot-long (meter-long) croc that Anchalee Wannawet saw sitting next to the outhouse one morning, its toothy jaw wide open.

"I ran away, and it ran into there," the 23-year-old said, pointing toward the reedy swamp behind the construction site where she works in Bangkok's northern Sai Mai district. "I haven't dared to go the bathroom since. I'm peeing in a can."

Thailand has long been a center for the breeding, exporting and trafficking of exotic animals, especially crocodiles. Farmed both legally and illegally, crocs are popular because of the value they fetch for their meat, bones and especially their skins, used to make luxury bags and accessories.

This year's record monsoon rains, which prompted Thailand's worst flooding in a half century and killed more than 600 people, also swamped some of the country's estimated 3,000 crocodile farms. Many of the reptiles escaped — though probably not as many as residents think they are seeing around the city.

In this photo taken Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011, residents carry a crocodile on their shoulders after they caught and killed the reptile at a flooded residential area in Bangbuatong district of Nonthaburi province, north of Bangkok, Thailand. Murky floodwaters are receding from Bangkok's inundated outskirts to reveal some scary swamp dwellers who moved in while flooded residents were moving out, including crocodiles and some of the world's most poisonous snakes. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)



In this photo taken Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011, residents carry a crocodile on their shoulders after they caught and killed the reptile at a flooded residential area in Bangbuatong district of Nonthaburi province, north of Bangkok, Thailand. Murky floodwaters are receding from Bangkok's inundated outskirts to reveal some scary swamp dwellers who moved in while flooded residents were moving out, including crocodiles and some of the world's most poisonous snakes. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)

"We get a lot of reports at the Fishery Department, but only about 5 to 10 percent of them turn out to be true," said Praphan Lipayakun, a fishery department official, adding that many false reports end up being large monitor lizards, which are generally shy and harmless.

"We even get reports of people being bitten, but when we follow up, we can't get in touch with the supposed patient, or when contacted, the doctor that treated the wound says that it in no way resembled a crocodile bite."

Still, officials and volunteer veterinarians have confirmed many flood-affected animals on the loose or in distress — and not only reptiles.

A team of volunteer veterinarians rescued scores of animals — from deer and Capuchin monkeys to lions, tigers and bears — from the yards and homes of Thailand's rich.

"Most of the ones we found in the Bangkok area are privately owned, and a lot of them are for fun or for pleasure — like a farm or some exotic species in the house," said Nantarika Chansue, president of the Zoo and Wildlife Veterinary Society of Thailand and a member of the team of volunteers.

"Some of the owners left home already and left the animals in the cage as the water rose. Some of them have illegal animals and are afraid of being prosecuted, so they are afraid to tell us and just leave them there."

Some of the rescued animals had had to be treated for respiratory diseases from inhaling disease-infested floodwaters, Nantarika said.

Calls about snakes have spiked from the usual two per day to about 10, said Sompob Sridaranop, a snake rescue expert from the Thai Marine Department. Most residents report pythons — but occasionally the calls are about highly venomous cobras and pit vipers, he said.

"A lot of snakes are coming out now because they, too, are flooded. Their homes are usually under houses, or in pipes, but they can't sleep in the water, so they are escaping," he said.

In Nakhon Sawan province, north of Bangkok, Anan Dirath said his family found about 10 nonpoisonous snakes in the house since the waters receded, while his neighbors found cobras, which they caught and sold for their meat.

In Bangkok's Sai Mai district, not far from where Anchalee spotted the crocodile, a large zoo called Safari World was flooded, endangering primates, giraffes, dolphins and other exotic animals in captivity. At the height of the flooding, zoo official Litti Kewkacha said staff were piling up earth, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to stay higher than the flood levels.

Crocodile farms were not so successful at keeping their wards safe in captivity.

Since the floods began in July, the Fishery Department's crocodile teams have captured 10 that have escaped and found their way into residential areas in Bangkok and suburbs just to the north. Some have been easy catches: Residents had closed them into fenced yards.

Then there are those like the one Anchalee saw, lurking in areas that are boxed in, but large, and with plenty of vegetation for cover. That one proved a special challenge for the crocodile chasers.

"These are its footprints. It's around here," Praphan said under a mid-afternoon sun.

