NewsForum - messages #194754 .10

NewsForum

Messages

Prospero Blocks

Hot Searches

NASA

Chat Center

	NewsForum Cafe Topic: Light Chatter
	Weekend Trivia Topic: Around-the-World Trivia

Board Folders

	World News 67348 msgs in 2447 dscns Latest: 4:44 PM
	U.S. News 308788 msgs in 2993 dscns Latest: 4:33 PM
	Top Stories 137011 msgs in 2475 dscns Latest: 2:56 PM
	War & Terrorism 50217 msgs in 759 dscns Latest: 2:22 PM
	Minority Report 47613 msgs in 2669 dscns Latest: 4:24 PM
	Law 41823 msgs in -189 dscns Latest: 11:31 AM
	World Faiths 49145 msgs in 35 dscns Latest: Jan-20
	NewsForum Café 8907 msgs in 2208 dscns Latest: 3:48 PM
	Science & Health 13211 msgs in 1427 dscns Latest: Jan-26
	Entertainment 4702 msgs in 440 dscns Latest: Feb-3
	Older News Items 543 msgs in 231 dscns Latest: Jan-28
	Sports ! 943 msgs in 392 dscns Latest: Feb-8
	2008 World New... 84651 msgs in 7035 dscns Latest: 12/4/08

Message Area

To list

New

2008 World News Archive

AP:RT:Environ Science Computers 13 Ap...

Print Discussion

#10 of 26 Posted 4/13/05 4:43 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To Gerard <Sysop> [Msg # 194754.10 194754.1 ] (Unread)

   Alaska Could See Mushroom Boom in 2005

APO 13/04/2005 11:29

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.
   By DAN JOLING
Associated Press Writer
   ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- Alaska has a history of booms -- fur, gold, oil. This summer could see another -- a 'shroom boom.
   Morel mushrooms, treasured for French cooking, often thrive on land in the year following a forest fire, and Alaska set records in scorched earth last year.
   More than 6.5 million acres burned, mostly in Alaska's Interior, the vast middle swath between the Brooks Range to the north and the Alaska Range in the south. With the right moisture and temperatures, Alaska could witness a morel gold rush in late spring.
   "That is what we're hoping on," said Jay Moore of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service. "It really depends on environmental factors."
   The extension service is putting on workshops in rural communities, showing how to pick, dry and market morels, which when dried can command prices of hundreds of dollars per pound. The service hopes to create a cottage industry in cash-poor places where people last year were smothered with smoke and soot.
   It's part of a "mushroom task force" that includes state and federal land managers readying permit systems and informational campaigns. The agencies already are taking calls from commercial harvesters, wondering where to pick.
   Where to pick is one of the mysteries of the fabulous fungi, said Trish Wurtz, a U.S. Forest Service research ecologist and affiliate research professor at University of Alaska Fairbanks. Wurtz has studied morels for three years and is fascinated by their enigmatic ways.
   "You can go to a study site repeatedly and it's not there," she said of the morel. "And you go the next time, and it's there. And you go back, and it's not there."
   Gary Laursen, professor of mycology at the university's Institute of Arctic Biology, said morel hunters should stay away from boggy areas and search where wildfires were hottest, such as hillsides. Morels appear on soil, not the decaying vegetable matter on the ground in a forest.
   "If the fire was hot enough to burn away the duff, then overlay all that soil with ash, then you're going to get a prolific fruiting of what are called the ascomes, the fruit body," Laursen said.
   Just identifying morels is confusing. Hundreds of species of fungi are in Alaska's soil, many that have yet to be described, Wurtz said. Scientists speculate that five or six species of morel occur in Interior Alaska, varying in appearance depending on where they grow.
   Generally, morel season begins as early as the beginning of March in Texas and the Gulf states, and moves north until it reaches Canada by May. Most commercial morel harvesting in North America occurs in western states and Canada.
   Black morels are usually the first to appear, followed by the half-free and yellow varieties. Scientists can merely speculate on their life cycles but know they can show up after fire, timber harvest or insect infestation of trees.
   Alaska has the potential for a bumper crop, but dry, hot weather could negate other favorable conditions, Wurtz said. A bountiful harvest also depends on price. Morels reach the market from China, Russia, India and eastern European nations.
   But Alaska could be attractive to pickers this year. As of early September, only 1.3 million acres in the Lower 48 state had burned, about one-third the average. But 4.3 million acres burned in the Yukon Territory.
   The Cooperative Extension Service has conducted 'shroom workshops in Fort Yukon and Tok and had plans for other Interior towns. "We're trying to target the rural communities that were near large pockets of fire," Moore said.
   The prices morels fetch can make the effort pay off. A two-ounce package of morels cost $16.99 at Fresh Direct, an online grocery and delivery service in New York City, while they command $33 a pound from Earthy Delights, a firm that supplies delicacies to top chefs.
   Moore's workshops encourage people to be good stewards of the land and make sure they obtain permission and permits before picking. With an eye to liability, he will not be giving detailed instruction on what to pick.
   "We really are not keying on identifying mushrooms," he said. "That's up to the picker."
   Laursen said people are right to show caution. People can get sick from eating false morels and others can be sickened from eating the real thing. For people who have never eaten morels, he recommends eating only a small portion over a few days.
   "Unfortunately because of individual body chemistry, not all people can eat this mushroom," he said.
   ------
   On the Net:
   Forest Service: http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw--rn546.pdf
   Fan site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com

