Google's Blogger Down For Over 24 Hours!

Blogger Logo - Image Credit: Blogger.com

Google's Blogger Down For Over 24 Hours!

Blogger ... Google's web log hosting portal, has been down for a full 24 hours at the time of this posting.

This seems like a modern era record for this usually very reliable communications service and personal publishing arm of the giant search powerhouse, Google.

With all of the push Google has been putting in on Chrome, one has to ask - Is Blogger now becoming just an ugly stepchild to the array of focused services that Google has to offer? What - isn't Blogger sexy enough for Google to keep outages down to a minimum?

If this is the case, Google's shine is losing its luster.

This excerpted from Blogger's Status Link:

Push-Button Publishing

Blogger Status

Friday, May 13, 2011

We’ve started restoring the posts that were temporarily removed and expect Blogger to be back to normal soon.

Posted by at 06:07 PDT

To get Blogger back to normal, all posts since 7:37am PDT on Weds, 5/11 have been temporarily removed. We expect everything to be back to normal soon. Sorry for the delay.

Posted by at 04:25 PDT

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UPDATE May 13, 2011 - 9:50am PT:

Blogger back online after nearly 30 hours of non-service.

Thanks, Google ... but we will be keeping an eye on you.

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The Circular Nature Of Homo Sapiens

The Circular Nature Of Homo Sapiens

Humans can't walk in a straight line. If there's no fixed point of reference, our species just walk in circles and inevitably … get lost. Nobody knows why, but researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics have confirmed this tendency in several experiments.

If one walks, drives or sails wearing a blindfolded, in the middle of a fog occurrence, or at night without stars in sight, a human will not be able to keep moving in a direction that would be a straight line. No matter how hard one tries, humans will end up going in a circular direction because, for some mysterious reason, humans always have the tendency to lean (and thereby move) toward one side more than the other.

Some people speculate that this is because one side of the brain is dominating the other one. While other people speculate that the reason may be purely mechanical reasoning (with their reasoning side of the brain) that one of our legs is always sightly shorter than the other. But, according to the results of the study, these are not the causes for this unique behavior. At least, there's not one single explanation and it may be a combination of many.

Whatever the reasons are, don't get placed into a dark forest blindfolded and without a compass – however … screw the GPS when navigating around this Oblate Spheroid.

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Earth 2.0 ... Life Possible On Gliese 581g, 20.5 Light-Years Away

A planet, as depicted in this rendering, orbits the habitable zone of a star 20 light years from Earth, meaning it could have water on its surface. Image Credit: National Science Foundation and NASA

Earth 2.0 ... Life Possible On Gliese 581g, 20.5 Light-Years Away

Astronomers at the Keck telescope in Hawaii, during a study that has been underway for more than a decade, have identified a solar system that has a planet they suspect could support life as we know or understand it here on our Oblate Spheroid.

Let's call it Earth 2.0. It is a planet that is circling a Sun named Gliese, that is located a little over twenty light years away (the time it would take to get there if one could travel in a craft at the speed of light and carry enough food and etc. to sustains one's life to arrive and observe this suspect orb on site).

Carbon copy? The Gliese 581 solar system resembles our own but on a much smaller scale. Planet "G" is located in the "Goldilocks" zone of this sun's solar system [CTRL-CLICK photo to launch YouTube video]. Image Credit: Zina Deretsky/National Science Foundation

This excerpted and edited from All Voices news webportal -

Discovered Planet Zarmina (Gliese 581g) Is 'Habitable' For Human Life
By ryangeneral - Honolulu : HI : USA | Sep 30, 2010

The planet lies near the middle of the Goldilocks zone, or habitable zone of its parent star, and the presence of liquid water is considered a strong possibility. The discovery of Gliese 581 g was announced in September 2010, and is believed to be the first Goldilocks planet ever found, the most Earth-like planet, and the best exoplanet candidate with the potential for harboring life found to date.

The planet was detected using radial velocity measurements combining the data from the HIRES instrument of the Keck 1 telescope and the HARPS instrument of ESO's 3.6m telescope at La Silla Observatory. The planet is believed to have a mass of three to four times that of the Earth and an orbital period of just under 37 days.

Steven Vogt, the co-discoverer, unofficially named the planet "Zarmina", after his wife.
Reference Here>>

The Goldilocks zone refers to a story that parents read to their children that goes by the formal title "The Story Of The Three Bears". This fable, often referred to as "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" is a children's story first recorded in narrative form by English author and poet Robert Southey and first published in a volume of his writings in 1837. The same year, writer George Nicol published a version in rhyme based upon Southey's prose tale, with Southey approving the attempt to bring the story more exposure. Both versions tell of three bears and an old woman who trespasses upon their property.
(ht: wikipedia)

In the fable, Goldilocks is hungry and stumbles upon a home of Bears where three bowls of soup or porridge are on the table. Goldilocks helps herself to eating some of the porridge and discovers that one bowl of the food mixture is too hot, one is too cold, and one ... the one she presumably eats all up is ... Just Right!

This planet discovery is in a solar system zone that is just right given our knowledge of the origins of life as we know it here on Earth.

We wonder if the shape of this Gliese 581g orb is the same Oblate Spheroid shape of our own Earth. Welcome Zarmina ... welcome Earth 2.0.

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Of Neanderthals & Homosapiens - The Nanderthal In Most All Of Us

The Neanderthal project, which took four years and involved 57 scientists, is the latest and most astonishing example of the recovery of scientifically useful information from ancient DNA. Image Credit: Sydney Morning Herald

Of Neanderthals & Homosapiens - The Nanderthal In Most All Of Us

When someone makes a simple mistake, some people call out the person making the mistake by saying, "You Neanderthal!" Growing up this was a typical degrading accusation heard along the way but as it turns out ... this statement might have held more truth than we even knew.