As the team toured the area's perimeter by boat, 42-year-old crocodile zoo performer and volunteer Chalaew Busamrong concurred that the trapped animal must be a crocodile.

"It has been floating around here a long time," Chalaew said. "It can't find its way out. If it were a monitor lizard, it would have found its way out by now."

The team decided that the area was too wide and wild to try to close in on the beast, so they baited their giant-sized hooks with raw chicken carcasses. It's a tactic with an often-inconclusive result, because if local residents find a trapped crocodile, they're likely to grab it and sell it.

"We've left bait before in other areas, but because crocodiles are so valuable, we're never sure if they are captured or not," Praphan said.

As they attached the wires to nearby trees in the swamp and prepared to head home, they heard a heavy movement in the reeds. The team stiffened, fell quiet, and backed away, hoping the crocodile might move forward.

Suspecting the crocodile might be hungry enough to take the bait, Chalaew decided to stay the night.

Nearby, construction workers slept uneasily, but there were no sounds of frantic splashing, as had been hoped. As the sun rose, the chicken carcasses remained untouched.

One week later, the area remained flooded. Neighbors told Anchalee that they shot and killed two crocodiles a few streets away.

"I don't know if it's true or not, but that's what they say," she said by phone. "We haven't seen it since, and the chicken has all fallen off into the water. We only hear the dogs howling." ( Associated Press )

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SeaWorld Sued by PETA for Enslaving Animals

SeaWorld Sued by PETA for Enslaving Animals - The animal rights group PETA, which to its credit does a great deal of good work, recently introduced legal action against the theme park SeaWorld that could almost be described as laughable. In the lawsuit, the organization is stating the park keeps the animals as slaves and as such that is in violation of their rights under the 13th Amendment.

PETA can't possibly be serious. If anyone sits down and reads the Constitution, you can see there is nothing there involving animals. Perhaps PETA is upset at the alleged treatment of the animals that have to perform in many of SeaWorld's live shows. Perhaps it is looking at this as a way of raising awareness toward their organization. Either way you slice it, the lawsuit can be looked at as nothing more than a farce by any reasonable person.

Because there is nothing in the Constitution stating that only humans are included under the umbrella of the 13th Amendment, PETA may have the fringes of an arguable case. But I have to ask the questions. PETA has been in existence since 1980. Why is this the first time the group has argued for animal rights under the blanket of slavery? Where has the animal rights group been for 30 years? I haven't turned on the news recently and seen PETA suing for the rights of the tigers and lions that have to sit behind cages all day. Or saying the elephants in the circus are being treated unconstitutionally.

PETA is taking on a vulnerable target with this frivolous lawsuit. SeaWorld has been in the news the past couple of years with one of the Orca trainers being killed in an accident.

So while its intentions may be good in spirit, in action they are terribly misdirected. There's no way this lawsuit would hold up in front of any judge with sense. The 13th Amendment has been in place for over 150 years. Not once has there been a case of note protesting animal rights under the Constitution.

Perhaps the folks at PETA would be better served just holding up signs in front of the park. Not only would it be a less vengeful sounding way of grabbing attention, but it would waste less of the money people donate to them on a yearly basis. ( yahoo.com )

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PETA lawsuit seeks to expand animal rights

PETA lawsuit seeks to expand animal rights — A federal court is being asked to grant constitutional rights to five killer whales who perform at marine parks — an unprecedented and perhaps quixotic legal action that is nonetheless likely to stoke an ongoing, intense debate at America's law schools over expansion of animal rights.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is accusing the SeaWorld parks of keeping five star-performer whales in conditions that violate the 13th Amendment ban on slavery. SeaWorld depicted the suit as baseless.

The chances of the suit succeeding are slim, according to legal experts not involved in the case; any judge who hews to the original intent of the authors of the amendment is unlikely to find that they wanted to protect animals. But PETA relishes engaging in the court of public opinion, as evidenced by its provocative anti-fur and pro-vegan campaigns.

The suit, which PETA says it will file Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Diego, hinges on the fact that the 13th Amendment, while prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude, does not specify that only humans can be victims.

Jeff Kerr, PETA's general counsel, says his five-member legal team — which spent 18 months preparing the case — believes it's the first federal court suit seeking constitutional rights for members of an animal species.

