Another World Under the Microscope

By Christy Su
August 20, 2011

Envision a tiny grain of sand, so small one would dismiss it without a second thought. Saying that there is another depth of beauty in something so small is unheard of before. However, Dr. Gary Greenberg of the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy dares to explore the unimaginable.

Combining science and art into one, Greenberg unveils never-seen microscopic views of objects like grains of sand, flowers, and food. Dedicated to his work, not only does he invent 3D microscopes and produce photos, but he also holds lectures, writes books, and opens exhibits for viewers to indulge in his wonderful passion. We were able to get an on-line interview with Greenberg and learn more about his work.

The Epoch Times: How did you first decide to incorporate art and science?

Greenberg: At the age of 13, my dad brought me a beautiful stereo microscope, and at the same time, my grandfather bought me a two-volume copy of the complete notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci. Those two events changed my life, and it was clear to me that art and science should be combined because both are ways to explore nature and human condition.

The Epoch Times: What is your current project right now?

Greenberg: I am currently building a new generation of 3D digital microscopes. These microscopes will be available for sale in 2012 under the trademark Edge-3D. My current research is to study moon sand in 3D from all the Apollo Mission landings.

The Epoch Times: What are the reactions of audiences when they see your work?

Greenberg : Almost everyone who sees my work is taken by the beauty of the natural world. I am able to show them things they would never be able to even imagine. People tell me that seeing images makes them more aware of the hidden aspects of life. The secrets of life are everywhere, but they are hidden until they are discovered. I am happy I am able to help people discover the magnificence of our world.

The Epoch Times: Where does your project inspiration come from?

Greenberg: For me, Nature is endlessly praiseworthy. I am continually inspired by the desire to discover new things and show them to others.

The Epoch Times: What is the highest magnification you have used? And which art piece did you use it on?

Greenberg: The magnification limit of my microscopes is about 1,500 times actual size; however, most of my images of sand, flowers, and food range from 100 times to 300 times. However, when I investigate cells from the body, such are brains cells or cells of the immune system, then I use magnifications of 400 times to 1,000 times.

The Epoch Times: Which art piece do you value the most and why?

Greenberg: That is too difficult a decision to make.

The Epoch Times: Can you describe the process and work involved in creating one piece of art?

I invented and built the 3D microscopes that I use. My company, Edge-3D, has been developing and building high-definition 3D microscopes since 1990. There are many factors that go into making a compelling photograph through the microscope. The quality of the lens, the lighting, the camera, and the type of microscope all make a big difference. Microscopic photographs of three-dimensional objects are difficult to produce because light microscopes have very shallow depth of focus. In other words, the camera can only see a thin section of the object in-focus, with the foreground and background being out-of-focus. I overcome this limitation by photographing a series of images taken at different focus levels.

To produce a fully-focused image, a computer program analyzes each image in the series, selecting the in-focus portions, and discarding the out-of-focus portions of each image in the series. All of the in-focus portions are then seamlessly combined into a single image that is sharply focused from foreground to background. The result of all this technology is a dramatic, more three-dimensional representation of the object

The Epoch Times: What magnification do you use to see the sand particles?

Greenberg: Most of my images of sand are about 150 times actual size. If you go closer than that, then you lose the feeling that it is a grain of sand that you are looking at.

The Epoch Times: So after viewing these different items at higher magnification and seeing them at smaller sizes, do you think there is a limit to how small you can see? Take a grain of sand for example. If you break the sand particle smaller and smaller while increasing the magnification, do you think there is a limit to the different forms of it you can see if technology was not a limit?

Greenberg: Modern microscopes are so powerful, they can zoom into a single atom. These types of microscopes can magnify objects about a hundred million times actual size. As you might imagine, a single grain of sand could look very different, depending on the magnification and the type of microscope used to see it.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/science/another-world-under-the-microscope-60587-all.html.

2012 - end of the world or time for change?

Friday, December 23, 2011
Tara Green

(NaturalNews) The coming new year which is 2012, also happens to be the name of a 2009 Hollywood disaster film in which a lucky few survivors, mostly political leaders and the very rich, board huge insulated arks to ride out a massive civilization-destroying tsunami. As the real 2012 approaches, pop culture speculation continues to fashion an apocalypse-almost-now out of misinterpretation of the Mayan calendar.

For those of us less prone to anxiety, perhaps 2012 offers an opportunity to begin a new era-- which is actually what the Mayan calendar predicts. We can act to make our own lives and the lives of others in our community healthier and happier. We can act to ensure that politicians and the wealthy lose the insulation which permits them to ride an ark of selfish indifference, ignoring the problems created by corporations plundering both human and environmental resources.

Misinterpreting the Mayan Calendar
Our calendar measures time in terms of years, decades and centuries. The basic unit of the ancient Mayan calendar was the 360-day tun, which, like our own 365-day years, is roughly equivalent to one revolution of the earth around the sun. Twenty tuns form a k'atun and twenty k'atuns (or 400 tuns) become a bak'tun. In our calendar, a bak'tun equals roughly 395 years. The ancient Mayan Long Count calendar covers a period of 13 bak'tuns, which will end approximately around the winter solstice of 2012. In Mayan cosmology, an earlier era preceding their calendar lasted for 13 bak'tuns and ended through natural transition rather than through devastation and destruction. They did not predict the end of the world with the passage of 13 bak'tuns, but a turning of an era, similar to our calendar shift from 1999 to 2000.

Is it Doomsday again?
The Mayan calendar and 2012 form the latest hook upon which some people want to hang their doomsday forebodings. Some of the previous occasions are within recent memory. End of the world predictions occur with regularity. Twice in 2011, 90-year old evangelical minister Harold Camping predicted the end of the world based on his own mathematical calculations, first on May 21 then on October 21. Nearly thirty years ago, Pat Robertson told his millions of television viewers that the Second Coming would take place 1982.