It has been discovered through studies with DNA genomes that interbreading between Neanderthals and Homosapiens did indeed take place and as a result, 1 to 4 percent of the genes carried by non-African people are traceable to the much-caricatured, belittled, and large-browed cavemen.

So now when one makes a mistake and gets accused of being a Neanderthal, if the person has Caucasian DNA, one has to ask ... are they the one, two, three, or four percent type of Neanderthal?

This excerpted and edited from All Headline News -

Study: Neanderthals Interbred With Homosapiens
Windsor Genova - AHN News News Writer - May 6, 2010 5:49 p.m. EST

The findings was the result of the comparison of the genomes of modern human and the burly and big-brained Neanderthal conducted by geneticist Svante Pääbo at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. The findings were published Thursday in the journal Science.
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Neanderthal originated from Europe, Russia and the Middle East. They existed 400,000 to 30,000 years ago. Modern humans are said to have originated from Africa and the two species encountered each other in the Middle East and limited interbreeding occurred.

Pääbo constructed the Neanderthal genome using fossil DNA from three Neanderthal women who lived in Croatia between 38,000 and 45,000 years ago.
Reference Here>>

All this study really proves is that it's love ... that makes the Oblate Spheroid go around, you big lugg!

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Dew Drops Are Fallin' On My Head ...

Stunning: Droplets of water bead on the head of this blue dragonfly as it slumbers on a leaf. Image Credit: Miroslaw Swietek

Dew Drops Are Fallin' On My Head ...

When someone mentions bugs ... flies, moths, dragonflies and the like, one congers up mental images of prickly, dirty, and somewhat mono-colored nuisances that have to be sprayed or flicked away in order for one not to be bothered while around them and in their element. They are not welcome in the house, or tent, and they definitely never exude any beauty!

The stunning micro-photography of Miroslaw Swietek from around the Polish countryside on this Oblate Spheroid might just be changing minds when they are lingered over and studied on every detail. Just beautiful.

This excerpted and edited from The Daily Mail -

Would dew believe it: The stunning pictures of sleeping insects covered in water droplets
By Daily Mail Reporter - Last updated at 11:29 AM on 31st March 2010

Glistening in the early morning, these insects look like creatures from another planet as dew gathers on their sleeping bodies.

Captured in extreme close-up, one moth appears to be totally encrusted in diamonds as it rests on a twig.

Dragonflies, flies and beetles also take on an unearthly quality as the water droplets form on them.

These remarkable photographs were taken by physiotherapist Miroslaw Swietek at around 3am in the forest next to his home.

Using a torch, the 37-year-old amateur photographer hunts out the motionless bugs in the darkness before setting up his camera and flash just millimetres from them.

Close up: Amateur photographer Miroslaw Swietek captured this common fly slumbering on top of a plant as the water condenses on its body

Bejewelled: This month looks like it has been encrusted in diamonds as it rests on a twig

Mr Swietek said: 'I took up photography as a relaxing hobby two and a half years ago and I particularly like taking pictures of insects and lizards.

'I photograph them in their natural environment in the forest next to my village.

'They all are covered in dew because I go to the forest in the morning at around 3am.

'At 3am to 4am insects are sleepy and taking photos of them is easy, but it is very difficult to find them.

Close up: The insects appear to be completely drenched in water as they rest while the sun is down

Shower time: Mr Swietek gets up at 3am to capture the insects while they are less active in a forest near his home

'You must be very fast taking the photos because the dew quickly disappears.

'It is very satisfying getting a good shot of an insect which I have had to hunt out.

'I have books which help my identify insects but because they are all covered in dew I find it almost impossible to know which types they are.'

Although insects do not 'sleep' in the same sense as humans, they enter a state of torpor where they are virtually immobile and much less sensitive to external stimuli.

Mr Swietek lives with his wife and teenage son in Jaroszow, a village in Poland around 30 miles from the city of Wroclaw.

Clinging on: The amateur photographer searches for the insects using a torch and then sets up his camera and flash right next to them

Hobby: Another dragonfly enjoys an early morning wash. Mr Swietek only took up photography two and a half years ago

Reference Here>>

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Blobfish ... what's not to love?

"Whadda you lookin' at?" - The rare and oddly human-looking Blobfish (Psychrolutes Marcidus) [CTRL-CLICK image to see and hear our friend speak]. Image Credit: NOAA

Blobfish ... what's not to love?

With a face only a mother could love, the Blobfish was only recently discovered this last decade when fishing trawlers using deep sea drag nets brought up a few specimen along with their intended catch.

Blobfish are found at about 2,400 feet deep where the pressure is several dozens of times higher than at sea level, which would likely make gas bladders inefficient. To remain buoyant, the flesh of the Blobfish is primarily a gelatinous mass making the body density slightly less than that of salt water; this allows the fish to float above the sea floor without expending any energy on swimming. It just floats ... to eat.

While not terribly aggressive, this fish has caught the attention and imagination of a whole class of humans recently, primarily due to the one really good photo found on the internet that had been issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as a handout photo / February 15, 2010 (above). A fish with a somewhat human-looking face ... the Blobfish.

It spawned this prose from the LA Times.

This excerpted and edited from the LA Times -

Fear the blobfish
With its humanlike face, the blobfish is a creature of nightmares, and who knows what terrors it could bring upon us
By John Kass - February 17, 2010

As you can see from the accompanying photograph, the cunning blobfish (Psychrolutes marcidus) is the most terrifying fish in the world.

And if you're not afraid of it yet, you should be, because there's always something lurking out there that can get you.

Its hideously deformed body is quite boneless, a gelatinous orb hovering in the deep, covered in slime and mucus. But there's something even worse.