FILE - In this Thursday, Nov. 30, 2006 file photo, killer whale Kasatka leaps out of the water while an unidentified trainer gives signals during SeaWorld' Shamu show in San Diego. In an unprecedented lawsuit, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is accusing the SeaWorld marine parks of keeping five of its star-performer killer whales in conditions that violate the Constitution's ban on slavery. The suit, which PETA says it will file Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011 in U.S. District Court in San Diego, hinges on the fact that the 13th Amendment, while prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude, does not specify that only humans can be victims. (AP Photo/Chris Park)

The plaintiffs are the five orcas, Tilikum and Katina based at SeaWorld in Orlando, Fla., and Corky, Kasatka and Ulises at SeaWorld San Diego. Tilikum, a six-ton male, made national news in February 2010 when he grabbed a trainer at the close of a performance and dragged her underwater until she drowned.

Captured nearly 30 years ago off Iceland, Tilikum has enormous value as a stud and has fathered many of the calves born at SeaWorld parks.

The lawsuit asks the court to order the orcas released to the custody of a legal guardian who would find a "suitable habitat" for them.

"By any definition, these orcas are slaves — kidnapped from their homes, kept confined, denied everything that's natural to them and forced to perform tricks for SeaWorld's profit," said Kerr. "The males have their sperm collected, the females are artificially inseminated and forced to bear young which are sometimes shipped away."

SeaWorld said any effort to extend the 13th Amendment's protections beyond humans "is baseless and in many ways offensive."

"SeaWorld is among the world's most respected zoological institutions," the company said. "There is no higher priority than the welfare of the animals entrusted to our care and no facility sets higher standards in husbandry, veterinary care and enrichment."

The statement outlined the many laws and regulations SeaWorld is obliged to follow, touted the company's global efforts to promote conservation of marine mammals, and said the orcas' performances help give the public a better appreciation and understanding of these animals.

SeaWorld and other U.S. marine parks are governed by the Marine Mammals Protection Act, which allows public displays of the creatures if permits are obtained and the facility offers and education/conservation programs for the public.

Overall, under prevailing U.S. legal doctrine, animals under human control are considered property, not entities with legal standing of their own. They are afforded some protections through animal-cruelty laws, endangered-species regulations and the federal Animal Welfare Act, but are not endowed with a distinct set of rights.

However, the field of animal law has evolved steadily, with courses taught at scores of law schools. Many prominent lawyers and academics have joined in serious discussion about expanding animal rights.

Rutgers University law professor Gary Francione, for example, contends that animals deserve the fundamental right to not be treated as property. Law professor David Favre of Michigan State University has proposed a new legal category called "living property" as a step toward providing rights for some animals.

Favre was skeptical that litigation seeking to apply the 13th Amendment to animals would prevail.

"The court will most likely not even get to the merits of the case, and find that the plaintiffs do not have standing to file the lawsuit at all," he said by email. "I also think a court would not be predisposed to open up that box with fully unknown consequences."

Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe, who in past writings has proposed extending legal standing to chimpanzees, also expressed doubt that the courts were ready to apply the 13th Amendment to animals. But he welcomed the PETA lawsuit as a potentially valuable catalyst for "national reflection and deliberation" about humans' treatment of animals.

"People may well look back at this lawsuit and see in it a perceptive glimpse into a future of greater compassion for species other than our own," Tribe wrote in an email.

Tribe noted that some Americans might find it bizarre or insulting to equate any treatment of animals to the sufferings of human slavery. But he argued that the 13th Amendment was written broadly, to address unforeseen circumstances, and could legitimately be applied to animals.

An African-American constitutional expert, Nicholas Johnson of Fordham University School of Law, said he could understand why some blacks might be insulted by the lawsuit, but didn't share that reaction: "I'm more entertained by it in the legal context than I am offended by it."

PETA addressed this issue in the suit, noting that repeated Supreme Court rulings have applied the 13th Amendment to many forms of involuntary servitude beyond the type of slavery that existed during the Civil War.

"The historical context is undeniable," said Jeff Kerr, the PETA lawyer. "But that's not what this case is about. It's about the orcas in their own right, not whether they are or aren't similar to humans."

