ScienceNewsBlog.com

Google Earth Launches Ancient Rome 3D Layer

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:00:00 EST

You can see Rome as it looked in 320 AD with Google's new Ancient Rome 3D Layer. Here's some of what you can do with the Ancient Rome 3D layer.

Fly into Rome as it looked in 320 A.D.
Tour the interior of famous buildings.
Visit the sites in 3D such as the Roman Forum, Colosseum and the Forum of Julius Caesar.
Learn about how the Romans lived.

Below is a video that shows you some of the buildings and provides an introduction to its Ancient Rome layer. The Google Earth Blog has a detailed description of this very cool new Google Earth offering.

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Success With Frozen Mice Gives Scientists Hope of Cloning Extinct Animals

Fri, 7 Nov 2008 18:00:00 EST

CNN reports that scientists in Japan were able to produce mice clones from the cells of dead mice that had been frozen for sixteen years. The findings give scientists hope that they may someday be able to produce a living clone of extinct species that died thousands of years ago - such as a wooly mammoth.

Researchers had thought that frozen cells were unusable because ice crystals would have damaged the DNA. That belief would rule out the possibility of resurrecting extinct animals from their frozen remains.

But the latest research -- published in the journal, Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences -- shows that scientists may have overcome the obstacle.

Researchers at the Riken Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan, used cells from mice that had been frozen for 16 years at -20 Celsius (-4 degrees Fahrenheit).

They extracted the nucleus and injected it into eggs whose DNA had been removed. Several steps later, the scientists were able to clone the mice.

It's too early to say if this will lead to some scientists creating the kind of incredible park filled with dangerous predators that Michael Crichton wrote about in Jurassic Park - as Geekologie discusses. It's probably going to be the Mammoth that scientists try to bring back first - and there is already at least one group of scientists that plans to do so.

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Hundreds of Magellanic Penguins Released Back Into the Sea

Wed, 8 Oct 2008 19:40:00 EST

Magellanic penguins rehabilitated with the help of the International Fund for Animal Welfare are released back into the sea in the CNN video below. The IFAW has been covering the story in its animal rescue blog here. The post here discusses 399 seats booked on a flight for the penguins. This was the largest ever release of penguins in South America. The story began when many juvenile magellanic penguins washed up on the Brazilian coast. It is good that there was happy ending for many of these penguins.

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Sharpest View of Jupiter From Earth

Tue, 7 Oct 2008 21:00:00 EST

The National Geographic reports that this super crisp photograph of Jupiter was captured using a new computer-assisted process and a 27-foot telescope in Chile. The sharp image shows "features as small as 180 miles (300 kilometers) across." The project's leader Frank Marchis calls it a "new form of adaptive optics."

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Hubble Images Arrive in Raw Black and White Data

Fri, 3 Oct 2008 15:00:00 EST

Everyone loves Hubble's spectacular images but when these images first arrive at Earth they are black and white. A year later they glow with a rainbow of colors thanks to experts like Zolt Levay. Levay works for about a year to assign colors and create the final mosaic out of 48 seperate pictures. Levay also helped to create the terrific HubbleSite.org website. Read more here.

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Crab Hitches a Ride on a Jellyfish

Wed, 1 Oct 2008 18:00:00 EST

Below is a video of a crab hitching a ride of a jellyfish. The iReport entry says the video was shot 30 miles southwest of Sanibel Island in the Gulf of Mexico. (via Twang of the Voice and Boing Boing)

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Hurricane Ivan From Space

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST

This is image of Hurricane Ivan taken from space on Sept. 15, 2004. Ivan had estimated winds of 135 mph at the time. The Boston Globe has a collection of impressive hurricanes from space photos here take by NASA.

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Scientists Discover 120 Million Year-Old Ant Species

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST

Reuters reports that biologists discovered a species of ant living in the Amazon that they believe has been around for 120 million years. The ant species is blind, subterranean and predatory. German biologists believe it is the oldest ant species on the planet

Researchers from Karlsruhe's Natural History Museum found the 3-millimeter-long (0.118 inch) insect in the Amazon rainforest in 2007, and hope it will shed light on the early evolution of ants.