Its face.
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A blobfish looks like some fat, drunken judge and may be highly intelligent. And therefore quite dangerous.

It frowns. It leers. Sometimes, it even drools.
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American journalism has a formula for stories designed to whip up panic about highly adaptive species. For "balance," you insert a quote or two from some learned biologist who tells readers not to worry.

Some marine biologist might reassure readers that the blobfish lives far away, in the deep waters off the coast of Tasmania — some 9,600 miles away — and therefore could never find its way into the Chicago River or the ship canal.

Yeah, right.
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It's not impossible (perhaps even likely) that schools of bloodthirsty blobfish may be blobbing their way up the Mississippi River, their big noses leaving wakes behind them, and roiling trails of foam. And then they'll be oozing from your kitchen tap.
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The blobfish is boneless. It's a blob.

So, theoretically, it might squeeze through all the protective filters and screens, and then, with a grunt, pop right out of your stylish Swedish designer faucet, its ugly face first.

Or perhaps out of your toilet bowl when you're at your most vulnerable, sleepy in the middle of the night.

Or what about your pulsating-massage shower head? Just imagine the beast squeezing from the shower head, hurtling at your face, or worse, into your open mouth, your muffled screams unheard by your loved ones.

So don't give me the pious ramblings of scientific bureaucrats telling us not to panic over the dreaded beast.
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Sadly, information regarding the terror of the blobfish is scarce, perhaps by design.
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"As the blobfish is comprised of a gelatinous substance, they actually have no muscles at all, and they just float in the same spot most of the time, waiting for their next meal."
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It's said the blobfish eats mostly mollusks, but it's only a matter of time until it develops a hunger for human snacks, first Cheez-Its and Slim Jims, then maybe veal chops, before lunging up the food chain.
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Yet with an imminent blobfish invasion, we'll have to come up with new recipes. Try broiled blobfish on a buttered baking sheet, sprinkled with Japanese-style breadcrumbs, the crunchiness contrasting pleasantly with all that goo underneath.

Or how about sauteed blobfish, with lemon and capers?
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So be afraid.

Be very much afraid.
Reference Here>>

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Dinosaur find in New Mexico tells of greater migration, evolution

Looking over some recently found bones. Randy Irmis, the curator of paleontology at the University of Utah Natural History Museum, has identified a new species, Tawa hallae. The find seems to shed light on early dinosaur migrations. Image Credit: FRANCISCO KJOLSETH I The Salt Lake Tribune

Dinosaur find in New Mexico tells of greater migration, evolution

A study of bones and skeletons recovered in the Colorado Plateau's Chinle formation, Northern New Mexico, that was published Friday, December 18, 2009, in Science, finds that South America may not have been the birthplace of Dinosaurs after all.

A new species of predatory dinosaur, named "Tawa hallae" to honor the region's rich Native American heritage, could provide an evolutionary link between primitive dinosaurs found in South America, where scientists believe dinosaurs first appeared, and more evolved meat-eaters found in North America here, on this Oblate Spheroid.

An artist's rendering of Tawa hallae, from bone fragments - full body , a newly identified primitive meat-eating dinosaur discovered in New Mexico. Image Credit: Jorge Gonzalez, Utah Museum of Natural History

The study contends the 213-million-year-old specimen provides evidence that early dinosaurs roamed far across the Earth's megacontinent Pangea, before North and South America separated.

Tawa halle was a 6-foot, long-snouted theropod ... a bipedal animal with long claws and serrated teeth that sustained itself on fish, amphibians and reptiles whose fossils were recovered in the same bone bed.

An artist's rendering of Tawa hallae's head from skull fragments, a newly identified primitive meat-eating dinosaur discovered in New Mexico. Image Credit: Jorge Gonzalez, Utah Museum of Natural History

This excerpted and edited from The Salt Lake Tribune -

New Mexico find sheds light on early dinosaur dispersal
Tawa hallae » Triassic-era meat-eater has primitive South American kin
By Brian Maffly, The Salt Lake Tribune - Updated: 12/11/2009 07:26:24 AM MST

A team of young paleontologists has identified a new species of predatory dinosaur that sheds new light on early dinosaur evolution and movements before the continents separated 200 million years ago.
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Randall Irmis, the Utah Museum of Natural History's curator of paleontology, helped excavate the bones in northern New Mexico while a graduate student at Berkeleyand published the study with lead author Sterling Nesbitt, of the University of Texas at Austin.
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Irmis and Nesbitt's team includes co-authors Nathan Smith of the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago; Alan Turner of Stony Brook University in New York; and Mark Norell of the American Museum of Natural History, New York City. Also named is Alex Downs, the curator of the paleontology museum at Ghost Ranch, a 21,000-acre spread near Abiquiu made famous by painter Georgia O'Keeffe. But Ghost Ranch is also famous as the world's richest trove of fossil remains of coelophysis, another small theropod.

Paleontologists Randall Irmis, left, and Sterling Nesbitt work to extract dinosaur bones at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico. Image Credit: Alan Turner

Downs said a visiting group in 2004 came across a hip and thigh that did not belong to a coelophysis. He notified Irmis and his colleagues, all graduate students then under 30, known to have an interest in early dinosaur evolution. The group converged on New Mexico the following year and struck pay dirt in the Chinle's colorful clay deposit at Ghost Ranch.

This formation is common across southern Utah, presenting as talus slopes beneath Windgate sandstone cliffs. At the time the formation was deposited, the Colorado Plateau was near the equator and its climate was warm and wet.