The five orcas are represented in the case by PETA and four individuals: Ric O'Barry, a longtime orca and dolphin trainer; Ingrid Visser, a New Zealand marine biologist who has studied orcas extensively; Howard Garrett, founder of the Orca Network, an advocacy group in Washington State; and Samantha Berg, a former orca trainer at SeaWorld Orlando.

The lawsuit details the distinctive traits of orcas, the largest species within the dolphin family, including their sophisticated problem-solving and communicative abilities and their formation of complex communities.

The suit alleges that captivity in the "barren tanks" of a marine park suppresses the orcas' abilities and relationships, and subjects them to stress. This sometimes leads to instances where the orcas injure themselves, other orcas or humans that interact with them, according to the suit.

Naomi Rose, the Humane Society's marine mammal biologist, said there's a growing body of research suggesting that whales, dolphins and porpoises have the cognitive sophistication of 3-to-4-year-old human children.

As for the orcas at SeaWorld, she said, "They don't seem to adapt to captivity. I would say they're miserable."

At SeaWorld San Diego, visitors are shown a film touting the park's rescue efforts that have saved thousands of sea creatures. During the main performance, trainers point out how much the orcas are similar to humans: The babies cry before moving on to babbling and finally imitating the crackling sounds of the adults' voices.

Jenny Raymond, 47, who was visiting from Switzerland, said she was delighted by the show and does not buy the argument that the orcas are slave laborers.

"I think they are in better conditions here than in the wild," she said. ( Associated Press )

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How did a 33ft whale end up in the middle of a field in East Yorkshire?

How did a 33ft whale end up in the middle of a field in East Yorkshire? - A young whale died after an exceptionally high tide carried it 800 yards from the shoreline to a field where it then became stuck.

The 33ft mammal, thought to be a Sei whale, was discovered in salt marshes on the north bank of the River Humber near the village of Skeffling.

As the tide retreated the whale became stranded before rolling over onto its blowhole.

The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust has since carried out a post-mortem examination on the mammal with the British Zoological Society. Experts who examined the animal said they are 95 per cent certain it is a female Sei whale and say it could simply have been looking for food when the tide turned.

Stranded: The 33ft whale was found beached 800 yards from the shoreline of the Humber Estuary

Mysterious: Experts are baffled by the beached whales, as this one, like others, are from species not normally stranded on the British coast

The trust's Kirsten Smith said: 'With the high tide the whale probably got carried up on to the salt marsh, got pushed further in shore and then got stuck when the tide went out.

'The area where the whale was found is salt marsh, which is still connected to the sea.

'The salt marsh is one of several components of the Humber Estuary, and is further in than the mud flats and sand components.

'Sometimes whales come into the shallow water looking for food and get stuck.

'It can be illness or confusion in individual animals, but for it to happen twice in the area, and with reports of another whale nearby now, that could be more than just coincidence.'

Andy Gibson, also of the trust, said strandings of Sei whales, such as the one found last Friday, were very rare.

He said there had only been three strandings of this species in UK waters in the last 20 years.

'It is sad. It was in shallow water of about 4ft to 5.25ft, making contact with the bottom,' Mr Gibson said.

'This was about 800m offshore. When it gets in that situation it rolls onto its side and it can cover its blow hole.'

But Mr Gibson said: 'It is sad but we will be able to learn a lot from it.'

Too late: Andy Gibson from Yorkshire Wildlife Trust examines the young female whale on the banks of the Humber Estuary on Wednesday

The whale is the latest of a number to have died in the Humber estuary area recently.

Conservationists believe the increase in the number of strandings could be explained by a change in sea currents bringing colder streams of Arctic water into the North Sea and with them whales that would not normally pass so close to the UK shoreline.

Earlier this month, a young Fin whale - a relative of the Sei - was stranded at Immingham, North East Lincolnshire, and subsequently washed up dead near Spurn Point.

And another dead whale was spotted in the river mouth in the last few days but has yet to wash ashore.

The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust has noted a rise in whale sightings generally in 2011 but no-one is sure why there may be an increase in the mammals in the North Sea.