Doomsday predictions are not a recent phenomenon. In 1843, a preacher from upstate New York, William Miller, persuaded over 50,000 followers that Christ would return, bringing the end of the world in 1843. Like Harold Camping, Miller had to revise his prediction, with his followers awaiting a re-scheduled end of the world in 1844, leading to what history books term the Great Disappointment. A massive volcanic explosion in Iceland in 1783 covered much of Europe in poisonous clouds causing crop failure and starvation. The natural disaster and subsequent tragedy led some observers of the day to predict the imminent end of the world. Many Christians in Europe spent the night preceding January 1, 1000 in church praying, awaiting the Last Judgment.

Recycling Doomsday emotions
End-time predictions provide a sense of heightened drama which can help people feel their lives are more imbued with meaning as time ticks down to a purported end. Doomsday scenarios also offer a hope of redressing injustices whether through a Last Judgment or through some brave new world forged by a few survivors. The key point to grasp is the emotions which make doomsday scenarios attractive can be harnessed to create positive change. We all have the choice every day to view our lives with a sense of greater meaning without recourse to "the end is nigh" thinking. We all have the option now to participate in social justice movements, or environmental causes, or efforts to re-create the food and health systems which are slowly poisoning huge numbers of people.

Next time you read or hear a prediction that the world is ending, take some time to think of actions you can take to help re-make the world. Don't let yourself be frightened by the scope of the problems -- give yourself permission to take small steps. But don't be afraid to think big and to build alliances with other people to make your actions resonate more loudly. If enough people act, 2012 can be the "end of the world" for corporate greed and exploitation of the environment, the middle class, and the poor.

Source: NaturalNews.
Link: http://www.naturalnews.com/034471_2012_end_times_Mayan_calendar.html.

Subway Runs Past McDonald's Chain

MARCH 8, 2011

By JULIE JARGON

It's official: the Subway sandwich chain has surpassed McDonald's Corp. as the world's largest restaurant chain, in terms of units.

At the end of last year, Subway had 33,749 restaurants worldwide, compared to McDonald's 32,737. The burger giant disclosed its year-end store count in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing late last month.

The race for global dominance is an important one for an industry that's mostly saturated in the U.S. High unemployment and economic uncertainty have battered the restaurant industry in the U.S., and chains are increasingly looking overseas for growth, particularly in Asia.

Starbucks Corp. recently said it plans to triple its number of outlets in China, for example. Dunkin' Brands Inc., parent of Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, plans to open thousands of new outlets in China in coming years as well as its first stores in Vietnam in the next 18 months. Subway just opened its 1,000th location in Asia, including its first in Vietnam.

Subway, which opened its first international restaurant in 1984, in Bahrain, expects its number of international restaurants to exceed its domestic ones by 2020, says Don Fertman, Subway's Chief Development Officer. The chain currently has just over 24,000 restaurants in the U.S., where it generated $10.5 billion of its $15.2 billion in revenue last year.

The closely held company, owned by Doctor's Associates Inc., does not disclose its profits.

McDonald's is still the leader when it comes to sales. The burger chain reported $24 billion in revenue last year. "We remain focused on listening to and serving our customers, and are committed to being better, not just bigger," a McDonald's spokeswoman says.

Subway, which surpassed the number of McDonald's in the U.S. about nine years ago, expects China to eventually become one of its largest markets. The sandwich shop only has 199 restaurants in China now, but expects to have more than 500 by 2015.

Subway has achieved its rapid growth, in part, by opening outlets in non-traditional locations such as an automobile showroom in California, an appliance store in Brazil, a ferry terminal in Seattle, a riverboat in Germany, a zoo in Taiwan, a Goodwill store in South Carolina, a high school in Detroit and a church in Buffalo, New York.

"We're continually looking at just about any opportunity for someone to buy a sandwich, wherever that might be. The closer we can get to the customer, the better," Mr. Fertman says, explaining that it now has almost 8,000 Subways in unusual locations. "The non-traditional is becoming traditional."

The company has some concerns about the economies of certain international markets, such as Germany and the United Kingdom. The company is trying to develop more affordable offerings in those countries, similar to the $5 foot-long sandwiches that have been successful in the U.S.

"Finding that kind of value proposition in those countries is essential," Mr. Fertman says.

Source: The Wall Street Journal.
Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703386704576186432177464052.html?mod=e2tw.

Lasers: The Last Line of Defense

WARNING: Article contains propaganda!

* * * * *

By Ambassador (ret) Jon Glassman, Director for Government Policy, Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems; and Dr. Josef Shwartz, Technical Consultant, Marina del Rey, California

The views expressed in this article reflect only the personal views of the authors, neither those of Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems nor the US Government.

02/ 11 /2011 –

Strategic Overview

High energy lasers offer a number of properties that make them particularly attractive for meeting the emerging high-intensity, combined threat of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, remotely piloted aircraft, glide bombs, rockets, artillery, and mortars (RAM). High-energy lasers have been successfully tested against RAM and efforts are underway to create at lower power levels mobile land, sea, and air-based laser defenses against traditional and emerging threats (e.g., small boats).

At the same time, high-energy lasers have yet to be tested comprehensively against ballistic missile re-entry vehicles (RVs), cruise missiles, high-end remotely–piloted aircraft, and glide bombs. While physical principles and test experience suggest likely success against these threats, additional test data are required to more thoroughly validate laser analyses against ballistic missile RVs.

While lasers illuminate their targets at speed-of-light, time is needed to inflict the required damage (laser dwell on target) which may vary from a few seconds to several tens of seconds, depending on laser power, beam quality, and target hardness. In order to cope with raids (swarm attacks), shooting timelines need to accommodate the needed dwell time on the initial target plus the time to slew to and dwell on subsequent targets. Alternatively, additional laser and kinetic interceptors can be drawn into a raid engagement, if and as available.

Beyond the basic issue of ability to damage/degrade RVs, it is important to know whether lasers can succeed far enough away from defended objectives should RVs carry nuclear weapons with concomitant blast and electromagnetic pulse (EMP) effects, and to understand the impact of a broad set of environmental conditions on the range and effectiveness of laser systems. To determine viability against ballistic missile RVs of various classes, both ground and airborne lasers should be developed and tested at the highest power levels achievable in each medium in a variety of atmospheric conditions.