"It's by far the most spectacular find of my 26-year career," said museum biologist Manfred Verhaagh on Tuesday.

Scientists from Karlsruhe originally found an unidentified species of ant of a similar type in the Brazilian rainforest in 2003. However, due to an accident in the laboratory, the insect dried up, making further research impossible, Verhaagh said.

Last year a separate team from the museum's research body was in the forest investigating fungus when they stumbled upon the tiny insect, and named it "Martialis heureka".

The ant discovery is yet another reason why the Amazon rainforest needs to be preserved. Sciam says the scientists hope it will help lead to more information about how ants have evolved over time.

Photo Credit: Christian Rabeling, the University of Texas at Austin

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Galveston is Temporarily Uninhabitable

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST

The aftermath of Hurricane Ike is starting to set in. Thousands of people have been rescued along the southeast Texas coast after they were inundated by Hurricane Ike's powerful surge. KHOU, Chron.com and the Galveston Daily News are working hard to keep locals informed. The video from MSNBC explains how many of those who remained in Galveston during Hurricane Ike are now leaving because they city has become temporarily uninhabitable. There are no lights, no food and no running water and power may not return to the island for several weeks.

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Hurricane Ike Resources and Tools

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST

Hurricane Ike is a monster storm with hurricane force winds that extend out 120 miles and tropical winds force that extend out 275 miles. Ike is forecast to become a Category 3 storm before landfall but the surge is expected to be larger than a typical Category 3 storm because of Hurricane Ike's immense size. One thing that is certain about Hurricane Ike is that it will impact a large of large areas including some big metropolitan centers. Houston and Galveston will be hit very hard by Hurricane Ike. The surge will be devastating along the coast including Galveston and all along the southeast Texas coast and parts of the Louisiana coast. People living along parts of the coast have been warned that they face certain death if they do not evacuate.

Cities like Austin, Dallas and Shreveport will also experience strong winds and heavy rain. There will be widespread power outages in Houston and if the impact path does not change there could be some long delays restoring power. There will also be power outages throughout north and east Texas. The current forecast even has Hurricane Ike as an extratropical depression near Detroit and then on into Canada so other U.S. cities may experience some fairly strong winds from Ike.

Below are some resources providing coverage and information about Hurricane Ike.

Main Resources

National Hurricane Center | Wunderground Tropical Weather | Weather.com Tropics | Accuweather Hurricane Center | FEMA

Local News Websites

Houston Chronicle | Dallas Morning News | Galveston County Daily News | KHOU (Houston) | TXCN | WFAA | KTRK (Houston) | Click2Houston | MyFox Houston | Austin Statesman | Shreveport Times

Live Streams

Live News Camera Hurricane Center | KHOU Live | Click2houston | MyFoxHoustonLive | KTRK Live

Maps

Google Maps Galveston | Google Maps Houston | IbisEye.com | Skeetobite Weather | Stormpulse.com Tracking Maps | Texas Population Map | Weather.com Current Buoy Wave Height | Chron.com Ike Wind Map

Statellite Images

NHC Satellite Images | Wunderground Satellite | Weather.com Ike Satellite

Radar

NOAA Gavelston Radar | Wunderground Galveston Radar | Intellicast Galveston Radar

Energy/Oil Impact

Bloomberg Energy Prices | Energy Impacts of Hurricane Ike | Gulf Coast Offshore Oil Platform Maps | The Oil Drum

Other Tools

Houston Winds by Zip Codes | Surge forecast | Tides and Currents (NOAA)

Blogs

Dr. Jeff Masters | SciGuy | TXCN Storm Chaser blog | WFAA Blog

Videos

YouTube Ike | iReport Ike | Blinkx Hurricane Ike

Twitters

@Hurricanes | @chronhurricane | @dfw_ike | @trackingike | @gulfcoastlines | @kstaweather | @IkeLatest | @Hurricane_Ike | @RedCross | #ike Twitter Search

Other Microblogs

@hurricanes on Plurk | Hurricane Ike Plurk Search | @hurricanes - Identi.ca | @hurricanes - friendfeed | @hurricanes - Rejaw | Hurricane Friendfeed Room

Check back for periodic updates to the resource list. You can follow us on Twitter at @hurricanes and at @science for general science news.