Over the summer, a pod of up to 10 Minke whales were spotted regularly off the North Yorkshire coast between Whitby and Scarborough.

Whale experts admit they do not know why there has been an upsurge in sightings and strandings. ( dailymail.co.uk )

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'Kill a camel' to cut pollution concept in Australia

'Kill a camel' to cut pollution concept in Australia - Australia is considering awarding carbon credits for killing feral camels as a way to tackle climate change.

The suggestion is included in Canberra's "Carbon Farming Initiative", a consultation paper by the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, seen Thursday.

Adelaide-based Northwest Carbon, a commercial company, proposed culling some 1.2 million wild camels that roam the Outback, the legacy of herds introduced to help early settlers in the 19th century.

Considered a pest due to the damage they do to vegetation, a camel produces, on average, a methane equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide a year, making them collectively one of Australia's major emitters of greenhouse gases.

This file photo shows a feral camel searching for food near the dry Ross River, west of Alice Springs. Considered a pest due to the damage they do to vegetation, a camel produces, on average, a methane equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide a year, making them collectively one of Australia's major emitters of greenhouse gases

In its plan, Northwest said it would shoot them from helicopters or muster them and send them to an abattoir for either human or pet consumption.

"We're a nation of innovators and we find innovative solutions to our challenges -- this is just a classic example," Northwest Carbon managing director Tim Moore told Australian Associated Press.

The idea was among those accepted for discussion by the government, which is seeking to "provide new economic opportunities for farmers, forest growers and landholders" if they come up with ways to cut emissions, according to the document.

Heavily reliant on coal-fired power and mining exports, Australia is one of the world's worst per capita polluters and the government is looking at ways to clean up its act.

Legislation for the "Carbon Farming Initiative" is set to go before parliament next week. ( AFP)

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Elusive Saharan Cheetah Captured in Photos

Elusive Saharan Cheetah Captured in Photos - An elusive Saharan cheetah recently came into the spotlight in Niger, Africa, where a hidden camera snapped photos of the ghostly cat, whose pale coat and emaciated appearance distinguish it from other cheetahs.

In one of the images the sleek, light-colored cat with small spots on its coat and a small head is turning in the direction of the camera, its eyes aglow.

Its appearance, and how the Saharan cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus hecki) is genetically related to other cheetahs is open to question, said John Newby, CEO of the Sahara Conservation Fund (SCF), who is part of the team, along with SCF's Thomas Rabeil and others, who captured the camera-trap snapshots between July ad August. What they know about this species comes from the few photos they've managed to capture.

"I think we were more happy than surprised when the images turned up, because we knew cheetahs were in the general area because we had seen their tracks on several occasions," Newby said. "However, the area is so vast that picking up an animal as rare as this always entails a lot of luck and good judgment on where to place the cameras."

The animal is so rare and elusive scientists aren't sure how many even exist, though they estimate from the few observations they've made of the animal and tracks that fewer than 10 individuals call the vast desert of Termit and Tin Toumma in Niger home. Fewer than 200 cheetahs probably exist in the entire Sahara.

Losing this cheetah would also mean losing important genetic and biological diversity, as these animals have adaptations for survival in extreme desert conditions.

Their home can reach sizzling temperatures up to 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 degrees Celsius), and is so parched no standing water exists. "They probably satisfy their water requirements through the moisture in their prey, and on having extremely effective physiological and behavioral adaptations," Newby said.

In an effort to conserve water and stay out of the heat, the Saharan cheetah is even more nocturnal than other cheetahs.

Spotting these cats in the wild has been a challenge. "They are incredibly shy and elusive animals," Newby said. In addition, they likely have broad home ranges since their prey - gazelles, hares, large birds and smaller rodents - are relatively scarce. Observations that have been made suggest they prefer caves and rock shelters as breeding dens.

Among the threats to the pale cat are scarcity of prey due to poaching and overuse, and conflicts with herders over stock harassment and killing of their animals, according to SCF. Apparently cheetah skins are prized as prayer rugs or used to make slippers.

"They are suspected of taking goats and even baby camels, and as a result are persecuted just like most other large predators," Newby said. "Work underway with local nomads is putting together the true picture of livestock predation in an attempt to reduce the arbitrary slaughter of carnivores that has massively reduced populations of cheetah and striped hyenas."