The scientists recovered five to seven sub-adult specimens that together built a complete skeleton of a previously unknown creature. Scientists believe these individuals were swept up in a flood and quickly interred together with other Triassic animals and plants.
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"The preservation of tawa is exquisite. Tawa was in soft rock and very easy to prepare," Nesbitt said. The "nearly pristine" detail on the articulated bones was so fine, the team could make out muscle scars, construct a complete skull and see how ligament attached to bone and how thighs engaged with hips.

As a result, Tawa is now among the most completely known Triassic theropods and a real gift to science, Irmis said. With such a clear view of this animal's anatomy, the team could perform reliable morphological comparisons with other theropods from around the world. This is where things got interesting.

The specimens were found in the same deposits as two other early predators, coelophysis and chindesaurus. But these three are not each others' closest relatives. Tawa's next-of-kin appears to be a South American proto-theropod called herrerasaurus.
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The team was most intrigued with what this suggests about the trans-Pangea movements of dinosaurs.

"The discovery of multiple dinosaur species in one place that emigrated from elsewhere got us wondering whether other Late Triassic reptiles show similar patterns," said Irmis. "It turns out a variety of other reptile groups made multiple trips from the northern and southern continents [then parts of Pangea] and back again during the Late Triassic, including other dinosaurs."
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Why were theropods dispersing into North America, but not their plant-eating cousins? Perhaps differences in plant life made this terrain uninhabitable for early vegetarian dinosaurs, Irmis speculates.

"Because so many other reptile groups were crisscrossing Pangea just fine, it suggests there were no big physical barriers like mountain ranges," he said. "Instead, the absence in North America of plant eating dinosaurs during the Triassic suggests that the barriers related to climate."
Reference Here>>

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Anthropogenic Global Warming Scientists, The New “Flat Earth” Society?

Top UN scientists have been forced to admit that natural weather occurrences are having a far greater effect on climate change than CO2 emissions as a continued cooling trend means there has been no global warming since 1998. But despite overwhelming signs of global cooling - China's coldest winter for 100 years and record snow levels across Northeast America - allied with temperature records showing a decline - global warming advocates still cling to the notion that the world is cooling because of global warming! Caption Credit: PrisonPlanet.com Image Credit: blahblahblog

Anthropogenic Global Warming Scientists, the new “Flat Earth” society?

Last week, a hacker revealed that a group of powerful, government-backed European scientists are controlling the results of developing global warming theory, and preventing clear debate or the development of opposing scientific evidence to AGW (Anthropogenic Global Warming). It appears that certain more objective scientists run the risk --- if they present solid evidence contrary to the popular global warming theories --- realize they run the risk of being made objects of ridicule and marginalized in efforts to gain monies from Governments for research projects designed to discover facts ... that lead to the truth.

So on one side we have the “flat earther” powerful old-world scientists … and on the other side we have the “world is round” scientific-method based researchers who are continuing to discover facts … and thereby, the truth.

Powerful forces within the scientific community have been purposely shaping information in order to bolster a concept that, at best, is speculative and seems designed to lead to one human activity that these people think is perfectly suitable for their point-of-view ... a one-world Government, based upon a socialist model of CONTROL. This CONTROL is initially focusing on calling us to “Save the Earth From Destruction”, since a fear-based program is the only way to get free people to forsake their rights and their freedoms in the concept of climate stabilization and saving humanity from imminent destruction.

South Park's depiction of Al Gore giving a lecture that will give him greater riches through the selling of "Carbon Credits" based upon a flat Earth, AGW paradigm. Image Credit: Malagent

This excerpted and edited National Review Online –

Krauthammer's Take
On the announcement that President Obama will attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen
NRO Staff, Friday, November 27, 2009

Comments From Wednesday's Fox News All-Star Panel:

The global warming science is not junk science, but it's speculative. It's based on incomplete data. It's based on computer models that rest on assumptions — that, in turn, rest on an understanding of how the globe’s climate controls itself — that [are] extremely incomplete.

So its projections are speculative. But it pretends that, of course, that it is the hardest of all sciences and anybody who is skeptical is a denier — using a term used normally about the Holocaust, which is of course an event that actually happened as opposed to projections in global warming, which are speculative science.

So what you see in the [leaked global-warming] emails are people that are on somewhat shaky grounds. It is not as if there is no science at all in this, but there is contradictory evidence, such as the flattening of the rise in temperatures, which they cannot explain.

And their response is either suppression or manipulation or, even worse, the delegitimizing of — the personal attacks on — skeptics in an attempt to write them out of the journals, to get them fired, and all kinds of nasty stuff. … It puts a lot of their research in question.

I think what's interesting about Obama is he is going to be at the U.N. [conference in Copenhagen] to announce the [new] policy about climate change on the basis of — nothing. He is going to be proposing what the House has passed — that he knows is not going to pass in the Senate.

And we are actually a constitutional democracy where the president can't announce a policy unilaterally. It actually has to pass the two houses of the Congress, and our allies abroad know that, and they’re going to look at this announcement he is going to make and think it … extremely strange.
Reference Here>>

The United States has established no formal policy, yet our President, if allowed to do so, will gladly sign away our sovereignty in order to achieve the socialist political objectives of control found in the Copenhagen accords.

Further, scientists and Government forces who choose to use or believe in their conclusions that the Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) is a fact, are no better than previous generations of leaders in their insistence that this Oblate Spheroid (the actual shape of the Earth) is flat. These people should be known from this moment forward as ... "Flat-Earthers"!

From The Free Dictionary:

1) flat-earth·er (flatûrther)
n.

One who stubbornly adheres to outmoded or discredited ideas: "If you don't accept the ideas derived from Adam Smith ... then you are [considered] a flat-earther" (James Fallows).

[From the long-discredited belief that the earth is flat.]

2) flat-earther

n.