The analysis below makes the argument that mobile and fixed lasers are highly desirable, if not essential, to face complex emerging threats. Development and testing — particularly in the higher power realm — is critical to determine to what degree lasers can relieve pressure on ever more stressed kinetic defenses.

The Argument

We hold that targets exist that are so critical to protect, a final laser defense layer needs to be put in place to guarantee more surely their defense. We further argue that the diffusion of improved weapons guidance on medium- and short-range weapons will change the offense/defense cost ratio — thereby requiring low cost/shot defensive weapon systems such as lasers and other non-kinetic means.

And we contend finally that the available defensive time line will become perilously short as ballistic missile inventories (and concomitant raid attack sizes) increase and late-detected horizontal trajectory weapons (cruise missiles, remotely-piloted aircraft, and glide bombs) proliferate. These factors in combination offer powerful international security justification to accelerate efforts to test and field high energy lasers– supported in real-time by appropriate sensors and command-and-control.

An Absolute Requirement for a Final Terminal Defense Layer?

Much of recent dialogue on laser missile defense has focused on boost/ascent phase intercept approaches using the Airborne Laser (ABL) demonstrator. Additionally, there is active interest in naval ship and air base terminal point defense.

Less attention has been paid to the potentially categorical need for a laser weapon as a final terminal layer across several or many defended objects/areas.

If a final layer defense requirement were near absolute for multiple targets across broad areas, it would generate important system-level demands and stresses not just on the laser itself but also on their organic and cueing sensors and command-and-control (C2).

The need for a final terminal defense layer flows logically from the good sense of very high investment for risk mitigation when consequences of failure approach the grandiose or catastrophic.

The following are illustrative categories where a final laser layer would seem to be highly important:

* Defense of densely populated urban areas — total casualties have major political-military consequences (the average population density for US urban areas is 2300/sq mile, but for some areas in conflict zones urban density and casualty exposure are considerably higher, eg, Tel Aviv 19,699/sq mile, Seoul/Inchon 26,300/sq mile, Mumbai 64,400/sq mile)

* Defense of certain ground and sea-based offensive and defensive weapons, sensors, and command-and-control — those that are critical to secure quick war termination under favorable conditions

* Defense of civilian infrastructure vital to survival and swift recovery to include selected communications, transport, public service, food, water, and energy supply capabilities and other assets/functions essential to global economic stability (e.g., energy production and export facilities in the Persian Gulf).

The Impact of Medium and Short-Range Weapon Guidance

Beyond the issue of targets that need to be more reliably defended, there is the matter of how the threat to these targets is changing. In fact, the imminent spread of precision guidance systems to medium- and short-range weapons may dramatically increase that threat.

Catastrophe avoidance is clearly at issue if weapons of mass destruction are in play. But the coupling of improved guidance (the “precision revolution”) and high-efficiency explosives and chemicals with tactical and theater missiles, unmanned aircraft, glide bombs, rockets, artillery, and mortars expands the scope and possibility of dangerous outcomes, lending urgency to the need for a final layer of defense.

This is so because, once fielded, improved guided tactical and theater weapons could be used in quantity to alter war strategy and cadence and impose politically significant effects on traditionally defended opponents.

The reported accumulation by Hezbollah in Lebanon of more than 40 thousand tactical rockets—ten times more than its 2006 war inventory — requires early pre-launch destruction, thereby channeling initial Israeli offensive options — including ground force options–and generating pressure on Israeli emergency services and public confidence.

Beyond the imposition of a voluminous attack, an attacker with very high efficiency explosive or chemically-armed guided weapons would have the option of grouping his shots to achieve simultaneous or sequential political effect in an urban area.

And he may also expect to have far greater success than in the past against the defender’s fixed and locatable mobile sensors, C2, and weapons, as well as against high-leverage economic assets in the target zone. These expected effects may prompt a preemptive launch of hostilities by either the aggressing side or his potential victim.

The attacking side’s ability to derive political, economic, and military advantage from each and every shot makes impractical the defender’s future use of preferential engagement tactics — his option heretofore not to engage and waste costly interceptor resources on errant arriving projectiles.

The need to engage every incoming weapon will change radically the offense/defense cost ratio in theaters like Israel, the Persian Gulf, India/Pakistan, and the North Asian periphery (ROK, Japan, and Taiwan) where multiple range/trajectory/re-entry velocity systems are in, or can be brought into, play simultaneously (including by maritime and ground infiltration of tactical weapons into target proximity).

If engagement is required for every incoming threat, the diffusion of guidance systems into cheap projectiles such as mortars, tactical rockets, and artillery shells — and future inexpensive longer-range systems — will generate salvo defense challenges beyond anything we currently face. Attack volume may make kinetic defense at close ranges prohibitively expensive.

The Problem of Time

Beyond the problems generated by enhanced offensive precision, there is the acute problem posed by the time dimension. This problem is manifested in the ballistic missile realm via the challenge of dealing with both volume (raids) and with high velocity re-entry trajectories enhanced by countermeasures, decoys, and, in some cases, maneuvering (e.g., Chinese DF 21). This raises the potential for leakers and the possible need for a laser, speed-of-light “third shot” (after a shoot-look-shoot kinetic effort) to protect vital and priority defended assets.

This problem is expanding through the spread of ground, sea, and air-launched cruise missiles and aerial glide bombs and remotely-piloted aircraft (RPAs). These horizontal trajectory/ground-hugging systems may only be detected close-in with inadequate data to support fire control solutions or to allow time permitting kinetic weapon fly-out. This late detection problem could be aggravated by constraints on, and interference with, overhead air surveillance operations and sensor performance created by raid volume and heavy kinetic defense firing.