Newby and Rabeil say the camera-trap study will provide tangible evidence for the cheetah's existence in the Termit area.

"The more we know about the animal the better we can conserve it, including pinpointing key areas for extra protection," Newby said. "The cheetah's presence adds weight to arguments for the entire zone's protection as a nature reserve and strengthens our ability to raise support for conservation activities." ( LiveScience.com)

The Saharan cheetah is listed as critically endangered on the 2009 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. (IUCN stands for International Union for Conservation of Nature.)

READ MORE - Elusive Saharan Cheetah Captured in Photos

Hand-reared endangered spiders released into the wild

Hand-reared endangered spiders released into the wild - Conservation programme releases thousands of rare fen raft spiders into a Suffolk nature reserve in a bid to boost their numbers

Thousands of endangered spiders have been released into a Suffolk nature reserve this week as part of a conservation scheme to stem their decline in the UK.

The ecologist Helen Smith, working with the government body Natural England, has hand-reared the 3,000 baby fen raft spiders in her own kitchen. She said: "They are all lined up in individual test tubes and I've had to personally feed them flies since the spring – which you can imagine is very, very time consuming for that number of spiders."

Thousands of hand-reared baby spiders are being released into the wild to boost numbers of one of the UK's most endangered species. Photograph: Natural England

The fen raft spiders are one of only two British spiders that are fully protected by law. They can grow to 5cm in length and are noted for their distinctive markings and elaborate courtship rituals. The spiders are named after their ability to float on water in the fens and wetlands where they live – thanks to their hairy legs.

The baby spiders (or spiderlings) are cross-breeds whose parents come from two tiny populations that remain in Sussex and Suffolk. As a result the new population will have greater genetic diversity than either parent population. Pete Brotherton, head of biodiversity for Natural England, said: "Numbers of fen raft spider have dwindled to perilously low levels in England – isolated to a few remaining pockets of habitat, it would be difficult for the remaining populations to recover on their own."

A programme of reintroduction has been underway for the last five years and the release of the fen raft spiders into the wild, supported by the BBC Wildlife Fund, marks the culmination of this work. Smith said: "It's very exciting and lots of people as well as me have been working towards this so hopefully it will be a happy ending for the fen raft spider."

But Smith said many of the spiderlings would not make it to adulthood. "They are delicate beings and face a lot of threats in the wetlands. But it won't be till next summer when we know how many survived so I'll have to hold my breath through the winter."

• This piece was amended on 22nd October 2010. We originally referred to the spiderlings as being a "hybrid species". This is incorrect and has been changed. ( guardian.co.uk )

READ MORE - Hand-reared endangered spiders released into the wild

Dinosaurs grew into long-necked giants 'so they could gulp down food without chewing'

Dinosaurs grew into long-necked giants 'so they could gulp down food without chewing. Gulping down food might have helped plant-eating dinosaurs grow into giants.

If they had stopped to chew, they would have run out of eating time, scientists say. But guzzling let them get food into their stomachs quickly.

This may explain why dinosaurs such as argentinosaurus, which weighed up to 100 tons, had long necks and tiny heads.

An artist's impression of a sauropod, a species of giant plant-eating dinosaur. Scientists now believe they developed long necks to gulp down their food without chewing

Animals that eat a lot and chew, such as elephants, need big heads to accommodate jaw muscles and molars.

But a large head would not be needed if it did not chew.

Long necks would also have helped big dinosaurs get to food without moving from a particular spot.

While elephants need to spend 18 hours eating to satisfy their appetites, a giant dinosaur would have needed an impossible 30 hours a day.

This has been a puzzle for scientists wondering how gigantic plant-eating dinosaurs known as sauropods got to be so big.

Professor Martin Sinder (pictured) believes if massive plant-eating dinosaurs had stopped to chew, they would have run out of eating time

The research by Germany's Bonn University is published today in the journal Biological Reviews.

When plant-eating mammals evolved they developed quite a different set of manners, relying on chewing to make food more digestible.

'Chewing is a property which no large herbivorous terrestrial mammal has got rid of,' said Professor Martin Sander, from Bonn University.