Options

#11 of 26 Posted 4/13/05 4:43 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To Gerard <Sysop> [Msg # 194754.11 194754.1 ] (Unread)

   Land Near Grand Canyon to Be Protected

APO 13/04/2005 11:08

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.
   By BETH DeFALCO
Associated Press Writer
   PHOENIX (AP) -- Bolstered by a $1 million grant from retail giant Wal-Mart, conservation groups plan to protect almost 900,000 acres of wilderness, including land stretching along 125 miles of the Grand Canyon's North Rim.
   Conservationists said the $4.5 million purchase of two private ranches, totaling about 1,000 acres, also will help protect more than 850,000 acres that are attached to the land through grazing permits from the North Rim to the Utah line.
   The acquisition connects three national monuments, two national recreation areas and eight wilderness areas, shielding them from further development and restoring overgrazed lands to nurture endangered species in the region.
   "That's the beauty of this deal," said Richard Mayol, a spokesman for the Flagstaff-based Grand Canyon Trust, which will manage the land.
   Mayol said the purchase was long desired by conservationists but was becoming increasingly crucial as development moved closer from St. George, Utah, and the Arizona Strip, the northernmost part of the state cut off by the Grand Canyon. The trust placed a deposit on the land, giving it until July to officially purchase.
   "We felt if didn't move on this now, the land could be subdivided into miniparcels or sold to developers," Mayol said.
   The Conservation Fund helped solidify the deal using a grant from Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s "Acres for America," a program launched Tuesday in partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
   Wal-Mart pledged $35 million to buy land equal to all the land its stores, parking lots and distribution centers use over the next 10 years. That would conserve at least 138,000 acres in the United States as "priority" wildlife habitat.
   "The ultimate purpose is to create a grazing and restoration plan for the West," said Larry Selzer, president of The Conservation Fund, based in Arlington, Va. "No other company has stepped forward with that type of a bold initiative."
   The money will go to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, a private nonprofit group created by Congress in 1984 to leverage federal dollars for conservation projects.
   The Arizona project comprises the Kane and Two Mile ranches. They include desert areas in Marble Canyon; pinon-juniper forests surrounding the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, where dozens of endangered California condors have been released into the wild; and spruce-fir in the higher reaches of Kaibab National Forest.
   The area is also home to the Kaibab squirrel and Apache trout, Mayol said.
   Besides the Grand Canyon acquisition, the first stage of the Wal-Mart program will include:
   -- Squaw Creek in Oregon: Buying a conservation easement on a private ranch to protect 1,120 acres along a tributary of the Deschutes River to aid salmon and steelhead fish populations.
   -- Catahoula National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana: Buying privately owned land to expand the refuge by 40 percent to 6,098 acres.
   -- Sherfield Cave/Buffalo National River in Arkansas: Adding 1,226 acres of bat habitat.
   -- Downeast Lakes region of Maine: Protecting 312,000 acres around Washington County, including 54 lakes and 1,500 miles of river and stream shoreline.
   ------
   On the Net:
   The Conservation Fund: http://www.conservationfund.org
   Grand Canyon Trust: http://www.grandcanyontrust.org
   Wal-Mart Acres for America: http://www.walmartfacts.com
   National Fish and Wildlife Foundation: http://www.nfwf.org

Options

#12 of 26 Posted 4/13/05 4:43 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To Gerard <Sysop> [Msg # 194754.12 194754.1 ] (Unread)

       Microsoft Set to Unveil Windows in Brazil

APO 13/04/2005 10:46

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.

   REDMOND, Wash. (AP) -- Microsoft Corp. plans to release a low-cost, scaled-back version of its Windows operating system in Brazil, the latest in the software company's efforts to compete with open-source competitors and combat piracy.
   Microsoft confirmed in a statement Tuesday that it will announce plans for Windows XP Starter Edition in Brazil on Wednesday. But it said the government had not yet decided whether to include the version of Windows in a government program aimed at getting low-cost computers to novice users.
   The company also would not provide other details, such as cost and availability, ahead of an official announcement planned for Wednesday in Brazil.
   Microsoft already has pilot programs to offer Starter Edition in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia and India.
   The XP Starter Edition lets users run just three programs concurrently and has lower resolution graphics. Designed for first-time users, it also lacks capabilities for home networking and multiple user accounts.

Options

#13 of 26 Posted 4/13/05 4:44 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To Gerard <Sysop> [Msg # 194754.13 194754.1 ] (Unread)

    Microsoft Releases 5 Security Bulletins

APO 13/04/2005 10:41

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.