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Flatworm's Penis Fencing

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:00:00 EST

Here's a video showing flatworm's penis fencing. Flatworms have both male and female sex organs and they fight to determine who gets to be the male and who gets to be the female. The winner of the fight is the flatworm that is able to pierce the other flatworm with one of its penises. You can read a little more about it here on PBS.org.

During penis fencing, each flatworm tries to pierce the skin of the other using one of its penises. The first to succeed becomes the de facto male, delivering its sperm into the other, the de facto female. For the flatworms, this contest is serious business. Mating is a fight because the worm that assumes the female role then must expend considerable energy caring for the developing eggs.

Posted in ____

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Object in Kuper Belt Orbiting the Sun Backwards

Mon, 8 Sep 2008 14:00:00 EST

New Scientist reports that an object in the Kuiper belt named 2008 KV42 is orbiting the Sun backwards. The article says some comets can have retrograde orbits but this object does not appear to be a comet.

Researchers led by Brett Gladman of the University of British Columbia first spotted the maverick object in May. Observations suggest it is about 50 kilometres across and travels on a path that takes it from the distance of Uranus to more than twice that of Neptune (or between 20 and 70 astronomical units from the Sun, with 1 AU being the Earth-Sun distance).

Its orbit appears to have been stable for hundreds of millions of years, but astronomers say it may have been born elsewhere. "It's certainly intriguing to ask where it comes from," says Brian Marsden of the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Gladman says it was probably born in the same place as Halley-type comets. These comets also travel on retrograde or highly tilted orbits ? lasting between 20 and 200 years, but they come closer to the Sun.

Astronomers don't believe the object nicknamed Drac originated in Kuiper Belt. Here's a video showing 2008 KV42's orbit. You can also read more about Drac here on Universe Today.

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Hurricane Ike Threatens South Florida

Thu, 4 Sep 2008 23:00:00 EST

The latest five-day forecast from the National Hurricane Center takes Hurricane Ike directly into South Florida. Ike is currently a Cat 4 hurricane with winds of 135 mph. A major hurricane hitting South Florida will be an extremely costly storm. It would also require a massive evacuation from South Florida to save lives. We saw a similar mass exodus from Florida in 1999 when Florida residents fled Hurricane Floyd. Fortunately, the five-day forecast is subject to large errors as the NHC expains in the latest Hurricane Ike discussion.

hereafter...Ike is forecast to approach the western periphery of the ridge and begin to turn west-northwestward. The big question is when will the turn take place. The track guidance is in two distinct branches...the GFS...NOGAPS...and UKMET show the turn occurring over the Bahamas....while the HWRF...GFDL...and ECMWF take Ike over Cuba or The Straits of Florida. Until it become clear as to which one of these solutions will prevail... the official forecast remains between them...close to the model consensus and the previous advisory.

As a reminder...4 and 5 day forecasts are subject to potentially large errors in both track and intensity.

If you are tracking Hurricane Ike you can find some local Florida coverage of the storm threat at Sun-Sentinel, Orlando Sentinel, Ken Kaye's Storm Center, Palm Beach Post, Miami Herald, Local10, CBS4, NBC6 and WSVN.

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Gustav: Cat 3 Winds and Surge Expected

Mon, 1 Sep 2008 06:30:00 EST

The above graphic shows the surface wind field of Hurricane Gustav. You can see a much larger version of this graphic here. The strongest winds are generally on the right side of the hurricane. After Gustav makes landfall the wind field will expand outward but the storm will also start to weaken. The NHC expects Hurricane Gustav to make landfall with winds near 115 mph.