Informal - a person who does not accept or is out of touch with the realities of modern life

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Largest New Nephila Spider Discovery In 130 Years

A giant golden orb-web exceeding 1 meter in diameter, spun by a Nephila inaurata spider. Image Credit: Matjaz Kuntner

Largest New Nephila Spider Discovery In 130 Years

Scientists, Jonathan Coddington of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and Matjaz Kuntner of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, have found the world’s largest species of golden orb-weaver spider in the tropics of Africa and Madagascar. The discovery marks the first identification of a new Nephila spider since 1879.

Codding stated in a press release, “We fear the species might be endangered, as its only definite habitat is a sand forest in Tembe Elephant Park in KwaZulu-Natal. Our data suggest that the species is not abundant, its range is restricted, and all known localities lie within two endangered biodiversity hotspots: Maputaland and Madagascar.”

Tiny male Nephila spiders are dwarfed by their female counterparts. Image Credit: Matjaz Kuntner and Jonathan Coddington/PLoS ONE

This excerpted and edited from Wired Science -

Even-More-Gigantic Giant Orb Spider Discovered
By Hadley Leggett, Wired Science - October 20, 2009, 8:00 pm

Females of the new species, Nephila komaci, measure a whopping 4 to 5 inches in diameter, while the male spiders stay petite at less than a quarter of their mate’s size. So far, only a handful of these enormous arachnids have been found in the world.
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The first potential specimen of the new species was uncovered by Coddington and his colleague Matjaz Kuntner in 2000. They found a huge female orb-weaver among a museum collection of spiders in Pretoria, South Africa, and she didn’t match the description of any known spider. Although they hoped the unusual-looking giant represented a new species, several dedicated expeditions to South Africa failed to find any live spiders of a similar description.

Then, in 2003, a second specimen from Madagascar was found at a museum in Austria, suggesting that the first spider hadn’t been a fluke. But despite a comprehensive search through more than 2,500 samples from 37 museums, no additional specimens turned up.
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Finally, three live spiders have been found to prove the scientists wrong: A South African researcher found two giant females and one male in Tembe Elephant Park, proving that the new species was not extinct, just incredibly rare.

“Only three have been found in the past decade,” Kuntner wrote in an e-mail to Wired.com. “None by our team, despite focused searches. Only an additional two exist in old museum collections. Compared to thousands of exemplars of other Nephila species in museums, that is disproportionately rare.”
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Like all Nephila spiders, females of the new species spin huge webs of golden silk, often more than 3 feet in diameter. In the report of the discovery of this rare spider, published Tuesday in PLoS One, the researchers also addressed the evolution of the dramatic size difference between male and female orb-weavers.
Reference Here>>

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Oblate Spheroid's Solar System Expands to 32 Exoplanets

Artist’s impression of Gliese 667C, a six Earth-mass exoplanet that circulates around its low-mass host star at a distance only 1/20th of the Earth-Sun distance. The host star is a companion to two other low-mass stars, which are seen here in the distance. Image Credit: ESO/L. Calçada

Oblate Spheroid's Solar System Expands to 32 Exoplanets

Astronomers have expanded the list of planets outside the solar system with their discovery of 32 new exoplanets using the European Southern Observatory's telescope in La Silla, Chile.

The expansion of The Earth's family was found through technology known as the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS). HARPS is a spectrometer that can find planets by detecting a twitch in a star caused by the gravity of an orbiting planet.

This finding revealed Monday by the scientists who operate HARPS adds to the more than 400 as the number of planets seen outside of our previously defined Solar System.

This excerpted and edited from Wired Science -

Exoplanets Galore! 32 Alien Planets Discovered, Including Super-Earths
By Hadley Leggett, Wired Science - October 19, 2009, 2:12 pm

Thirty-two new alien orbs have just been added to the growing list of exoplanets, including several that qualify as “super-Earths,” meaning they have a mass only a few times that of our planet and could potentially harbor Earth-like environments.

In the past five years, a special exoplanet-hunting device attached to a 3.6-meter telescope in La Silla, Chile, has spotted more than 75 alien planets, including 24 of the 28 known exoplanets with a mass less than 20 times that of Earth.
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“These findings consolidate the results of simulations of planet formation predicting a large population of super-Earths,” astrophysicist Stephane Udry of Geneva University wrote in an email to Wired.com. “The formation models furthermore predict an even larger population of Earth-mass planets, providing solid scientific justifications for the development of ambitious programs (in space and on the ground) to look for those Earth-type planets.”

Udry’s announcement of the HARPS team’s findings Monday at an exoplanet conference in Portugal marks the end of the first phase of HARPS research, and scientists say the project has been even more successful than they originally expected.
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The HARPS scientists focused their exoplanet-hunting efforts on certain kinds of stars, including stars similar to our sun and those with low mass (called Mdwarfs) or low metal content.

“By targeting M dwarfs and harnessing the precision of HARPS, we have been able to search for exoplanets in the mass and temperature regime of super-Earths,” co-author Xavier Bonfils of the Joseph Fourier University in France said in a press release, “some even close to or inside the habitable zone around the star.”
Reference Here>>

The HARPS scientists aim to find an Earth-like planet capable of supporting life outside of our Oblate Spheroid.

So, in signing off - it's "Exo, Exo" ... not "XO, XO"!

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All Frogs Smile - Some Have Fangs

Khorat ... Limnonectes megastomias - A frog who's smile hides it best weapon ... fangs! Image Credit: siamensis.org

All Frogs Smile - Some Have Fangs

Ever notice that all frogs just seem to sit there, perched their springy hind legs ... and smile? Well it turns out that some hide more than their thoughts with a perpetual smile, some hide FANGS!

Just weeks after discovering a frog with fangs in Papua New Guinea, the World Wildlife Federation (WWF) is reporting another 163 new species in southeast Asia, including another frog with fangs. This new frog, discovered in Thailand, apparently feeds on birds.