These missile developments have in common the imposition of acute time pressure on the means to deliver effective defenses — due to late detection and interference, imperfect track and characterization, or the absence of capacity to provide timely updates to support end game kinetic intercept

The detection problem is aggravated not only by the limited horizon for ground and maritime-based sensors, and thermal-induced radio frequency propagation problems inherent in dealing with low-flying objects, but also by the ability of the aggressor to innovate tactically, e.g., aircraft or missile “pop out” from clutter-obstructed zones that degrade radar performance such as from among water bird concentrations in the Tigris/Euphrates or Nile deltas.

The admixture of rockets, artillery, and mortars in territories adjacent to defenders (e.g., Gaza and Lebanon for Israel), or infiltrated by special forces close to prime targets (e.g., high-value assets such as future missile defense sensors or shooters in the Persian Gulf region or nuclear power-generating facilities in Europe and Japan), can enhance time stress, placing very short lobs or shots out of kinetic defense possibility. This problem is illustrated in the areas of Israel next to the Gaza Strip where deployment of the newly developed Iron Dome kinetic interception system remains under discussion due to uncertainty regarding the system’s ability to meet the needed timeline for mortars as well as cost/shot.

The emerging threat, therefore, of voluminous and maneuvering, countermeasure-enabled ballistic and cruise missiles, glide bombs, and remotely-piloted aircraft combined with short-flying rockets, artillery, and mortars points to the need for systems with:

* Detection at speed-of-light through optical sensors (cued by ground and airborne radar)
* Shots at speed-of-light avoiding the need for early detection/tracking to support serial fire control solutions and kinetic weapon fly-out times
* Rapid firing (few second or minimum dwell time intervals) without reloading/interceptor missile stockpiling
* Continuous and near-infinite supply of shots using buried chemical tanks, batteries, or an electrical grid to generate power at negligible cost/shot (dramatic per shot cost benefits versus kinetic interception and offensive strike)

These properties, in fact, are all resident in laser systems available today—albeit at varying power levels, beam quality, and depth of operational testing.

Ancillary Capabilities

Beyond the fundamental need for speed-of-light to deal with the new range of challenges noted above, there are other capabilities that lasers can provide that add to their attractiveness.

In an environment where defensive systems may be subjected to electronic and cyber attack, the increased number of sensors in the battle-space relying on diverse phenomenology is important. High precision, large aperture optical surveillance and tracking are an integral component of laser defense systems. Laser optical sensors are synergistic with traditional integrated air and missile defense systems but, being organic to firing units, are insulated from some effects that could result from overall system destruction, degradation, or failure.

Additionally, beyond their utility in dealing with attacking systems, lasers can defeat and degrade other systems. For example, they can be used to blind enemy overhead sensors, optically-guided projectiles, and destroy shoulder-launched air defense weapons (MANPADs).

Their capability to destroy chemical, biological, and radiological warhead loads through burn-up is known although some contend that the risk of dispersal through both kinetic and laser intercept remains high.

Current Direction of Military Laser Applications

After experimental work at White Sands demonstrating million kilowatt (kw)-class power levels in chemical lasers (MIRACL), practical application from the mid-90s onward centered on moving high-power laser capability into ballistic missile defense (the Airborne Laser—ABL—boost phase interception project) and counter-rocket, mortar, and artillery defense (the US-Israeli Tactical High Energy Laser—THEL–project). The former continues development as a technology demonstrator while the latter was abandoned in 2006 as the Army elected to move toward solid-state laser (SSL) technology.

Source: Second Line of Defense.
Link: http://www.sldinfo.com/?p=15173.

Nintendo launches 3DS game console

Wed, 19 Jan 2011

New York - Nintendo launched its new 3DS portable game console on Wednesday, with the unique ability to portray 3-D images without the need for glasses.

The Japanese game giant hopes the device can fight off competition from the iPhone and other smartphones to repeat the success of the Nintendo DS which has sold 130 million units worldwide since 2004.

In launch events in New York and Amsterdam, the company said the 3DS will hit the market in Japan on February 26 at a price of 25,000 yen (305 dollars). The 3DS will be available in Europe on March 25 for between 250 to 300 euros (336 to 403 dollars), and will hit US shelves on March 27 at a cost of 250 dollars.

Like its predecessor, the 3DS will have two screens with the bottom one used by players to control the game action. A slider will will allow users to control the depth of the 3-D rendering.

The device features a front-facing camera and two rear-facing cameras to snap 3-D snapshots. The console will also be compatible with older games made for the DS and DSi. More than 30 games will be available by early June, many of them in 3-D, Nintendo said.

"This is the next big step in the modern era of video games," said Nintendo's US boss Reggie Fils-Aime. "The Nintendo 3DS is 3-D games, plus 3-D video, plus 3-D photography. There are no special glasses or skills required to enjoy it. And above all, the Nintendo 3DS is distinct. It's a breakthrough. There's nothing else like it. It is truly a category of one."

He predicted that the device would mirror the success of the Nintendo Wii in crossing over to appeal to people who do not classify themselves as gamers.

"The system offers more than enough for people who have never played a video game before," said Fils-Aime. "Right off the bat, it's mass market ready."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/363194,launches-3ds-game-console.html.

Wild seeds seen as world crop 'insurance'

by Staff Writers
London (UPI) Dec 10, 2010

British scientists say they plan to collect wild plant relatives of essential food crops including wheat, rice and potatoes to preserve their genetic traits.

The project, coordinated by the Global Crop Diversity Trust, aims to safeguard valuable genetic traits in wild plants that could be bred into crops to make them more hardy and versatile, the BBC reported Friday.

The plant material collected will be stored in seed banks in the long term, but will also be used in "pre-breeding trials" to find out if the wild varieties could be used to combat diseases already threatening food production.

"There is a real sense of urgency about this," said Paul Smith, head of the Millennium Seed Bank at London's Kew Gardens.

"For some of these species, we may just get this one bite of the cherry, because so many of them are already threatened (with extinction) in their natural habitats," he said.

The hope is that the wild relatives of food crops will help plant-breeders produce strains that can cope with changing climate, plant diseases and loss of viable agricultural land.