   REDMOND, Wash. (AP) -- Microsoft Corp. released five security bulletins Tuesday to fix flaws that could allow an attacker to take complete control of someone else's computer system.
   The security flaws rated "critical" -- Microsoft's highest threat level -- affect the company's Windows computer operating system, Internet Explorer browser, MSN Messenger, Microsoft Word software and Exchange server system.
   The software maker also released three other patches to fix Windows flaws that carry less of a security threat. But the company said those "important" bulletins also could allow a malicious user to take control of another person's computer.
   All the flaws affect computers with operating systems dating back to Windows 98. Users who have installed Microsoft's massive security update for Windows XP, Service Pack 2, also will need to install some patches.
   ------
   On the Net:
   www.microsoft.com/security

Options

#14 of 26 Posted 4/13/05 4:44 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To Gerard <Sysop> [Msg # 194754.14 194754.1 ] (Unread)

    Russian Soyuz Ready to Take Off for ISS

APO 13/04/2005 10:29

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.
   By JIM HEINTZ
Associated Press Writer
   BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AP) -- A Russian rocket topped with a Soyuz spacecraft crawled into position Wednesday for the launch of what is expected to be the Soyuz's last mission as the sole means of transport to the International Space Station.
   Friday's sunrise launch is to take three astronauts to the station, two of whom -- Russian Sergei Krikalev and American John Phillips -- plan to stay aboard for about six months. During that time, two shuttles are expected to dock with the station, more than two years after the shuttle program was suspended in the wake of the Columbia disaster, when the craft disintegrated upon re-entry.
   For more than two years, Russia's space program has provided the only way of delivering astronauts to the station. Along with the Soyuz, Russia's unmanned Progress cargo ships also deliver supplies to the orbiting laboratory.
   NASA aims to return the shuttles to flight this spring, perhaps as early as May 15, and Krikalev and Phillips both have experience to coordinate a shuttle docking.
   Italian Roberto Vittori, flying for the European Space Agency, is to return April 25 with Leroy Chiao and Salizhan Sharipov, the American and Russian who have been aboard the station since October.
   Locomotives lumbering at a walking pace towed the 161-foot gray-and-white rocket and Soyuz module, cradled horizontally on a rail car, to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Russia's facility for manned space missions in Kazakhstan, where it was raised gingerly to vertical.
   En route, preceded by a pair of policemen and a dog inspecting the tracks, the gleaming assembly passed through a dismal landscape highlighting the funding problems that have plagued Russia's space agency since the collapse of the Soviet Union: fields strewn with scrap, shabby hangars and the weather-beaten hulk of a derelict Buran, the Soviet Union's attempt to match the U.S. space shuttle program.
   Mission commander Krikalev, 46, will be making his sixth flight into space, the most of any Russian cosmonaut.
   In 2000, he was part of the mission that began permanent occupancy of the station, staying 4 1/2 months. If he returns to Earth as planned in October, he will have accumulated the most time of any human in space -- more than 800 days. He also made three missions aboard Russia's Mir space station.
   Phillips is making his second flight to the International Space Station. His first was aboard the shuttle Endeavour in 2001, and during the mission, he was coordinator of two spacewalks to install a remote manipulation system on the station. Launch day is his 54th birthday.
   "I think being able to go into space is a pretty good present," his wife, Laurie, said as she watched the rocket being raised into place. "We're very excited that he's finally going after 3 1/2 years of training."
   Vittori, 40, is to carry out experiments in biology and human physiology during his eight days on the station.
   Experiments to be conducted during the long-term mission on the station include looking into muscle loss in space, kidney stones and radiation damage to chromosomes.
   The three-stage rocket system is to bring the Soyuz to a speed of 13,420 mph within 7 1/2 minutes of liftoff. The three astronauts will spend two days inside Soyuz before reaching the space station.

Options

#15 of 26 Posted 4/13/05 4:44 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To Gerard <Sysop> [Msg # 194754.15 194754.1 ] (Unread)