The fanged frog is the highlight of the WWF report. It's been classified as Limnonectes megastomias, and it's Modus Operandi is to wait in Thailand's many streams and attack when a bird comes near. The scientists also discovered that the males of the species use these fangs in combat, sometimes scarring or even dismembering their opponents here on this wild and wonderful Oblate Spheroid.

Thailand interior landscape that would be typical of where the Khorat "fanged" frog might make its home. Image Credit: siamensis.org

This excerpted and edited from FOX News -

Fanged Frog Found in Bangkok
FOX News / AP - Friday, September 25, 2009

A gecko with leopard-like spots on its body and a fanged frog that eats birds are among 163 new species discovered last year in the Mekong River region of Southeast Asia, an environmental group said Friday.

WWF International said that scientists in 2008 discovered 100 plants, 28 fish, 18 reptiles, 14 amphibians, two mammals and one bird species in the region. That works out to be about three species a week and is in addition to the 1,000 new species catalogued there from 1997 to 2007, the group said.

"After millennia in hiding these species are now finally in the spotlight, and there are clearly more waiting to be discovered," said Stuart Chapman, director of the WWF Greater Mekong Program.
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A Khorat big-mouthed frog, known by its scientific name Limnonectes megastomias, at an unknown location in Thailand. Image Credit: David S. McLeod, WWF Greater Mekong

Among the stars in the new list is a fanged frog in eastern Thailand. Given the scientific name Limnonectes megastomias, the frog lies in wait along streams for prey including birds and insects.
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Simon Mahood, a conservation adviser for BirdLife International in Indochina, welcomed WWF's attention to the new species and said more could be discovered if additional money is put into conservation and countries make it easier to do field work.

"We are seeing more reports of new discoveries and populations because this region is relatively poorly known, particularly when it comes to cryptic and less fashionable groups like fish and amphibians," said Mahood, whose group this year announced finding the first nest of white-eared night heron in Vietnam and the discovery of a baldheaded song bird in Laos called the barefaced Bulbul Pycnonotus hualon.
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Experts said a range of factors contributed to the upsurge in new species, including better access to regions that have seen decades of war and political unrest and more spending by governments on research to protect and identify plants and animals.
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Nessie Sighting - Web Search Technology Win

Jason Cooke spotted "Nessie" while browsing the Google Earth's satellite photos. Image Credit: Google Earth - Latitude 57°12'52.13"N, Longitude 4°34'14.16"W - Image Credit: Google Earth

Nessie Sighting - Web Search Technology Win

The elusive Loch Ness Monster may finally have been sighted ... but not with human eyes. Google Earth and satellite technology combined with an astute observer of an image may have found what scientists, locals, and tourists have been claiming to exist here on this Oblate Spheroid over the centuries.

The earliest on record is from 565 when St. Columbia saved the life of a local who was being attacked by a monster in the river Ness (though some spoilsports insist it was actually a wild boar).

The modern Nessie era began in 1933 when a local paper - the Inverness Courier - reported a sighting by a local a couple, the Spicers. Whilst driving along the loch side between Dores and Inverfarigaig they spotted a large creature crossing the road in front of them. The creature disappeared into the bushes in the direction of the Loch.

This report was taken up by the national press in London and the Nessie ball began to roll.

Loch Ness is huge - the largest fresh water body in Britain. It is over twenty two miles in length and over a mile and a half at its widest. Total surface area is approximately 21 square miles. Loch Ness is also deep and goes down almost 800 feet. It has been estimated that the loch is large enough to hold the entire population of the world ten times over. Caption Credit: wyrdology.com - Image Credit: Ciclee

The next year, 1934, the most famous photograph of Nessie was allegedly taken by surgeon R. K. Wilson. This, the "surgeon's photo" has been the focus of intense debate since it was first taken. Over the years several people have "confessed" to being involved in faking the surgeon's photo.

Sightings continue to be reported and every few years an expedition obtains funding to "prove" the truth once and for all. In 2003 a BBC expedition surveyed the entire Loch using sonar. They concluded that no monster exists.

It should be remembered that it is logically impossible to prove that something does not exist - only that it has not been found.

Nessie sightings continue to be reported every year, some backed by photographic evidence. Many of the reports come from tourists who have been enjoying the justly famous Scottish hospitality.

That is, until now!

Plesiosaurus - Plesiosaurus inhabited the oceans 200 million years ago. "flying" underwater with four wing like limbs. Its sharp teeth and snapping jaws formed a deadly trap for small aquatic animals. The long necked Plesiosaurus gave its name to the plesiosaurs, a group of flesh eating marine reptiles that are extinct. Along with the dolphin like ichthyosaurs and other marine reptiles, plesiosaurs were the "sea dragons" that inhabited the seas from 200 to 65 million years ago, while the dinosaurs were dominant on land. Image Credit: Carl Buell

This excerpted and edited from FOX News -

Proof That the Loch Ness Monster Exists?
SUN Online - Wednesday, August 26, 2009

This amazing image on Google Earth could be the elusive proof that the Loch Ness Monster exists.

Sun reader Jason Cooke spotted "Nessie" while browsing the Web site's satellite photos.

The shape seen on the surface of the 22-mile Scottish loch is 65ft long and appears to have an oval body, a tail and four legs or flippers.