"All our crops were originally developed from wild species -- that's how farming began," said Cary Fowler, executive director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust.

"Climate change means we need to go back to the wild to find those relatives of our crops that can thrive in the climates of the future."

Source: Seed Daily.
Link: http://www.seeddaily.com/reports/Wild_seeds_seen_as_world_crop_insurance_999.html.

As Arctic Temperatures Rise, Tundra Fires Increase

by Staff Writers
Champaign IL (SPX) Nov 19, 2010

In September, 2007, the Anaktuvuk River Fire burned more than 1,000 square kilometers of tundra on Alaska's North Slope, doubling the area burned in that region since record keeping began in 1950.

A new analysis of sediment cores from the burned area revealed that this was the most destructive tundra fire at that site for at least 5,000 years. Models built on 60 years of climate and fire data found that even moderate increases in warm-season temperatures in the region dramatically increase the likelihood of such fires.

The study was published this October in the Journal of Geophysical Research.

After the Anaktuvuk fire, University of Illinois plant biology professor Feng Sheng Hu sought to answer a simple question: Was this seemingly historic fire an anomaly, or were large fires a regular occurrence in the region?

"If such fires occur every 200 years or every 500 years, it's a natural event," Hu said. "But another possibility is that these are truly unprecedented events caused by, say, greenhouse warming."

On a trip to Alaska in 2008, Hu chartered a helicopter to the region of the Anaktuvuk fire and collected sediment cores from two affected lakes. He and his colleagues analyzed the distribution of charcoal particles in these cores and used established techniques to determine the approximate ages of different sediment layers.

The team found no evidence of a fire of similar scale and intensity in sediments representing roughly 5,000 years at that locale.

The researchers then analyzed 60 years of fire, temperature and precipitation records from the Alaskan tundra to determine whether specific climate conditions prevailed in years with significant tundra fires. They developed a model relating the tundra area burned in Alaska each year to the mean temperature and precipitation in the warmest period of the year: June through September.

This analysis uncovered a striking pattern, Hu said.

"There is a dramatic, nonlinear relationship between climate conditions and tundra fires, and what one may call a tipping point," he said. Once the temperature rises above a mean threshold of 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit) in the June-through-September time period, he said, "the tundra is just going to burn more frequently."

For the past 60 years, annual mean temperatures during this warm season have fluctuated between about 6 and 9 degrees Celsius (42.8 to 48.2 degrees Fahrenheit), with temperatures trending upward since 1995. In 2007, the year of the historic fire, the mean temperature was a record 11.1 degrees Celsius, while precipitation and soil moisture dipped to an all-time low.

Higher precipitation, if it occurs, could dampen the effects of higher temperatures, but only to a limited extent, said Philip Higuera, a professor of forest ecology and biogeosciences at the University of Idaho and a co-author on the study.

"As temperature rises, so too does evaporation," he said. "So even if future precipitation increases, it's likely that increased evaporation will result in overall lower moisture availability. This affects plants, but it also makes dead vegetation more flammable and fire prone."

The study team also included researchers from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Neptune and Company, and the University of Washington.

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/As_Arctic_Temperatures_Rise_Tundra_Fires_Increase_999.html.

25th anniversary of Porsche Exclusive with individual design

Wed, 17 Nov 2010

Stuttgart - The Porsche Exclusive division is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, offering customers with that extra wish an individual package that sets the vehicle apart from the standard models.

Some 100 specialists at the Porsche factory in Stuttgart are assigned to the Exclusive division, mainly adding in handwork to the Porsche 911 extras to the interior, performance boost or exterior modifications.

In marking the anniversary Porsche is building a limited edition of 356 cars of the new 911 Speedster, true to the tradition of a puristic, open-topped two-seater with low windscreen and double bubble on the convertible-top compartment lid.

With the 911 Speedster Porsche Exclusive comes a new book on the Porsche Exclusive history and a host of activities including a special exhibition at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart. Porsche Exclusive can also be experienced live at the vintage vehicle grand prix at the Nuerburgring in August 2011.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/353875,china-sales-hitting-million-porsche-exclusive-individual-design.html.

Burma's Pursuit of Nuclear Weapons

By James Burke
Epoch Times Staff
Oct 30, 2010

Burma’s clandestine nuclear weapons are poorly managed but it could become a real threat if another rogue nation such as North Korea steps in to offer assistance, says a former director of the United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

In a technical briefing held at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club Thailand in Bangkok last week, American nuclear scientist Robert Kelley said he believes the secret nuclear weapons program run by the Burmese military is not well developed and is being badly managed.

“It is a poor program [from what we have seen]. … There’s poor workmanship, [and] it’s a top down management system saying you will do this, not how you will do this,” said Kelley.

“I think it is safe to say the people of Thailand are safe for the next few years because these guys don’t know what they are doing, but I wouldn’t want to give them more than a few years.”

However, Kelley said that he is also concerned about underplaying the Burmese generals' nuclear weapons program saying that it could develop into a genuine threat.

“If another country steps in and has all the knowledge, the materials, and the keys that would unlock what is plaguing them, including bad management, this program could really speed up,” said the former senior U.N. nuclear inspector.

“[Then] everything I’ve said about it being a bad program goes out the door. [Assistance] from North Korea certainly comes to mind,” he said.

Kelley wrote a report for the Democratic Voice of Burma that was released in June, which is predominantly based on the information and evidence such as documents, drawings, and photographs, provided by a defecting Burmese army major, Sai Thein Win.

“[Mr. Sai] was briefed on the nuclear program, not because he was a major, but because he was an aide to some senior officers,” said Kelley.

In his role as aide, the defector, who is also a Russian-trained mechanical engineer, attended briefings that included Burma’s top general, Than Shwe.

“In those briefs the word to the general officers [from Than Shwe] was we want a nuclear bomb, and we want to build a reactor so we can do it,” said Kelley.

“That’s what he heard—he also worked in the special machine tool factories making prototype components for missile and nuclear programs, which gave him a lot of credibility,” said Kelley.