      Corporate World Using Internet Phone

APO 13/04/2005 10:28

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.
   By MATTHEW FORDAHL
AP Technology Writer
   SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Because their phones speak the language of the Internet, Boeing Corp. engineers can both hear and see each other as they remotely collaborate on projects.
   Boeing began experimenting with Internet telephony in 2001 and is now spreading it, videophones included, across the far-flung aerospace and defense company.
   The same technology lets brokers at Lehman Bros. pre-record voicemail messages and insert them into clients' inboxes, while the town of Herndon, Va. distributes missing children alerts -- photos and text -- to its municipal employees over their Internet Protocol phones.
   At NFL Films, a Voice over Internet system makes setup easy as workers travel from stadium to stadium: Workers merely plug their phones into a network and everything from the phone number to user privileges are automatically set up. No trip to the wiring closet required.
   Home adoption of Internet telephones may not be mainstream, but many corporations, government agencies and other big institutions are cautiously embracing Internet calling for its advanced features and potential cost savings.
   "There's certainly a lot of interest," said Zeus Kerravala, a vice president at the Yankee Group. "But there aren't a lot of companies that have bet the farm and put all their communications on it."
   A 2004 Yankee Group survey of 231 businesses found that 39 percent were using IP telephony in some form. Of those, 9 percent were testing, 25 percent were partially deployed and 5 percent were fully deployed.
   Of the 113 million U.S. business handsets in use today, only 10 percent use Internet Protocol tech. But growth is accelerating: In fact, the Yankee Group estimates 50 percent of new lines shipped this year will use IP.
   Some of the biggest names in corporate America have announced deployment plans, and most of them are now equipping employees with it.
   Merrill Lynch plans to roll out an IP system to more than 24,000 employees around the world later this year. Bank of America Corp. said late last year it would deploy 180,000 phones.
   Ford Motor Co. is working with both Cisco Systems Inc. and SBC Communications Inc. to reinvent its phones. The car maker has ordered a total of 50,000 phones as part of its upgrade.
   "We're really trying to merge a lot of our different networks that we've run in the past into a single converged network," said Jeff Lemmer, Ford's manager of telecommunications.
   As in the consumer world, advanced features appear to be driving a lot of the corporate phone makeovers. They include video telephony, simple setup, mobility, software-based phones and unified messaging -- a single inbox for voicemail, e-mail, faxes and other communications.
   Another factor -- and major question -- is cost savings.
   By eliminating the redundant voice system, businesses can focus resources just on their data network. But to support voice on a data network, considerable equipment upgrades are required.
   It's been a big sales driver for Cisco, the router-and-switch company that jumped into the VoIP market during the tech downturn. Now the leading provider of Internet Protocol telephony, Cisco has 20,000 IP telephone customers worldwide and shipped 555,000 handsets in the fourth quarter alone.
   Charles Giancarlo, Cisco's chief technology officer, says support costs savings are a major draw.
   "(Enterprises) are looking for a low cost of operation, which is a little bit different than a consumer," he said. "If they can save on the support costs of the equipment, it's a very good deal for them because typically support is the majority of the cost."

Options

#16 of 26 Posted 4/13/05 4:46 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To Gerard <Sysop> [Msg # 194754.16 194754.1 ] (Unread)

       Activity Changes Dome of Mount St. Helens

APO 13/04/2005 09:30

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.

   MOUNT ST. HELENS, Wash. (AP) -- Surging seismic activity at Mount St. Helens has changed the whale-back shape of the volcano's emerging new dome, leaving it more like the back of a stegosaurus -- a dinosaur with bony plates of armor along its spine.
   The outer edge of the jagged, plate-like protrusions matches the smooth old whale-back profile, so it appears the new look reflects a sinking away of some segments of the dome, said David Sherrod at the U.S. Geological Survey's Cascades Volcano Observatory, 50 miles away in Vancouver, Wash.
   New snow blanketed the simmering volcano Monday as scientists logged a scaling back of seismic movement over the past week or so after intensified activity in February and March.
   The mountain has been shuddering with quakes since October, when magma deep below the surface began moving up the throat of the volcano, spewing molten rock into the crater and rebuilding the volcano's dome -- the plug in the throat that eventually becomes the mountain peak.
   So far most of the action has been inside the crater, with occasional plumes of gritty ash posing concerns to air traffic.
   Mount St. Helens erupted with devastating violence 25 years ago, on May 19, 1980, blasting open its once-perfect peak, leveling forests for miles and killing 57 people. It rumbled sporadically for several years afterward and then subsided, reawakening last fall.
   Now, after weeks of increased seismic activity with quakes as large as magnitude 3.4, the mountain is settling back down to a drumbeat of temblors magnitude 1 or smaller -- too small to be felt -- every minute or two, Sherrod said.
   The ups and downs have been somewhat cyclical since the volcano reawakened in October, with increases in December and again earlier this year.
   But for much of this winter, clouds hid the crater from view and scientists weren't sure what was happening inside.
   When the weather cleared last week, "Viola! The very smooth elongated whale back ... is getting all busted up, with big longitudinal cracks, rockfalls, with areas of broken rock all over the flanks," Sherrod said.
   The former shape of the dome -- like the underside of an aircraft carrier or perhaps a huge loaf of French bread, Sherrod said -- was somewhat unusual.
   "We don't have a lot of experience with a long, linear dome like this," he said.
   Now, it appears the dome is spreading out or "pancaking."
   "It's starting to sag a little bit" on the sides, Sherrod said.
   It appears the jutting slabs "are parts that aren't dropping yet," he said. The outer edge of the dome's formerly smooth profile "is now preserved only as those jagged peaks."
   The bulk of the dome has dropped by 30 to 90 feet except for these high-standing remnants, said a USGS news release.
   It appears magma is still being extruded from the volcano's core -- temperatures in cracks on the dome surface range from 1100-1300 degrees Fahrenheit, reflecting the core heat of about 1650 degrees, Sherrod said.
   "We know it's very hot as it comes out, which means the core is plastic," he said. "It now seems to be oozing onto the glacier" -- which has emerged since the 1980 eruption, draped around the neck of the old dome like a collar.
   The seismic activity also suggests continued magma movement, Sherrod said
   The dome's new profile is visible from the Coldwater Canyon Visitor Center, about 8.5 miles from the volcano in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.
   Scientists observe the mountain with instruments and via helicopter. Action inside the crater keeps destroying instruments placed on the new dome, so it's not clear how much movement has occurred there.
   On Sunday, a helicopter retrieved a couple non-functioning instruments -- Global Positioning System and seismic monitors -- from the crater. Meanwhile, a GPS receiver about 500 feet north of the new dome continues to creep north-northwest at a rate of about 4 inches a day, suggesting the magma is budging rocks around the dome.
   ------
   On the 'Net:
   Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, http://www.pnsn.org/HELENS/welcome.html
   PNSN webicorder readings, http://www.pnsn.org/WEBICORDER/RMS/current.html
   To see pattern of activity since October, http://www.pnsn.org/HELENS/helensen--yr.html