Some experts believe Nessie may be a Plesiosaur, an extinct marine reptile with a shape like the Google image.
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To see the object, enter co-ordinates Latitude 57°12'52.13"N, Longitude 4°34'14.16"W in Google Earth.
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British Steam Car Challenge "Vaporizes" World Land Speed Record - 139.843mph

One important milestone was passed successfully when the British Steam Car was inspected by representatives from the Southern Timing Association and the FIA (the international governing body of motor sport) and declared eligible to attempt the world steam car record. The record runs commenced this morning at 6am (USA time) - ctrl-click to launch in car video of a test run on Rogers Dry Lake Bed - Image & Video Credit: Don Wales – Test Driver, BSCC

British Steam Car Challenge "Vaporizes" World Land Speed Record - 139.843mph

The British Steam Car Challenge is a mission formed to make something solid out of controlling, well ... vapor. The mission is to capture a world land speed record that has stood the test of time for well over one-hundred years (106 to be more definitive) ... a world land speed record set with boiling water, a world land speed record set with using directed steam to power a vehicle.

The project actually started when Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, Great Britian was impressed by a project created by students at Southampton University. To date, the British Steam Car Challenge Team has now successfully carried out 5 full test runs in excess of 100mph ahead of today's bid to break the century-old world land speed record for steam-powered vehicles.

Primary Test Driver, Don Wales - Replacing Don Wales for the actual record attempt will be the project's brainchild and main financier, Charles Burnett III. "It's his project, so he gets to drive it on the day," Mr Wales added. "I just hope to break the world record during the test run - he can then break it after me. If I can help a British team get a world record, then I'm happy." Image Credit: Murry Sanders

Last week, after numerous setbacks, the team was rewarded with their preparations on Saturday having unofficially posted a mark greater than Fred Marriott record set in the Stanley Steam Racer - called the "Stanley Rocket". The BSCC team's own calibrated equipment measured the two way average at 137.14mph, and a 48min 52 second turn-around.

Then, of course, there was the additional unofficial success of Monday's mark of 148mph. This was significant because the mark eclipses the fastest speed ever recorded by any human driven, steam powered vehicle, official or unofficial ... a mark set by Bob Barber in 1985 on the salt flats at Bonneville, Utah (unofficial) stood at 145.607mph.

British Steam Car Challenge Logo - Image Credit: BSCC

The BSCC team have acknowledged the achievements of the "Barber-Nichols Team" and their vehicle "Steamin' Demon". On 18th August 1985 The Barber-Nichols Team carried out three successful passes and achieved an American National Record at 145.607mph. There was no attempt, however, to establish an FIA record by the Barber-Nichols Team and it is the goal of the British Steam Car Challenge to recognize this speed, or better, as the target FIA record mark to set.

The FIA is the sanctioning body and now recognizes a world land speed record as the average speed of two passes made across the same measured distance in opposing directions within 60 minutes of each other. The time of the two runs is then averaged to obtain the official recorded speed.

The principle driver of the BSCC is the nephew of Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, Charles Burnett III. Burnett was born in England in 1956 and educated in South Africa and America, and as a legitimate tri-national (his mother was Canadian and his father American) he inherited a love for travel and all things mechanical from his father, who raced hydroplanes and restored Hudson automobiles.

A long-time powerboat enthusiast, Charles set up Vulture Ventures, a UK-based offshore racing team, which soon became known as the world’s most successful team in the sport. During this time, Charles took a variety of world records using catamarans and monohulls powered by diesel, petrol and LPG. He was included in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1999 for an offshore water speed record of 137mph.



The steam car is fitted with 12 boilers, which work like a kettle on a stove. LPG in the vehicle’s tanks ignite in order to produce about three megawatts of heat, to boil 140 litres of distilled water which produces the requisite steam. The water’s then pumped into the boilers at 50 litres a minute to superheat steam to 400C, which is then transmitted to the supercar’s turbines at twice the speed of sound to gather enough momentum and thrust to push the car to mesmerizing speeds of over 200mph. Image Credit: BSCC

UPDATES:

Wednesday 19th August
The team made the first official attempt at the world record today, but decided to abort the second run after a slight problem with the throttle was detected. It is understood that the throttle was letting water through the turbine rather than bypassing it. The team will investigate the problem this afternoon with the intention of attempting the record again tomorrow morning.

Thursday 20th August
We had a successful first run today, peak speed 130mph, but unfortunatly on the return pass the rear right hand side tyre suffered a slow punture at 75mph - 4.2 miles in to the course. Back to the lakebed again tomorrow. I have to say these guys on the team are working their butts off to make this happen. Its not until you are here that you can appreciate the conditions. Six days a week, 14 hours a day in over 100 degrees.

Friday 21st August
We arrived on the lakebed full of anticipation and optimism. The air was still, it was a beautiful sunrise and we were all on schedule.

The first run peaked at 133.491 but picked up speed when exiting the measured mile. The measured mile was 128.628. The turnaround crew was on target at approximately 40 minutes in preparation for its return run.

Whilst the car was being refilled there was pressure problem with the water rigs. The second run was aborted and we all returned to base.

The temperature soared to over 104f, and over 40% humidity. Having tracked down the route of the problem to a minor electrical fault, the team continued to work and source spares to rectify it.
Clouds began to roll in, a storm kicked up with over over 45-50 mph gusts, we had had to rescue the marquee as things began to fly away.

It became impractical and dangerous to work, the team battened down the hatches and called it a day. The weather forecast has predicted bad storms and lightening. It is really howling out there!

The team will continue to work on the car tomorrow (Saturday) and carry out a static test for more runs on Monday, when I will bring you more news.

Saturday 22nd August
The weather was stormy, and noticeably cooler. The team worked in earnest to rectify the electrical fault, but the part arrived two hours late. They carried out a static test, which was the best they have ever had running at 380degrees, demonstrating that the car now has more power. Typically on a 130mph run it is operating between 300-320, so this was good news.