The winds are bad enough but it is the surge that New Orleans and residents living on the coast should be the most concerned with. It remains to be seen whether the New Orleans levees will be able to survive the surge of Hurricane Gustav. Dr. Jeff Masters blogged yesterday that the levee system of New Orleans was built to withstand a Cat 3 storm surge.

The levee system of New Orleans is designed to withstand a Category 3 storm surge. If Gustav intensifies more than the NHC forecast is calling for, there is a significant threat of multiple levee failures in the New Orleans levee system resulting in flooding of portions of the city. However, the latest 12Z (8 am EDT) model runs have shifted their landfall points a bit further west, reducing the odds of a Category 4 storm surge in New Orleans. My best guess is that New Orleans will suffer a Category 2 or 3-level storm surge. The levees will hold with that level of storm surge, if they perform as designed.

You can see a computer estimated surge map here. Hurricane Gustav will definitely be a huge test for the levee system of New Orleans - hopefully it will perform as designed.

The NHC is also concerned with flooding because Gustav is expected to slow to crawl somewhere over East Texas. As we saw with Tropical Storm Fay inland flooding can be a very serious problem. You can see precipitation estimates here from the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center.

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Accuweather and NHC Forecast Paths for Gustav Differ in Gulf

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:53:00 EST

The tale of two tracks. Accuweather and the National Hurricane Center currently have forecast tracks that vary considerably for Gustav once it enters the Gulf of Mexico. Accuweather's forecast has all of Texas in the cone. The official forecast path from the NHC is right of Accuweather's cone.

The local National Weather Service (NWS) offices will obviously be focusing on the NHC's forecast. It is also the one the public should and will be paying close attention to. However, it is curious that Accuweather's path is so different from the NHC's path - especially since they partially base their forecast on information from the National Hurricane Center. Both Accuweather and the NHC forecast a strong Category 3 or higher system in the Gulf of Mexico. Both forecasts are also subject to large errors because landfall is still several days away.

The Accuweather forecast image was obtained here and the NHC forecast was obtained from the National Hurricane Center's website.

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Paralyzed Tortoise Gets Skateboard Wheels

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 18:00:00 EST

A ten-year-old African Spurred Tortoise named Arava was given a set of wheels for her two paralyzed hind legs. Zookeepers at Jerusalem's Bibilical Zoo allow the tortoise to use the wheels for a few hours each day. The skateboard wheels help Arava move around her habitat normally and she has even started to mate. Reuters does say she has also received some extra unwanted attention from rival males. Fox News also has a story about Arava.

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Magpies Recognize Their Own Reflection

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:00:00 EST

Magpies apparently have the ability to see recognize themselves in a mirror just like people can. Scientists basically drove the poor birds crazy by placing colored dot stickers on them. When the birds looked in the mirror they noticed the colored dots and tried to remove them. The birds did not notice black dots in the mirror because these dots blended in with the color of their feathers.

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Running Chupacabra or Running Coyote?

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:00:00 EST

Cryptomundo reports that the sheriff?s department in DeWitt County, Texas, recorded a "mystery canid" running along the road. The canid looks very similar to an animal discovered in Cuero, Texas last year that a woman claimed was a legendary Chupacabra. DNA evidence found this canid to be a coyote but the conspiracy about the creature continues. The video of the running canid is below. You can also see the video here.

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Dinosaurs Roam the Los Angeles Natural History Museum

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:11:00 EST

You can interact with some realistic looking dinosaurs at the Los Angeles Natural History Museum. The L.A. Times reports on these sometimes free-roaming actor-puppeteer dinos.

Without any ballyhoo, the museum launched a new attraction in June called Dinosaur Encounters, in which actor-puppeteers don lifelike T. rex or triceratops suits and spend 20 minutes demonstrating how scientists believe baby dinos behaved. Usually they work with interpreter-handlers, but sometimes they just roam free and meet their public. Which is how a museum-goer's video of a grunting, bemused, 7-foot-tall and 14-foot-long T. rex inspecting babes-in-arms and other humans at close range came to be posted on MySpacetv on Thursday. "Real Live Dinosaur" shot to No. 1 on MySpace's daily video chart, attracting more than 215,000 viewers by early evening -- far outstripping "Cindy and Heidi Bare It All." That clip from TMZ featured stills of Crawford and Klum yachting au naturel, their modesty preserved by strategically placed black bars.

