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Why Is Media Coverage Virtually Nonexistent on ExxonMobil’s Mayflower Oil Spill in Arkansas?

April 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment

MAYFLOWER OIL SPILL: Is there a cover-up in the Mayflower oil spill? It seems that the media isn’t so interested in what’s going and Exxon isn’t so forthcoming with information either. A little background:  a pipeline ruptured and leaked at least 80,000 gallons of oil into central Arkansas town of Mayflower, flooding streets and homes, last Friday. It was reportedly transporting  Wabasca Heavy crude from the Canadian tar sands region. I am curious as to why it took 45 minutes for the gushing to stop.

We have been following an interesting Twitter stream:

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Scientists Discover ‘Underground Galapagos,’ Could Be a Clue to Origins of Life on Earth

March 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Scientists have discovered an ‘Underground Galapagos,’ which  could be a clue to the origins of life on the Earth.

Whether it is tiny worms found wriggling in the depths of a South African mine or micro-organisms discovered six kilometers (3.7 miles) under the surface in China, subterranean life forms are found everywhere.

“We are making incredible discoveries about the nature and distribution of deep microbial life,” said Robert Hazen, executive director of the Carnegie Institution’s Deep Carbon Observatory geophysical laboratory…

“It’s an intriguing part of evolution,” said John Baross, a professor at the University of Washington in Seattle.

“The deep sub-surface may have acted as a natural laboratory for the origin of life in which multiple experiments could have been carried out in tandem,” he said.

“You have everything you need to make life including energy, water and carbon-rich molecules that could have made the underground rather than the surface of the planet, the cradle of the very first life on earth.

“We may find totally new kinds of life as we reach greater depths, higher temperatures and pressures. Quite possibly Earth’s deepest life doesn’t use DNA and proteins the way normal cells do.” Source

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Russian Meteorite Crash in Chelyabinsk Mirrors Century-Old Tunguska Event

February 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment
russian meteorite crash 300x154 Russian Meteorite Crash in Chelyabinsk Mirrors Century Old Tunguska Event

Russian Meteorite Crash in Chelyabinsk Mirrors Century-Old Tunguska Event (Photo: RT News/Twitter)

RUSSIAN METEORITE CRASH:  The most powerful meteorite explosion in history occurred in Chelyabinsk, far greater than the century-old Tunguska event,  RT News reports. The latest incident was caused by a  fragment of a comet or meteor. “It looks like it was something like Tunguska – a 60-meter diameter cosmic body, which fell into the Tunguska taiga in 1908,” said Professor Oleg Malkov, Russian Science Academy Institute of Astronomy, according to RT News.

Between Tunguska and Chelyabinsk, Russia has witnessed at least three such events.  In 1922, a meteor shower rained down on the village of Tsaryov near Volgograd in Southern Russia. Some 1.6 tons of meteor fragments were found there, with the biggest weighing almost 300 kilograms.

This was quite scary and about 1,000 people were injured. I am sure that will increase.

The BBC’s Daniel Sandford says people described a ball of fire in the sky — A meteor crashing in central Russia’s Ural mountains has injured at least 500 people, as the shockwave blew out windows and rocked buildings. Source

The Russian meteor blast was more powerful that the North Korea nuclear test and was the largest rock to hit the Earth since 1908. - @NatureNews

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US, New Zealand Carry Out Secret ‘Tsunami Bomb’ Test, Could Destroy Coastal Cities

January 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment

300px NZ Whangaparaoa P US, New Zealand Carry Out Secret Tsunami Bomb Test, Could Destroy Coastal Cities

US, New Zealand Carry Out Secret ‘Tsunami Bomb’ Test, Could Destroy Coastal Cities [Whangaparaoa Peninsula, New Zealand] (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Telegraph: “The United States and New Zealand conducted secret tests of a ‘tsunami bomb’ designed to destroy coastal cities by using underwater blasts to trigger massive tidal waves.”

“The tests were carried out in waters around New Caledonia and Auckland during the Second World War and showed that the weapon was feasible and a series of 10 large offshore blasts could potentially create a 33-foot tsunami capable of inundating a small city.”

“The top secret operation, code-named “Project Seal”, tested the doomsday device as a possible rival to the nuclear bomb. About 3,700 bombs were exploded during the tests, first in New Caledonia and later at Whangaparaoa Peninsula, near Auckland.”

US, New Zealand Carry Out Secret Tsunami Bomb Test, Could Destroy Coastal Cities
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Yale Scientists Name Extinct Lizard ‘Obamadon Gracilis’ After President Obama

December 10, 2012 by Leave a Comment
obamadon lizard 300x234 Yale Scientists Name Extinct Lizard Obamadon Gracilis After President Obama

Yale Scientists Name Extinct Lizard ‘Obamadon Gracilis’ After President Obama (Photo credit: Yale University)

Boston Herald:  ”The small, insect-eating lizard was discovered in the badlands of northeastern Montana—its fossil preserved in an area called the Hell Creek formation. Less than a foot long, it had elaborate teeth with three cusps on each tooth and a slender jaw. Some 65 million years ago, it went extinct. And now, it is named for the 44th president of the United States: Obamadon gracilis.”

“The ancient lizard species bearing President Obama’s name was discovered when researchers from Yale and Harvard universities re-examined fossil collections all across the country, as part of an effort to understand what happened to lizards and snakes during the mass extinction that killed off the dinosaurs.”