A staple part of the vegetarian dino-diet was probably horsetails, fern-like plants that were abundant in prehistoric swamps and highly nutritious, said the scientists.
Few animals feed on them today because they contain a lot of hard silicate which is bad for teeth.

But this would not have been a problem for dinosaurs that plucked and swallowed the plants without chewing. Sauropods are also known to have renewed their teeth frequently, sometimes as often as once a month.

The dinosaurs' large stomachs and powerful metabolisms would have helped them cope with so much unchewed food, the researchers believe.

Dinosaurs possessed a highly efficient bird-like breathing system involving large numbers of air sacs permeating their body cavity and bones.

'In the history of species the lungs of today's birds and of the giant dinosaurs have the same origin,' said Prof Sander.

'Two hundred million years ago, an unparalleled combination developed of primitive traits, which were new in the history of evolution. This combination made these fascinating giants possible.' ( dailymail.co.uk )

READ MORE - Dinosaurs grew into long-necked giants 'so they could gulp down food without chewing'

Gunmen hit mosque in Pakistan garrison city

Gunmen hit mosque in Pakistan garrison city. Explosions heard near military HQ; local TV reports 5 people die in violence. - Suspected militants fired on a mosque near Pakistan's military headquarters after Friday prayers and blasts were heard, a military spokesman said.

"There has been gunshots and blasts at the mosque. Details about the number of terrorists and casualties are yet to come," military spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said.

Television stations said at least five people were killed. Police official Waqas Ahmed told The Associated Press that gunfire was continuing in the area. At least one explosion was also heard.

Pakistan's army launched a major offensive against Taliban militants in their stronghold of South Waziristan in October. Militants carried out a series of bombings which have killed hundreds since then.

In October, suspected Taliban gunmen wearing army uniforms attacked the army headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

The violence comes after U.S. President Barack Obama urged Pakistan to crack down harder on militants operating along the border area to help put down a Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. ( msn.com )

READ MORE - Gunmen hit mosque in Pakistan garrison city

World’s most energy-efficient supercomputer recognized

World’s most energy-efficient supercomputer recognized. The high-performance computer QPACE (QCD Parallel Computing on the Cell) has been recognized as the most energy-efficient supercomputer in the world.

QPACE is at the head of the Green500 list, which provides a global ranking of energy-efficient supercomputers.

For a long time, in the world of supercomputers, performance was solely associated with speed.

This notion led to the development of computers that use enormous amounts of energy. Energy efficiency usually was ignored.

Not until the advent of increased discussions about the scarcity of natural resources and energy over the past years did this aspect gain in importance for the development of supercomputers.

Along with the Top500 list of the fastest computers, the Green500 list of supercomputers with the least energy use emerged as criterion for the rating and ranking of computer performance.

The QPACE supercomputer comes in at place 110 on the TOP500 list and has a computing power of 55 teraflop/s.

QPACE was developed by an academic consortium of universities and research centers as well as the German IBM research and development center in Boblingen within the framework of a state-sponsored research association.

It was deployed mid 2009 with four racks each at the Research Center Julich and at the University of Wuppertal.

It is being used for the simulation of fundamental forces in elementary particle physics, especially in the research area of quantum chromodynamics (QCD).

The heart of QPACE is the IBM PowerXCell 8i processor, an enhancement of the Cell/B.E. processor, which originally was developed by Sony, Toshiba and IBM for the Sony PlayStation 3.

With its nine processor cores, the chip can carry out a very large number of calculations simultaneously and at a high speed.

The novel concept of QPACE consists of connecting processors by a network of programmable units, called Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA), to an efficient scalable computer.

Each of the QPACE installations in Julich and Wuppertal can reach a maximum performance of 100 TeraFlops (double precision).

That equates to 100 trillion (100,000,000,000,000) computing operations per second.

As a result of the scalability of the network, it is in principle possible to increase the performance to the PetaFlops scale (one quadrillion operations per second).

The technology concepts developed for the QPACE project are setting the trend for future high-performance computers. ( zeenews.com )

READ MORE - World’s most energy-efficient supercomputer recognized

Activist group posts 9/11 'leaked' messages

Activist group posts 9/11 'leaked' messages. An activist group has begun posting 573,000 pager messages purportedly sent on Sept. 11, 2001, from "Second World Trade Center tower collapses" to "I'm ok & love you..xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox."