A MySpace page has been set up for the dinosaurs here.

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Scientists Worried About Lionfish Population Explosion

Fri, 8 Aug 2008 18:00:00 EST

You have probably heard of the jellyfish invasion but scientists are also concerned about a population explosion in the number of lionfish. Lionfish are venomous and they are considered a danger to people, coral reefs and commercial fisheries. They are considered a pest as they eat smaller fish. Practical Fishkeeping has an article about the growth of the Lionfish off of New York here. Science Daily has an article about how the lionfish are a major threat to coral reef ecosystems in the Caribbean. The video below about the lionfish population explosion is from the Associated Press.

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Slow Motion Video of Lightning

Thu, 7 Aug 2008 14:00:00 EST

This compelling video shows lightning in slow motion. As the Wikipedia entry for lightning notes, a bolt of lightning can travel at speeds of 60,000 m/s and reach temperatures approaching 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit. (video via BuzzFeed)

Posted in Weather

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Sci Fi Channel Launches New Blog About Saving the World

Wed, 6 Aug 2008 22:40:00 EST

The Sci Fi Channel has launched a new blog called How You Can Save the World. The blog focuses on issues of science, technology, education, climate change and the future. The blog has an impressive list of contributors that includes Virgin Group Sir Richard Branson, environmental futurist and game designer Jamais Cascio, former CIA director John Deutch, former NASA astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman, Sci Fi Channel President Dave Howe, renowned theoretical physicist Michio Kaku, Segway inventor Dean Kamen and many others.

Here's how the blog describes itself.

It doesn't take a company or a government to save the world (though, admittedly, it helps). People - individual people - are making a better future right now, and we've got a passel of the best. Brilliant minds from art to science, entertainment to architecture, government to technology and points in between are writing for SCI FI's new online blog, "How You Can Save the World". This blog site will bring you amazing ideas from the frontiers of innovation and help set forth first steps in helping solve some of the challenges we face today. Read it and join the conversation.

Here's a list of some of the interesting posts already on the blog.

Who stands to lose the most in the wake of nature's wrath?

We cannot let science and innovation fall by the wayside

The Next Technological Revolution Will Happen in Space

Opening Up New Horizons for Solar Energy, Not a Moment Too Soon

Future Possibilities for Space Exploration ? Thoughts on Exploring Beyond Earth

Do We No Longer Believe in a Better Tomorrow?

This will be a blog to watch as new posts come in from top scientists, leaders and entrepreneurs. (via io9)

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Jellyfish Population Booming and Frustrating Beachgoers

Tue, 5 Aug 2008 15:00:00 EST

There seem to reports of jellyfish problems around the Globe. There may be giant Jellyfish in the Sea of Japan but smaller ones are causing a problem even in the U.S. Beaches in the Northeast have been suffering from a jellyfish invasion. CBS News reports that thousands of competitors in the recent New York City triathlon were stung by jellyfish in the Hudson Bay.

"We were here a few weeks ago and there were a lot of jellyfish. We didn't even go in the water. It was horrible," one teen told CBS News correspondent Susan Koeppen.

And with thousands being stung by jellyfish this summer, lifeguards at Long Beach are armed with spray bottles filled with alcohol and water to take away the pain, says Koeppen.

"We didn't get these a lot years ago," says Chief Lifeguard Paul Gillespie, "but now they're, we're getting, the frequency of them a lot more. ... We've had some of them that were just (so) tremendous that we have to come and pick off the beach."

It's not just beaches seeing a problem, Koeppen points out. "During the recent New York City triathlon, thousands of competitors were stung by jellyfish in the Hudson River.

Here's a video from CBS that blames things like global warming, pollution and over-fishing on the global jellyfish problem.