The 34-year-old defector’s information, he added, included details about the nuclear battalion at Thabeikkyin, which has orders to build a nuclear reactor and to enrich uranium for a nuclear bomb.
Violation

Kelley said that the Burmese nuclear program is a violation of agreements the junta has signed both with the IAEA and ASEAN, and that the junta should not be allowed to get away with it.

“It’s a violation, it’s against the law. … I’ve been doing this for a long time because I’d like to catch someone early and make them stop,” said Kelley who participated in IAEA missions to South Africa and Libya.

“This program as we see it today is not a threat in terms of a nuclear mushroom cloud, but it is a threat to the whole system. I don’t think ignoring it should be an option,” he said.

“One of the things that we wanted to come out of our process and going public with this is that I worked with people for a long time who when they get the information, classify it very highly and don’t tell anybody and then nobody has to do anything. In this case, we have put enough information out there that somebody needs to do something or I think we can say that they are deficient.”

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/45103/.

UN biodiversity conference adopts 'Nagoya Protocol'

Fri, 29 Oct 2010

Nagoya, Japan - Delegates from around the world adopted early Saturday an international protocol aimed at protecting biodiversity and sharing the benefits of natural genetic resources.

Senior ministers and government officials from more than 190 countries had gathered in the central Japanese city of Nagoya to discuss how to stop environmental destruction and the loss of plant and animal species.

After stalled talks, parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) reached agreement on the adoption of a protocol for the equitable sharing of benefits derived from the use of genetic resources such as plants from which big businesses develop drugs, cosmetics and others products.

On the final day of the 12-day talks, Ryu Matsumoto, chairman of the meeting and Japan's environment minister, presented his own proposal to try to break the deadlock after negotiators failed to reach agreement Thursday.

The adoption of the protocol on access and benefit-sharing of genetic resources was described as a "long-cherished dream" by Matsumoto.

The CBD, born out of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, along with the United Nations climate change convention, has three main objectives: to conserve biological diversity; to use biological diversity in a sustainable way; and to share the benefits of genetic resources fairly and equitably.

Developing countries had demanded not only shares of future profits from resource commercialization but also retroactive ones. A clause that included the latter was taken out of the final document.

But the draft took the view of developing countries into account when seeking the creation of a global benefit-sharing mechanism. Such countries were also urged to consider the need for immediate access to genetic resources, such as pathogens, during medical emergencies.

Without the adoption of the protocol on access and benefit sharing, termed an "anti-bio-piracy protocol," by activists, the Nagoya conference would not be considered a success, many participants said.

Some said Japan did not want the conference to be seen as a failure because of the effort and money the government had put into the gathering.

But Matsumoto told reporters Friday morning, "This is certainly not about saving Japan's face. It is about considering participants' thoughts and fulfilling them."

Friedrich Wulf, head of international biodiversity policy at Friends of the Earth Switzerland, said developed countries were also "well aware that if they cannot get the protocol, that would affect other key issues," such as strategic plans, mapping out efforts through 2020 to preserve biodiversity.

How much marine areas are protected was another sticking point.

The European Union first demanded 20 per cent of coastal and marine areas be protected by 2020, but later compromised, dropping to 15 per cent while China insisted on 6 per cent. The parties ended up agreeing on 10 per cent.

"At the very least, the target should be 20 per cent," Wakao Hanaoka, an oceans campaigner at Greenpeace Japan, said "Greenpeace has proposed that 40 per cent should be protected as a long-term goal so that we could ensure the sustainability of fishing. That would also enable future generations to eat fish."

However, Hanaoka said, one of the positive developments at the conference was the very adoption of a document on marine and coastal biodiversity.

"It gives instruction such as where marine protected areas are established, how those areas are designated, how those areas should be protected and by whom," he said. "Marine protected areas should be set up so that we can continue to catch and eat fish."

WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) International described the overall agreement in Nagoya as "the new 10-year biodiversity rescue plan."

"This agreement reaffirms the fundamental need to conserve nature as the very foundation of our economy and our society," Jim Leape, director general of WWF International, said.

"Governments have sent a strong message that protecting the health of the planet has a place in international politics and countries are ready to join forces to save life on Earth," he continued.

"The Nagoya Protocol is an historic achievement, ensuring that the often immense value of genetic resources is more equally shared," Leape added.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/351060,conference-adopts-nagoya-protocol.html.

Asian leaders arrive in Hanoi for ASEAN summit

Wed, 27 Oct 2010

Hanoi - Heads of state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) arrived Wednesday in Hanoi in preparation for the organization's 17th summit, scheduled to open Thursday.

Topping the official agenda will be economic and transportation agreements intended to knit the fragmented region closer together.

The meeting is overshadowed by tensions over upcoming elections in Myanmar, and conflicts with China over maritime territory in the South China Sea. But it was not clear how much of a hearing these controversial issues would get at the summit.

Foreign ministers from the 10 ASEAN nations met Wednesday afternoon in advance of the summit to consider a series of agreements and working papers.

One was a report from the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), which has in the past been critical of human rights abuses and anti-democratic conduct in Myanmar.

A draft document prepared by the Philippine's delegation to the summit reportedly said the elections in Myanmar, scheduled for November 7, would be "a farce."

The foreign ministers also considered the final statement of the ASEAN People's Forum, a civil-society gathering in September that included groups affiliated with Myanmar's democracy movement.

But the official statement following the foreign ministers' meeting Wednesday made no mention of Myanmar. The only significant document the ministers signed was an agreement on cooperation in search-and-rescue operations in the South China Sea.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The body was long regarded as an ineffectual talk shop, but has moved in recent years to exercise more power on both economic and diplomatic fronts.

In 2007 the group adopted a binding charter, including provisions for a human rights body. But ASEAN meetings are still known for their aversion to conflict or to taking up issues that may embarrass any of the organization's member states.

The issues of Myanmar and of conflict in the South China Sea may receive a fuller airing on Saturday, when the follow-on East Asia Summit convenes. The group includes the ten ASEAN member states along with Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea.