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NASA’s New Rover Curiosity Takes First Color Photo Since Landing on Mars Revealing North Wall, Rim of Gale Crater

August 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment
nasa rover curiosity 300x217 NASAs New Rover Curiosity Takes First Color Photo Since Landing on Mars Revealing North Wall, Rim of Gale Crater

NASA’s New Rover Curiosity Takes First  Color Photo Since Landing on Mars Revealing North Wall, Rim of Gale Crater (Photo credit: NASA)

NASA’s new rover Curiosity landed on Mars Sunday night in order to search for evidence that Mars once harbored or could in the future harbor microbial life, snapped its first color image Tuesday. The color photo reveals the north wall and rim of Gale Crater. The picture proves that key instruments, particularly a camera known as the Mars Hand Lens Imager, or MAHLI, were in good working order following the rover’s descent to the planet’s surface Sunday.

Designed to take magnified, close-up images of rocks and other objects, or wide shots of landscapes, the camera currently remains stowed on the rover’s deck. But once in full operation, scientists can use it to capture fine details with a resolution as high as 13.9 microns per pixel — several times finer than the width of a human hair.

“It works. It’s awesome. Can’t wait to open it and see what else we can see,” Curiosity scientist Ken Edgett told reporters on Tuesday.

The latest images were relayed to Earth during the rover’s first full day on the Red Planet, following a descent through the Martian atmosphere and touchdown on Sunday night that NASA hailed as the most elaborate and challenging ever in robotic spaceflight.

The $2.5 billion project is NASA’s first astrobiology mission since the Viking probes of the 1970s, and the landing came as a much-welcome success for a space agency beleaguered by science budget cuts and the recent cancellation of its 30-year-old space shuttle program. Source:  Reuters

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ASU Marine Biologist Names Crustacean Blood Feeder, Gnathia Marleyi, Bob Marley

July 10, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Gnathia marleyi bob marley 300x214 ASU Marine Biologist Names Crustacean Blood Feeder, Gnathia Marleyi, Bob Marley

ASU Marine Biologist Names Crustacean Blood Feeder, Gnathia Marleyi After Bob Marley (National Science Foundation)

Reggae legend Bob Marley joins an elite club, including Barack Obama, who have a biological species named in their honor — the Gnathia marleyi — a small parasitic crustacean blood feeder that infests fish in Caribbean coral reefs.

The species was named by Paul Sikkel, a marine biologist at Arkansas State University, who said, “I named this species, which is truly a natural wonder, after Marley because of my respect and admiration for Marley’s music.”

The young Gnathia marleyi hide among coral rubble, sea sponges, launching surprise attacks on fish, which they then infest, eating enough to fuel their growth to adulthood, Reuters reports.

 

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NASA Panorama Shows Stunning Images on Mars From Greely Haven Outcrop

July 9, 2012 by Leave a Comment
NASA PANORAMIC VIEW OF MARS 300x165 NASA Panorama Shows Stunning Images on Mars From Greely Haven Outcrop

NASA Panorama Shows Stunning Images on Mars From Greely Outcrop (NASA)

Beautiful, is the only way I can explain that panoramic view of Mars that NASA released recently. NASA  describes the images as “the next best thing” to being on the Red Planet. The images were taken from the “Opportunity” rover’s panoramic camera, or “Pancam,” between December 21, 2011 and May 8, 2012.

The panorama shows the Martian terrain during winter as the rover was  stationed on an outcrop called “Greely Haven” on part of the Endeavour Crater, according to NASA’s release. The site was named after Ronald Greely, a scientist on the project, who died in 2011.

“The view provides rich geologic context for the detailed chemical and mineral work that the team did at Greeley Haven over the rover’s fifth Martian winter, as well as a spectacularly detailed view of the largest impact crater that we’ve driven to yet with either rover over the course of the mission,” Pancam lead scientist Arizona State University professor Jim Bell said in a statement.

nasa panorama 2 300x244 NASA Panorama Shows Stunning Images on Mars From Greely Haven Outcrop

NASA Panorama Images from Mars Rover on Greely Outcrop

nasa panorama 3 300x234 NASA Panorama Shows Stunning Images on Mars From Greely Haven Outcrop

NASA Panorama Images from Mars Rover on Greely Haven Outcrop on Endeavour Crater

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7.6 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Historic Oaxaca Region in Mexico

March 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

EARTHQUAKE:  A 7.6 magnitude earthquake strikes historic Oaxaca region in Mexico, Tuesday afternoon.  According to the USGS, the earthquake had a depth of 17.5 km (10.9 miles).  Malia Obama is approximately 101 miles away in the city of Oaxaca on her spring break vacation? If she is still there, I am praying for her safe return. I can hear the chorus from the haters right now…..

The earthquake hit small towns in south Mexico, which may have sustained serious damage. First Lady Michelle Obama’s Communications Director, Kristina Schake, released a statement saying Malia Obama “is safe and was never in danger.” Mexican President Felipe Calderon says no serious damage was reported from the earthquake.

Separately, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck Papua, New Guinea, according to the USGS.

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Dead Blackbirds Fall from Sky for Second New Year’s Eve in a Row in Beebe Ark.

January 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Twenty dead blackbirds fall from the sky in Beebe, Ark., for the second New Year’s Eve in a row. Police are blaming the fireworks for the deaths and have instituted an emergency ban on fireworks, KATV reports.  Scientists said the loud cracks and booms from celebratory fireworks sent the birds crashing into buildings, cars, and each other before falling to the ground December 31, 2010, KATV said.

 

pixel Dead Blackbirds Fall from Sky for Second New Years Eve in a Row in Beebe Ark.
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