Options

#17 of 26 Posted 4/13/05 4:46 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To Gerard <Sysop> [Msg # 194754.17 194754.1 ] (Unread)

    Fuel Made From Plutonium Arrives in U.S.

APO 13/04/2005 09:35

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.
   By JACOB JORDAN
Associated Press Writer
   COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- A French shipment of nuclear power plant fuel made from weapons-grade plutonium arrived in the United States despite protests it poses environmental and terrorist risks.
   The shipment of mixed-oxide fuel arrived in Charleston early Tuesday, Duke Power spokeswoman Rose Cummings said. The MOX fuel, a mixture of plutonium oxide and uranium oxide, will be tested at the Catawba Nuclear Station on Lake Wylie, which is about 20 miles south of Charlotte, N.C.
   A small group of protesters tried unsuccessfully to follow a convoy thought to be carrying the fuel.
   Tom Clements of Greenpeace International said he was concerned the Catawba plant doesn't meet Nuclear Regulatory Commission security requirements; the NRC said last month several conditions were still unmet.
   "It's quite clear that their scrambling to meet the conditions of storage," Clements said. "To me it represents the poor planning for the overall plutonium disposition program and they're just trying to make up things as they go along."
   He also complained about how easily he was able to "get right up near the trucks" in the convoy as it left the Charleston Naval Weapons station. "If we could identify them with minimal resources then anyone could identify them," he said.
   The National Nuclear Security Administration and Duke Power officials dismissed the concerns. They said the nuclear plant will have met NRC requirements by the time the shipments arrive at Catawba.
   "The fuel assemblies are secure and have been secure without any significant incidents," NNSA spokesman Bryan Wilkes said. "Everything is on schedule, it's been on schedule and according to plan."
   The Energy Department shipped the plutonium to France for conversion because there's no U.S. plant that can do it. Officials want to build a conversion facility near Aiken but construction has been delayed

Options

#18 of 26 Posted 4/13/05 4:47 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To Gerard <Sysop> [Msg # 194754.18 194754.1 ] (Unread)

       U.N. Presses India to Save Tigers

APO 13/04/2005 09:27

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.
   By ERICA BULMAN
Associated Press Writer
   GENEVA (AP) -- Even in their own reserves, they are rampantly poached for their "lucky" collar bones, fashionable skins and decorative claws. When they flee onto human territory, they are poisoned, electrocuted, shot or trapped. There is nowhere left for India's dwindling tiger population to turn.
   The large cat's rapidly plummeting numbers prompted a United Nations conservation body to write Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday, urging him to accept help in saving the largest of cats from extinction.
   "We haven't taken this step lightly," said Willem Wijnstekers, Secretary-General of the U.N. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES. "We realize there is a risk India might feel it's being embarrassed. But this is a last-ditch attempt to get our message across."
   Poaching by organized crime networks and the clearing of forests for human settlements has caused India's tiger population to drop sharply, threatening the species' survival.
   Asia's tiger population was over 100,000 in the 19th century but has since plunged to between 5,000 and 7,000 cats.
   Official numbers in India range from 3,500 to 3,700, though many conservationists believe that number is "grossly exaggerated."
   "If numbers drop too low, you then begin to encounter all sorts of genetic problems. If you end up with several hundred, genetically, the species is doomed," CITES Senior Enforcement Officer John Sellar said.
   Tigers range from India and Russia to China and Southeast Asia. Tiger hunting is now illegal everywhere, and international trade in tigers and its body parts is banned under CITES. India has laws to protect wildlife and imposes stringent punishment for violators.
   But a high premium is attached to tiger skins, as well as the use of tiger bones, penises and claws in traditional Chinese medicine. Gamblers regard tiger collar bones as great lucky charms, and the animal is prized as an exotic pet. As a result, there is a thriving trade from India to Tibet, Nepal, China, Russia and elsewhere.
   Wijnstekers says gangs of organized and well-funded hunters are responsible for most of the poaching, but Sellar added that collusion by government officials and forest reserve officers with poachers and traders makes the problem worse.
   "I'm afraid the reality of life is where we see serious level of wildlife crime invariable corruption is playing a part of that," Sellar said.
   India's Project Tiger -- launched some 30 years ago by the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi -- is riddled with problems such as desperately ill-equipped and underpaid field workers and poorly coordinated anti-poaching programs. Most forest guards have no radios, no jeeps, no semiautomatic rifles.
   "Most are walking around on foot carrying essentially only a wooden stick," Sellar said. "We doubt these people can protect themselves let alone the tigers."