The United States and Russia have been invited to join, and will send representatives this year.

The US is sending Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has been urged in recent days by human-rights advocates and US congressmen to put human rights on the summit's agenda.

In a letter Wednesday, US senator Barbara Boxer urged Clinton to demand the "immediate release" of over a dozen Vietnamese political prisoners.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/350709,arrive-hanoi-asean-summit.html.

Report: Robots harmful to humans

The inexorable rise of a robot-driven lifestyle may end up having 'dangerous' consequences for humans, German scientists say in a recent study.

The Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics at the German aerospace agency recently conducted a series of tests, which involved robots using sharp tools alongside humans, in order to see if a prototype safety system could limit the damage done.

In the tests, a robotic arm holding an assortment of household tools such as a steak knife, kitchen knife, scissors and screwdriver was programmed to strike, stab and puncture test substances that mimic soft tissue.

With the safety system turned off, the scientists found that the robot, which weighed 14kg and had a 1.1m reach, inadvertently inflicted wounds that would prove to be "lethal" if inflicted on a living subject.

The scientists said their findings into the slashing injuries robots could cause were of utmost importance given the prospect of robots becoming domestic helpers in the near future.

Other studies had previously looked into the dangers of heavy robots bumping into people.

The research was presented to the 2010 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, which was held in Alaska in early May.

Robots are used in military, domestic, medical and even security applications in developed countries, particularly in Japan.

Honda's ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility) is widely considered to be the most advanced humanoid robot ever built with unique abilities to run, climb stairs and recognize faces.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=125788§ionid=3510208.

Top G15 officials confirm Tehran trip

Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna and Indonesian Premier Abdullah Bin Ahmad Badawi have accepted Iran's invitation to attend a G15 Summit in Tehran.

Krishna will also hold meetings with top Iranian officials on the sidelines of the Group of 15 Summit on May 17, Mehr New Agency reported.

The summit brings together high-ranking officials 18 developing countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America.

During his recent tour of Africa, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki invited Senegal President Abdoulaye wade and Algerian head of state Abdelaziz Bouteflika to attend the summit.

Mottaki also noted at a joint press conference with his visiting Brazilian counterpart last week that President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva would also attend this month's summit.

The office of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has also confirmed the leader's attendance at the meeting.

The membership of the G15 has expanded to 18 countries, but the name has remained unchanged.

Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, Jamaica, Mexico, Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Zimbabwe, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Iran are members of the group.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=125312§ionid=351020101.

'Green' exercise improves mental health

Researchers have found that within the first five minutes of exercise in a "green space," like a park, mental health is improved.

Researchers in the UK have studied 1,250 people and reported fast improvement in mood and self-esteem, specially amongst young people, after a short "green" exercise.

The research focused on many different outdoor activities -- such as walking, cycling, horse-riding, gardening, farming and fishing -- and found positive physical and mental effects in the first five minutes of the exercise, the BBC reported.

Jules Pretty, a researcher at the University of Essex, believes those who are generally inactive or often stressed out or mentally ill benefit the most from "green space."

"Employers, for example, could encourage staff in stressful workplaces to take a short walk at lunchtime in the nearest park to improve mental health," Pretty said.

A bigger effect was also seen when the exercise was at an area with water, like a pond, river or lake.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=125310§ionid=3510210.

Calendar of world events for May 2010

The following is a list of world events for May 2010:

<#> 01 World Expo 2010 opens in Shanghai, China.

* UN's five-year review of Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.

* UN rights council review of 15 countries; including Kyrgyzstan, Spain, Sweden, Belarus and Turkey.

* Swiss Life, Q1 results.

* Taiwan to open first travel offices in Beijing and China.

* Latvia celebrates 20 years since regaining independence.

* UBS Q1 results, Geneva.

* Holcim Q1 results, Geneva.

* World Economic Forum on Africa, Dar-es-Salaam.

* British general election.

* Adecco Q1 results, Geneva.

* Swiss Re Q1 results, Geneva.

* Zurich financial services Q1 results, Geneva.

* US unemployment, April.

* Controversial Lithuanian gay and lesbian event in Vilnius.

* ILO report on child labor - Geneva/The Hague.

* State elections in Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia state.

* Philippine presidential and general elections.

* Sex trial of Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim resumes.

* Christie's Geneva Jewels sale.

* EU-Latin America summits. Madrid.

* Hong Kong by-elections, dubbed a "democracy referendum".

* Polish ruling party names presidential candidate.

* Mexican President Calderon visits US President Obama.

* US inflation figures for April.

* US leading economic indicators.

* Ethiopian parliamentary elections.

* US consumer confidence.

* US economic growth, second estimate for first quarter 2010.

* Czech parliamentary elections.

* Annual Latvian blonds parade.

* Eurovision song contest final, Oslo.

* NATO parliamentary assembly in Riga.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/321469,calendar-of-world-events-for-may-2010.html.

Calendar of events in Asia for May 2010

The following is a list of events in Asia for May 2010:

<#> 1 - Chinese President Hu Jintao to meet EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Taiwan party leaders as well as leaders from South Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia and North Korea in Shanghai

1- World Expo 2010 to open to public in Shanghai

2- Maoists to launch indefinite nationwide general strike in Nepal to topple government

2- Thousands expected to turn out for pro-democracy demonstration ahead of Hong Kong's May 16 by-election

4- Taiwan to open first travel office in Beijing

6- Deadline for party registration in Myanmar ahead of general elections planned this year

7- China to open travel representative office in Taipei

10 - Philippine presidential and general elections

10 - Sex trial against Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to resume

11 - Toyota Motor Corp to release earnings report

16 - Hong Kong to vote in by-election forced by resignations of five pro-democracy legislators and dubbed a "democracy referendum"

21 - Bank of Japan to end two-day Policy Board meeting

28 - Deadline ends for Nepal politicians to draft new republican constitution

28 - Japanese government to release unemployment rate and job availability for April

29 - Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak to hold summit on Jeju Island, South Korea

31 - Japanese government to release preliminary industrial production index for April

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/321468,calendar-of-events-in-asia-for-may-2010.html.