The group, Wikileaks, says some of the messages were sent by federal and local officials, but most appear to be from regular people, including frantic New Yorkers trying to reach loved ones in and around the World Trade Center.

Wikileaks was posting the messages for most of the day Wednesday and expected to finish early Thursday.

The messages range from "DO NOT GET ON THE PATH TRAIN...THE WORLD TRADE CENTER IS ON FIRE" to "President has been rerouted wont be returning to washington but not sure where he will go."

One says, "THIS IS MYRNA, I WILL NOT REST UNTIL YOU GO HOME, THE SECOND TOWER IS DOWN, I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO KEEP CALLING YOU AFTER EVERY EVENT. PLS JUST GO HOME."

Some are unrelated to the terrorist attacks: "Paul, Jerry and I feel that we can expect around 200 people for the Pig Picking. Call if you want to. Keith"

Wikileaks says its goal is to promote transparency by putting leaked documents online. Its repository includes manuals, lawsuits and numerous government documents.

Daniel Schmitt, a Wikileaks spokesman from Berlin, said the pager messages were submitted to the site anonymously several weeks ago.

"From the context information that the source provided we have strong reasons to believe that this is valid data," Schmitt said.

Schmitt said publishing the messages "is one more building block to getting a full picture of what happened on that day." He noted that none of the messages appear to lend credence to conspiracy theories that suggest the U.S. government was behind the attacks or had advance knowledge of them.

New York City's police and fire departments said they could not confirm that any of the messages were actual department communications. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the US Secret Service and the Federal Emergency Management Administration declined to comment on the messages.

Most of the pages come from three companies, Metrocall, Skytel and Arch.

USA Mobility Inc., which merged Arch and Metrocall systems in 2004, issued a statement Wednesday saying it was "troubled to learn that paging messages, including communications involving government officials, appear to have been intercepted and publicly disclosed in clear violation of federal criminal law."

"We hope and expect that persons who engage in unlawful electronic surveillance will be apprehended and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," the statement said.

Skytel did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Many messages show New Yorkers desperately trying to connect on a day when phone service was spotty.

"CALL YOUR WIFE AT HOME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE."

"PLEASE CALL STAN AT HOM."

"PLEASE CALL YOUR MOTHER."

( zeenews.com )

READ MORE - Activist group posts 9/11 'leaked' messages

Monkeys choose mating partners with different genes

Monkeys choose mating partners with different genes: Study. Monkeys choose mating partners with genes different from their own to guarantee healthy and strong offspring, a new study has claimed.

A team of researcher from UK and Africa analysed blood samples and reproduction patterns of around 200 mandrills, a species closely related to humans, living in Gabon in Central Africa.

They observed that female mandrills reproduced most with those males whose genes were complementary to their own.

Presuming that the females use smell to select suitable mating partner for themselves, the scientists said, "monkeys know their own body smell, which is partly determined by their genes".

Male mandrills have a scent-gland on their chest, which they rub vigorously against trees to advertise their presence to females.

"The females sniff out the males whose body odour is different giving an indication that their genetic make up is likely to be unlike theirs," the team assumed, but made it clear that they were still trying to determine mandrill cent-marks.

"This is an important advance in our knowledge of how mate selection works in monkeys. We now need to dig deeper and establish how they do this," lead author Jo Setchell from Durham University's Anthropology Department said in a report in Journal of Evolutionary Biology.

Selective fertilisation could be another method adopted by female mandrills to 'choose' their mates, researchers speculate.

"Alternatively, it could well be that the female has a sophisticated way of somehow rejecting and accepting fertilisation depending on the genetic makeup of the sperm. This might help to explain why female primates go out of their way to mate with as many males as possible," Setchell said.

A female mandrill mates with a number of males and researchers believe that her body rejects sperm from males with a similar genetic makeup and 'picks' those with different genes.

"These results are very exciting and this is the first time that selection for genetic compatibility has been demonstrated in a species which is quite closely related to humans. So our results support the idea that humans might choose genetically compatible mates," Setchell said. ( zeenews.com )

READ MORE - Monkeys choose mating partners with different genes