Options

#19 of 26 Posted 4/13/05 4:47 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To Gerard <Sysop> [Msg # 194754.19 194754.1 ] (Unread)

       Wal-Mart to Fund Wildlife Habitat

APO 13/04/2005 09:33

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.
   By JOHN HEILPRIN
Associated Press Writer
   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, pledged Tuesday to spend $35 million compensating for wildlife habitat lost nationwide beneath its corporate "footprint."
   Acre for acre, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it would buy an amount of land equal to all the land its stores, parking lots and distribution centers use over the next 10 years. That would conserve at least 138,000 acres in the United States as "priority" wildlife habitat.
   The money will go to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, a private nonprofit group created by Congress in 1984 to leverage federal dollars for conservation projects, including 312,000 acres in Maine alone.
   "We introduced the concept of the offset program to Wal-Mart last year," said Max Chapman Jr., the foundation's chairman. "They were quick to say 'yes,' and Wal-Mart's leadership is raising the bar in conservation."
   It's the first time any U.S. corporation has pledged such an arrangement, according to Interior Department officials, who will help decide which places to conserve. Interior Secretary Gale Norton said she hopes the deal becomes a model for other companies.
   The action also helps Wal-Mart burnish its green credentials, just ahead of Earth Day on April 22. The company bought full-page ads in Tuesday's editions of at least 20 newspapers touting its new habitat program.
   Wal-Mart has come under scrutiny over its labor practices and how its stores affect communities and competing retailers. Last month it paid a record $11 million to settle federal charges of employing hundreds of illegal immigrants.
   Wal-Mart also settled a Clean Water Act violation last year by paying a $3.1 million fine for excessive storm water runoff at construction sites. It agreed to improve runoff controls at more than 200 sites each year where the company builds stores. In 2001, Wal-Mart and some contractors reached a similar settlement and paid a $1 million penalty.
   "Wal-Mart thinks it can paint over its record with a nice shade of green, but that won't hide its true colors," said Eric Olson, an anti-sprawl campaigner for the Sierra Club.
   With a quarter-trillion dollars in annual sales, Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people at 3,600 U.S. stores and 1,570 stores internationally.
   The foundation plans to raise $35 million to match the Wal-Mart money, but said it would start off by putting $8.8 million from Wal-Mart toward a $20.5 million project to conserve land in five locations:
   --Catahoula National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana: Buying privately owned land to expand the refuges by 40 percent to 6,098 acres.
   --Sherfield Cave/Buffalo National River in Arkansas: Adding 1,226 acres of bat habitat.
   --North Rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona: Buying two private ranches with 1,259 acres.
   --Squaw Creek in Oregon: Buying a conservation easement on a private ranch to protect 1,120 acres along a tributary of the Deschutes River to aid salmon and steelhead fish populations.
   --Downeast Lakes region of Maine: Protecting 312,000 acres around Washington County, including 54 lakes and 1,500 miles of river and stream shoreline.
   ------
   On the Net:
   Wal-Mart: http://www.walmartfacts.com
   National Fish and Wildlife Foundation: http://www.nfwf.org

Options

#20 of 26 Posted 4/13/05 4:49 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To Gerard <Sysop> [Msg # 194754.20 194754.1 ] (Unread)

   Indonesian Volcano Prompts Evacuation

APO 13/04/2005 05:48

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.

   JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Up to 25,000 villagers have been evacuated from the slopes of a rumbling volcano on Indonesia's Sumatra Island, though scientists on Wednesday said the mountain was calming down.
   The mass exodus from the slopes of Mount Talang reflects in part the nervousness of people living on Sumatra, which has been hit by almost daily earthquakes in recent weeks and was devastated by the Dec. 26 tsunami.
   Rumors spread by cell phone text messages have warned of more earthquakes, tsunami waves and volcanic eruptions, adding to the sense of panic on the island.
   The 9,186-foot mountain was spewing ash some 1,600 feet into the air Tuesday, though on Monday the ash reached twice as high, said Surono, an official at a government-run volcano center.
   "However, we are still monitoring the mountain," said Surono, who goes by a single name.
   About 25,000 residents from five villages around the volcano have been evacuated to nearby Solok district, said district chief Djamawan Fauzi. Many are returning to their homes during the day to tend crops and look after their animals, another official said.
   "The volcano has not yet spewed lava from the crater, but in order to anticipate such an incident, we have evacuated those living around the mountain to safer areas," Fauzi said.
   Indonesia's president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was scheduled to visit the region, some 560 miles northwest of Jakarta, to try and calm the villagers, his spokesman said.
   The mountain is among at least 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago nation. The country is part of the Pacific "Ring of Fire" -- a series of volcanoes and fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.
   They regularly smoke and rumble, but panic on the scale generated by Talang's eruption is rare.