Rain in the Arctic worries explorers

Amid major concerns about global warming, a three-minute rain shower hits the North Pole, proving that the Arctic is heating up.

British explorers in Canada's Far North reported that the rain shower hit the team's ice base off Ellef Rignes Island last weekend.

"It's definitely a shocker. The general feeling within the polar community is that rainfall in the high Canadian Arctic in April is a freak event," said Pen Hadow, the team's expedition director.

"Scientists would tell us that we can expect increasingly to experience these sorts of outcomes as the climate warms," he told Reuters in a telephone interview from London.

Global warming has increased the number of weather-related disasters over the past two decades.

Floods in South Asia and across the breadth of Africa and Mexico have affected lives of more than 250 million people. Melting sea ice would cause sea levels to rise, which endangers the lives of many species.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=124837§ionid=3510208.

Cambodian government warns foreign embassies not to criticize it

Phnom Penh - A Cambodian government spokesman on Wednesday warned foreign embassies and institutions against criticizing the authorities or interfering in internal affairs.

The comments came one day after the Ministry of Foreign Affairssent a blunt letter to embassies complaining that some mission heads had behaved like proconsuls in giving lessons to the government.

"Such behaviors are not acceptable for Cambodia as a sovereign country," the letter stated. "Cambodia is not a BANANA REPUBLIC."

Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said the purpose was to remind diplomats to adhere to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which prohibits interference in the internal affairs of host nations.

"We cannot accept lessons like lectures from foreign envoys and diplomats," Koy Kuong said. "We cannot accept any negative criticism."

The letter followed a statement last month by the United Nations country head Douglas Broderick calling on the government to allow more time for civil society and donors to comment on a long-awaited draft anti-corruption law.

Cambodia is ranked by Transparency International as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

The law, 15 years in the making, was made public just days before being pushed through parliament, which is dominated by the ruling party.

Broderick's statement infuriated Phnom Penh, and the government threatened to expel him for meddling in legislative matters.

Koy Kuong refused to name the missions which had earned the government's wrath.

"We do not specify, and we do not focus on a specific case," he said. "I would rather not say a specific country or institution. We just remind them of the contents of the Vienna Convention."

Cambodia relies heavily on donors for funding. Foreign nations provided 951 million dollars in 2009, or roughly half of the government's budget.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/320954,cambodian-government-warns-foreign-embassies-not-to-criticise-it.html.

Thai protesters block army train

As the political turmoil in Thailand enters its sixth week, anti-government protests in the capital spill over to the northeast with demonstrators blocking a train carrying military vehicles.

The protesters claimed on Wednesday that the confiscated military vehicles were intended to be used to suppress fellow demonstrators in the Thai capital of Bangkok. Thai authorities, however, have denied the allegation.

Tensions rose in the country after a failed attempt by security forces on April 10 to flush protesters from another location erupted into the worst political violence Thailand has seen in 18 years.

The six-week confrontation has left 25 people dead and more than 800 wounded.

Meanwhile, as the government has warned to resort to force in dispersing violent protesters, the Red Shirts made a move to fortify their encampment in the capital on Wednesday, using tire barricades and homemade weapons including bamboo spears and wooden shields.

Government helicopters were seen flying high above the site of protest rallies early Thursday. Demonstrators responded by shooting fireworks at them.

The protesters are supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and activists that opposed the military coup ousting Thaksin in 2006. They have described the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva as illegitimate arguing that he rose to power under military pressure.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=124041§ionid=351020406.

Another Study Confirms Memory-Boosting Effect of Blueberries

Monday, April 19, 2010
Marek Doyle, citizen journalist

(NaturalNews) As the prevalence of dementia continues to rise, a recent study has demonstrated that a common food may have a role to play in the prevention and treatment of the condition. A recent study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry has shown that blueberries had a measurable improvement in learning and world list recall, which backs up a 2008 study with the same conclusions.

Dr Krikorian recruited nine elderly subjects with an average age of 76.2 and gave them a daily dose of wild blueberry juice; the subjects received between 6 and 9ml per kilo of bodyweight, which would equate to around 525ml per day in the average 70kg/155lb man. The memory improvements were compared to the performance of a separate demographically-matched group who consumed a placebo drink, ruling out any doubt that the observed changes in memory were attributable to practice effects.

"Because blueberries are high in antioxidants, which have beneficial health effects, they are being examined in many research projects," said Donal O'Mathuna after looking at the study results. "Blueberries are a nutritious and safe food... adding blueberries to a diet rich in fruits and vegetables is warranted."

What was particularly interesting was the effect the blueberry juice had in lowering both depressive symptoms and glucose levels in the blood. Whether a reduced level of insulin was related to the impressive results in mental function are not yet clear, but the study strongly supports the idea that flavonoids such as anthocyanins, previously thought to function as purely an antioxidant in the human body, have wide-reaching effects in human health.

In 2008, researchers at the University of Reading found that the anthocyanins in blueberries activate the part of the brain that controls memory and learning. At the time, Dr Jeremy Spencer commented: "Scientists have known of the potential health benefits of diets rich in fresh fruits for a long time. Our research provides scientific evidence to show that blueberries are good for you and supports the idea that a diet-based approach could potentially be used to increase memory capacity. We will be taking these findings to the next level by investigating the effects of diets rich in flavonoids on individuals suffering from cognitive impairment and possibly Alzheimer's disease."

Despite the failure of mainstream medicine in dealing with dementia, it may be too much to hope for that doctors will agree with Spencer's view and adopt a dietary approach in the management of these problematic conditions. Meanwhile, those keen to prevent cognitive decline, or to help manage the condition in others, may take heart from the confirmation that healthy foods may do more than simply keep their waistline in check.

Source: NaturalNews.
Link: http://www.naturalnews.com/028606_blueberries_memory.html.