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The Megalodon Had a Massive and Powerful Bite

Mon, 4 Aug 2008 20:05:00 EST

The BBC reports that scientists have discovered that the Megalodon, a prehistoric monster shark, could bite down with a force between 10.8 to 18.2 tonnes. In comparison, a great white can bite with a force of 1.8 tonnes.

A new study of the extinct creature's skull shows it had an almighty bite, making the prehistoric fish one of the most fearsome predators of all time.

All the more remarkable, scientists say, because the crushing force came from jaws made of cartilage, not bone.

The researchers report their skull work in the Journal of Zoology.

The megalodon super-shark swam in the oceans more than a million-and-a-half years ago.

It grew up to 16m (52ft) in length and weighed in at 100 tonnes - 30 times heavier than the largest great white - and must have been one of the most formidable carnivores to have existed.

The Megalodon was at least twice the size of a great white shark and was clearly the apex predator during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs. The Wikipedia entry has a photograph of the Megalodon's massive version. Some videos about the Megaldon can be found here, here and here. There's another article here on CryptoWiki.

Author Steve Alten has written a number of novels about Megalodons that have survived by living in a deep ocean trench and threaten humans in today's world. You can read an interview with him here.

Photo source: Wikipedia

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Success! NASA Spacecraft Confirms Martian Water

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:00:00 EST

Above is a graphic of the tweet from the Mars Phoenix Twitter that water had been confirmed on the surface of the planet Mars. NASA also reported on its website that the NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has confirmed water in a soil sample on Mars. The Phoenix Mars Lander has instruments that allow it to heat up soil samples and then identify the vapors that these heated samples produce.

Laboratory tests aboard NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander have identified water in a soil sample. The lander's robotic arm delivered the sample Wednesday to an instrument that identifies vapors produced by the heating of samples.

"We have water," said William Boynton of the University of Arizona, lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA. "We've seen evidence for this water ice before in observations by the Mars Odyssey orbiter and in disappearing chunks observed by Phoenix last month, but this is the first time Martian water has been touched and tasted."

With enticing results so far and the spacecraft in good shape, NASA also announced operational funding for the mission will extend through Sept. 30. The original prime mission of three months ends in late August. The mission extension adds five weeks to the 90 days of the prime mission.

"Phoenix is healthy and the projections for solar power look good, so we want to take full advantage of having this resource in one of the most interesting locations on Mars," said Michael Meyer, chief scientist for the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

The soil sample came from a trench approximately 2 inches deep. When the robotic arm first reached that depth, it hit a hard layer of frozen soil. Two attempts to deliver samples of icy soil on days when fresh material was exposed were foiled when the samples became stuck inside the scoop. Most of the material in Wednesday's sample had been exposed to the air for two days, letting some of the water in the sample vaporize away and making the soil easier to handle.

"Mars is giving us some surprises," said Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona. "We're excited because surprises are where discoveries come from. One surprise is how the soil is behaving. The ice-rich layers stick to the scoop when poised in the sun above the deck, different from what we expected from all the Mars simulation testing we've done. That has presented challenges for delivering samples, but we're finding ways to work with it and we're gathering lots of information to help us understand this soil."

NASA's news release also says the Phoenix Mars Rover's mission has been extended through September 30th.

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Robot Jumps Over Objects

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:00:00 EST

ScoutRobot is a wheeled robot that has the ability to jump over objects. ScoutRobot can sense how high the obstacle is in front of it and then jump high enough to clear the obstacle. The reason the robot appears to float is because it is literally floating on air. ScoutRobot has an aluminum cylinder powered by compressed air that is stored in two plastic bottles. New Scientist says one limitation of the robot is that ScoutRobot has no idea what it is on the other side of whatever it is jumping over. If ScoutRobot were to jump into a puddle of mud or water it might then be unable to get out. Find more about ScoutRobot at Gearfuse.

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Sense of Smell Likely Important For Birds

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 21:00:00 EST

That's the nocturnal Kakapo in the photograph on the right. The Kakapo probably recognizes the fruit it eats according to the fruit's aroma. The Kakapo was one of the birds that was part of a recent research project that determined that birds likely have a much more developed sense of smell than was previously thought.