However the static test detected a fault with the water bladder, which had been damaged by the flow of pressure being pushed through the flowmisers. There was little more that the team could do, time was ticking on, so it was decided that they would carry out the bladder repair (which typically take 2-3hours) on Monday. They would utilise this time to carry out maintenance, such as flushing through the flowmisers and mechanically setting them, and clearing the car of any contaminated water.

The World Land Speed Record holding British Steam Car Challenge team, Rogers Dry Lake, Edwards Air Force Base, Mojave, California, United states of America [ctrl-click to launch BBC Video of record breaking run!]. Image Credit: BSCC (2009)

Edward’s Air Force Base, California: Tuesday August 25th
Today at 8.19am (California time) Charles Burnett III successfully broke the land speed record for a steam-powered car – which has stood for more than 100 years – achieving an average speed of 139.843mph on two runs over a measured mile.

Driver Charles Burnett III piloted the car for both runs reaching a peak speed of 136.103mph on the first run and 151.085 mph on the second. The new international record, which is subject to official confirmation by the FIA, breaks the previous official FIA record of 127mph set in 1906 by American, Fred Marriott, driving a Stanley steamer at Daytona Beach.

As he was congratulated by his jubilant crew, principal driver, Charles Burnett III said: "It was absolutely fantastic I enjoyed every moment of it. We reached nearly 140mph on the first run before I applied the parachute. All systems worked perfectly, it was a really good run. The second run went even better and we clocked a speed in excess of 150 mph. The car really did handle beautifully. The team has worked extremely hard over the last 10 years and overcome numerous problems. It is a privilege to be involved with such a talented crew, what we have achieved today is a true testament to British engineering, good teamwork and perseverance”

Project Manager Matt Candy said: "The first run took place at 7.27am when the air temperature was a cool 63 degrees Fahrenheit, the team turned around the car in 52minutes (with just 8 minutes spare) in preparation for its return run. The British Steam Car takes 2.5 miles to accelerate and after the measured mile, a further 2.5 miles to decelerate – so each run was over 6.5 miles. The FIA requires that the return run takes place within 60 minutes. The times of the two runs are then averaged to obtain the official recorded speed. Compared to the testing we did in Britain, the British Steam Car ran 12 times the distance and twice the maximum speed ­– all within one hour. It’s been a huge challenge for all.

Pam Swanston wife of the late project manager Frank Swanston was overcome with emotion after seeing Charles power the supercar across the dry lake bed, she said: "If only Frank was here today, it was his vision that made it a reality. He would be incredibly proud of the team's achievements and always believed we would succeed. Today we celebrate this record for Frank"

Three cheers to the perseverance and planning of the British Steam Car Challenge team in it's effort to successfully set a new recognized world speed mark that had stood for one-hundred and six years, here on this spinning Oblate Spheroid.

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The SUN, Not AGW, Is The Thing

The Greeks named the sun Helios, but the Romans used the name Sol, which is still in use today. Due to the important role the sun plays in our lives, it has been studied, perhaps, more than any other object in the universe, outside our own planet Earth. Image Credit: SOHO/Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) consortium

The SUN, Not AGW, Is The Thing

Riding here on the Oblate Spheroid, it is easy to get lost in and amongst all the humanity and forget the connections to the natural cycles that have formed the orb we populate.

Take Climate Change (aka - Global Warming and Climate Stabilization), for example - many are putting forth a concept the the major influence on why the climate of this planet varies is related to human activity.

The hypothesis focuses upon the effects for accumulations of "Green House Gasses" as in CO2 ... the used air we exhale. In none of these calculations, however, do these people (many who look to control human behavior and profit off of business activity centered upon this control) take into account that plants take in CO2, and through osmosis give off Oxygen, and further, none of these hypothesis account for the largest functioning body in our specific solar system ... The SUN!

Past studies have shown that sunspot numbers correspond to warming or cooling trends. The twentieth century has featured heightened activity, indicating a warming trend. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Solar activity has shown a major spike in the twentieth century, corresponding to global warming. This cyclic variation was acknowledged by a recent NASA study, which reviewed a great deal of past climate data. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

This excerpted and edited from Daily Tech -

NASA Study Acknowledges Solar Cycle, Not Man, Responsible for Past Warming Report indicates solar cycle has been impacting Earth since the Industrial Revolution
Michael Andrews - June 4, 2009 9:37 AM

Some researchers believe that the solar cycle influences global climate changes. They attribute recent warming trends to cyclic variation. Skeptics [read this as control profiteers], though, argue that there's little hard evidence of a solar hand in recent climate changes.

Now, a new research report from a surprising source may help to lay this skepticism to rest. A study from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland looking at climate data over the past century has concluded that solar variation has made a significant impact on the Earth's climate. The report concludes that evidence for climate changes based on solar radiation can be traced back as far as the Industrial Revolution.

Past research has shown that the sun goes through eleven year cycles. At the cycle's peak, solar activity occurring near sunspots is particularly intense, basking the Earth in solar heat. According to Robert Cahalan, a climatologist at the Goddard Space Flight Center, "Right now, we are in between major ice ages, in a period that has been called the Holocene."

Thomas Woods, solar scientist at the University of Colorado in Boulder concludes, "The fluctuations in the solar cycle impacts Earth's global temperature by about 0.1 degree Celsius, slightly hotter during solar maximum and cooler during solar minimum. The sun is currently at its minimum, and the next solar maximum is expected in 2012." According to the study, during periods of solar quiet, 1,361 watts per square meter of solar energy reaches Earth's outermost atmosphere. Periods of more intense activity brought 1.4 watts per square meter (0.1 percent) more energy.
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The inconvertible fact, here is that even NASA's own study acknowledges that solar variation has caused climate change in the past. And even the study's members, mostly ardent supports of AGW [anthropogenic global warming] theory, acknowledge that the sun may play a significant role in future climate changes.
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