Options

#21 of 26 Posted 4/13/05 4:49 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To Gerard <Sysop> [Msg # 194754.21 194754.1 ] (Unread)

   GMO Rice Sold in Central China Markets -Greenpeace

RTos 13/04/2005 05:39

Copyright 2005 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved.
The following news report may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of Reuters Ltd.

    BEIJING (Reuters) - Genetically modified rice is being sold in markets in the central Chinese province of Hubei, even though the authorities have not yet approved its sale in China, Greenpeace charged Wednesday.
     Greenpeace employees were able to buy rice and rice seeds that had been modified to contain a bacteria, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), that produces a toxin that kills pests, Liu Haiying, program director for Greenpeace in Beijing, told reporters at a press conference.
     China is testing several strains of genetically modified rice and is expected to approve one for commercialization this year.
     Proponents of genetically-modified crops say they will improve yield and reduce plants' vulnerability to pests. Opponents say pests will develop greater resistance to the modified crops, and that the techniques undermine biodiversity and could prove dangerous for human consumption.
     Rice strains with Bt have been planted in China on a trial basis for several years as part of research conducted by Huazhong Agricultural University, in the city of Wuhan.
     Liu said the Bt rice had been offered for sale at markets in Wuhan and a nearby suburb, and in two smaller Hubei cities.
     "We haven't sold the modified rice. We are still conducting trials," said an assistant to professor Zhang Qifa, who is developing the Bt rice strain at Huazhong. She declined to speculate on how the rice had entered the markets.
     Greenpeace estimated that 950 to 1,200 tons of the rice had been grown last year from a planted area of 1,900 to 2,400 mu. It estimates planted area this year at 20,000 to 25,000 mu with an output of 10,000 to 12,000 tons.
   GMO Rice Sold in Central China Markets -Greenpeace

RTos 13/04/2005 05:39

Copyright 2005 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved.
The following news report may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of Reuters Ltd.

    BEIJING (Reuters) - Genetically modified rice is being sold in markets in the central Chinese province of Hubei, even though the authorities have not yet approved its sale in China, Greenpeace charged Wednesday.
     Greenpeace employees were able to buy rice and rice seeds that had been modified to contain a bacteria, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), that produces a toxin that kills pests, Liu Haiying, program director for Greenpeace in Beijing, told reporters at a press conference.
     China is testing several strains of genetically modified rice and is expected to approve one for commercialization this year.
     Proponents of genetically-modified crops say they will improve yield and reduce plants' vulnerability to pests. Opponents say pests will develop greater resistance to the modified crops, and that the techniques undermine biodiversity and could prove dangerous for human consumption.
     Rice strains with Bt have been planted in China on a trial basis for several years as part of research conducted by Huazhong Agricultural University, in the city of Wuhan.
     Liu said the Bt rice had been offered for sale at markets in Wuhan and a nearby suburb, and in two smaller Hubei cities.
     "We haven't sold the modified rice. We are still conducting trials," said an assistant to professor Zhang Qifa, who is developing the Bt rice strain at Huazhong. She declined to speculate on how the rice had entered the markets.
     Greenpeace estimated that 950 to 1,200 tons of the rice had been grown last year from a planted area of 1,900 to 2,400 mu. It estimates planted area this year at 20,000 to 25,000 mu with an output of 10,000 to 12,000 tons.

Options

#22 of 26 Posted 4/13/05 4:50 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To Gerard <Sysop> [Msg # 194754.22 194754.1 ] (Unread)