The study by Silke Steiger (Max Planck Institute for Ornithology) and her colleagues found that the sense of smell may be as important to our feathered friends as it is to fish or mammals. Recent behavioural studies have shown that some bird species use their sense of smell to navigate, forage or even to distinguish individual birds. Silke Steiger and her research team focused on the olfactory receptor (OR) genes in their study. The total number of thse OR genes in a genome may reflect how many different scents an animal can detect or distinguish.

The researchers compared the OR genes of the chicken as well as eight distantly related bird species. They estimated the total number of OR genes in each species' genome using a statistical technique adapted from ecological studies where it is used to estimate species diversity. They found considerable differences in OR gene number between the nine bird species. The brown kiwi from New Zealand, for example, has about six times more OR genes than the blue tit or canary.

"When we looked up the relative sizes of the olfactory bulb in the brain, we also noticed similar big differences between species," said Steiger. "It is likely that the number of OR genes correlates with the number of different smells that can be perceived. As the olfactory bulb is responsible for processing olfactory information, we were not too surprised to see that the number of genes is linked to the size of the olfactory bulb."

Another finding from the research was that a large majority of the OR genes in birds are functional. By comparison human have a poor sense of smell and only about 40% of human OR genes are thought to be functional. The researchers also found a new class of OR genes that exists in birds but does not present itself in mammals or fish.

You can read more about the study here on RedOrbit.com.

Photo credit: Don Merton

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Astronaut Edgar Mitchell Claims Alien Cover-up

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:40:00 EST

Dr. Edgar Mitchell is a veteran of the Apollo 14 mission and he was the sixth man to walk on the Moon. Dr. Mitchell also insists that aliens have visited Earth and that governments are actively covering it up.

"I happen to have been privileged enough to be in on the fact that we've been visited on this planet and the UFO phenomena is real," Dr Mitchell said.

"It's been well covered up by all our governments for the last 60 years or so, but slowly it's leaked out and some of us have been privileged to have been briefed on some of it.

"I've been in military and intelligence circles, who know that beneath the surface of what has been public knowledge, yes - we have been visited. Reading the papers recently, it's been happening quite a bit."

Dr Mitchell, who has a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering and a Doctor of Science degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics claimed Roswell was real and similar alien visits continue to be investigated.

He told the astonished Kerrang! radio host Nick Margerrison: "This is really starting to open up. I think we're headed for real disclosure and some serious organisations are moving in that direction."

NASA issued a quick denial.

In a statement, a spokesman said: "NASA does not track UFOs. NASA is not involved in any sort of cover up about alien life on this planet or anywhere in the universe.

"Dr Mitchell is a great American, but we do not share his opinions on this issue."

If Dr. Mitchell is correct about a cover-up than this is exactly the type of denial one would expect NASA to make. You can listen to the interview with Dr. Mitchell where he discusses the UFO phenomena here.

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NWS Reports Extensive Damage in South Padre Island

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:46:00 EST

The National Weather Service out of Brownsville, Texas and South Padre Island, Texas is reporting news of extensive damage. Damage includes downed trees and powerlines and roofs ripped off homes and hotels. These reports are significant but it may end up being the immense rain totals that end up causing the most damage and loss of life.

At 530 PM CDT, weakening Hurricane Dolly had slowed to a crawl and was centered over western Willacy County. The southwest side of the center continues to produce torrential rains which are quickly adding up from southern and southwestern Willacy County continuing into much of Cameron County, with heavy rains now heading into eastern Hidalgo and southeastern Brooks County. As the night wears on, the locally heavy rains will continue, with an additional 3 to 7 inches possible in these areas and the likelihood of 2 to 5 inches stretching into the western Lower Rio Grande Valley and Rio Grande Plains as Dolly weakens to a tropical storm but continues to spread heavy rains and gusty winds. Minor damage is still possible especially in eastern Hidalgo, Willacy, and Cameron County. Such damage will include more downed tree limbs, power lines, and minor structural damage. Extensive damage reports in Willacy, as well as across eastern Cameron County and especially from Port Isabel to South Padre Island, continue to trickle in. A brief summary of reports so far is listed below.

Considerable freshwater flooding may continue well into the night from eastern Hidalgo through Cameron County, with structures threatened in some areas along with potentially high waters in poor drainage areas with life threatening conditions possible! Residents are urged to remain indoors until conditions begin to improve sometime on Thursday. Significant flooding has been reported in Harlingen as of 530 PM. State Officials reported two feet of water in portions of downtown, with water in homes near Jackson Streeet. Police reported flooding on Polk, Taylor, Pierce, Filmore, and Commerce Streets. Meanwhile, streets in subdivisions on the north side of the city had up to six inches of water covering the ground. Estimated rainfall between 5 and up to 12 inches in Cameron County have caused widespread flooding of poor drainage areas from Brownsville to Port Isabel and South Padre Island. Numerous roads are covered in water, with poor drainage locations impassible.

Extensive damage reports continue to trickle in to the NWS office from South Padre Island. Dozens of roofs have been reported torn off of residences and businesses, and a large amount of debris was noted on roads. Included landmarks were the Radisson Resort, the Holiday Inn, and the Sea Ranch Restaurant. One person was reported sucked out of a doorway on a 7th floor condominium where he fell and was injured. Hundreds, if not thousands, of trees and limbs have been damaged throughout Cameron and Willacy Counties. Extensive property damage has also been reported along State Highway 186 between Raymondville and Port Mansfield, where the southwestern eyewall continued to wreak havoc. Stay tuned for updates later this evening.

The flash flooding problems will persist as Hurricane Dolly is tracking very slowly westward. The Weather Channel's Stu Ostro has a detailed blog post about the storm. He pulled these flood reports from the NWS.

...SEVERE FLOODING REPORTED IN HARLINGEN...

HEAVY AND PERSISTENT SHOWERS...ASSOCIATED WITH THE EYE OF WEAKENING HURRICANE DOLLY...ARE CAUSING MAJOR FLOODING IN THE CITY OF HARLINGEN THIS EVENING.

A TEXAS STATE OFFICIAL REPORTED TWO FEET OF WATER IN PORTIONS OF DOWNTOWN HARLINGEN...WITH WATER IN HOMES IN THE JACKSON STREET AREA. THE HARLINGEN POLICE DEPARTMENT REPORTED FLOODING ON POLK... TAYLOR...PIERCE...FILMORE...AND COMMERCE.

For more local reports on Hurricane Dolly try the Brownsville Herald, KIII TV, Newschannel 5 and KVEO 23.

Hurricane Dolly was downgraded to Tropical Storm Dolly with the NHC's 10PM CDT advistory. However, the flash flooding problems will continue as Dolly continues to drop copious amounts of rain.

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NHC Bullish on Wave Exiting Africa

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 08:00:00 EST

The National Hurricane Center is very bullish on a wave that hasn't even exited Africa. The vigorous wave could quickly become the next tropical depression. The season is already off to a quick start with three storms this month - Bertha, Cristobal and Dolly. Dolly could become a hurricane and threaten the Texas or Mexico coast later this week.

Here's the strongly worded Tropical Outlook from the NHC about the next wave to watch.

A VIGOROUS AND WELL-DEFINED TROPICAL WAVE IS LOCATED OVER WESTERN AFRICA A FEW HUNDRED MILES EAST OF DAKAR SENEGAL. THIS SYSTEM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME A TROPICAL CYCLONE VERY QUICKLY AFTER IT EMERGES INTO THE EASTERN ATLANTIC ON TUESDAY.

If this next wave becomes a TD it will be TD5 and if it gets a name it will be Edouard.

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Capturing Energy From Waves

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 08:00:00 EST

The rippling "Anaconda" produces electricity as it is squeezed by passing waves. A turbine place inside the tube generates electricity. Scientists are testing these "Anaconda" tubes inside wave tanks.

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