    Texas to Randomly Test for TB in Cattle

APO 13/04/2005 02:51

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.
   By BETSY BLANEY
Associated Press Writer
   LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -- Instead of voluntary testing, Texas will randomly check beef herds for tuberculosis in its effort to regain the federal government's crucial TB-free designation.
   State officials announced the switch this week, citing slow response from ranchers and an Oct. 1 deadline to spend $4 million in taxpayer dollars for testing.
   Texas, the nation's leading cattle producing and exporting state, lost the U.S. Department of Agriculture's TB-free status in 2002 after two infected cattle herds were detected. Rather than restrict the state's beef exports, the USDA approved a voluntary testing program devised by industry representatives and the Texas Animal Health Commission.
   Under the new plan, about 2,400 beef herds -- an average size herd is about 40 animals -- are to be tested by the end of the year. As of this week, only about 515 of the 153,000 herds had been tested. All cows at the state's 811 dairies have been tested, however.
   Bovine TB is a highly contagious lung bacteria, spread by infected cattle coughing, bellowing and snorting in the confines of a feedlot or pasture. It is rarely passed along to humans.
   "If we don't get the testing done the whole state is in a heap of trouble," said Matt Brockman, spokesman for the Fort Worth-based Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association.
   By the end of the week, herds will be randomly selected from a commission database listing breeder cattle owners, said Dr. Dee Ellis, a veterinarian with the commission who manages the testing program.
   Animal health officials met with industry representatives early last month to discuss ways to expedite the heightened surveillance program. It was the industry representatives who suggested the random testing, Ellis said.
   Random selection is the "most equitable way to complete" the testing, Dr. Bob Hillman, Texas' state veterinarian and executive director of the commission, said in a news release announcing the change.
   An owner also is welcome to volunteer his herd for testing, Hillman said.
   "No herd is too small," he said.
   Testing is done at no cost to the ranchers. The commission has applied for an additional $1 million to finish the testing and to fund other segments of the TB program, such as improved inspection at slaughter, Ellis said.
   Since the testing program began in November 2003, only one infected dairy herd has been found. Ellis said the earliest the state could apply to regain its TB-free status is October 2006, two years from when the infected dairy herd was depopulated.
   "Our goal is to have testing finished as quickly as possible," he said.
   Dairy and breeder cows are no more susceptible to TB than commercial cattle, but they are usually kept in herds much longer because of their value for milking and breeding. If exposed, it would be several years before these animals are tested or sent to slaughter where carcasses are examined for signs of TB.
   Hillman explained milk from dairies is safe because pasteurization kills bacteria. Meat is safe because carcasses are inspected at slaughter and cooking also kills bacteria.
   "Cattle TB is not a disease we can learn to live with," Hillman said. "Regaining cattle TB-free status must be a priority."
   Besides Texas, California, New Mexico and Michigan do not have TB-free status.
   ------
   On the Net:
   Texas Animal Health Commission: http://www.tahc.state.tx.us
   Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service: http://www.aphis.usda.gov

Options

#23 of 26 Posted 4/13/05 4:52 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To Gerard <Sysop> [Msg # 194754.23 194754.1 ] (Unread)

   Cleanup Crews Respond to Alaska Spill

APO 13/04/2005 02:28

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.

   ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- About 1.4 million cubic feet of natural gas and an unknown quantity of crude oil have spilled at a Prudhoe Bay drilling site operated by energy giant BP, state environmental regulators said.
   Crews were cleaning up the spill, which was released Tuesday as a spray. The mist was released in 15-mph winds, said BP spokesman Andrew Van Chau.
   According to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, the affected area measured nearly a mile by 300 feet. Most of the spray landed on surrounding structures and a gravel pad, much of which was covered in deep snow, according to Van Chau. Most of the remaining area was lightly misted.
   Van Chau said BP is working with the agency on a cleanup and disposal plan.
   Investigators said the spill appeared to have been caused by a split in a pipe weld. The pipe is part of a system that uses compressed gas to help lift crude to the surface, Van Chau said.
   The cause of the weld failure is under investigation, Van Chau said.

Options

#24 of 26 Posted 4/13/05 4:52 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To Gerard <Sysop> [Msg # 194754.24 194754.1 ] (Unread)

       Prototype of Unmanned Airship Is Unveiled

APO 13/04/2005 00:18

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.
   By JOHN ANTCZAK
Associated Press Writer
   LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A communications company unveiled a prototype of an unmanned airship that would function as a relay platform while floating in the stratosphere some 65,000 feet above service areas.
   The lighter-than-air "stratellite" has been under construction by the GlobeTel Communications Corp. subsidiary Sanswire Networks LLC at an airport in San Bernardino County.
   The company hopes to begin flight testing of its Sanswire One later this year over the California desert and is in discussions with NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base.
   The prototype is 188 feet long, 42 feet high and 60 feet wide -- about a third the size of the operational airships being planned, said Leigh Coleman, president of Pembroke Pines, Fla.-based GlobeTel.
   By comparison, the Carson, Calif.-based Goodyear blimp Spirit of America is 192 feet long, 50 feet wide and 59 1/2 feet high.
   Sanswire One, however, resembles a shark or whale, with a broad tapered nose rather than the cylindrical shape of a traditional blimp. It also has a rigid structure, like the Zeppelins of the early 20th century, but is very lightweight.
   "It's a rebirth of an era in our minds," Coleman said. "... We see it as a link to the past."
   The developers hope to fly it to an altitude of 45,000 feet in July, but first must deal with regulatory and flight safety issues, Coleman said.
   "The actual airship is functional but it does need approvals, it needs certification," he said.
   The developers planned to show off the airship during a press conference Tuesday.
   GlobeTel foresees a fleet of helium-filled "stratellites," each able to stay aloft for months at a time and automatically held on station by electric motors powered by batteries charged by solar cells.
   They would relay communications services including voice, broadband, high-definition TV, interactive high-definition TV and satellite radio at a cost far lower than traditional satellites in orbit, the company contends, and could also have military and government uses for surveillance and remote sensing.
   "When we prove what we can do the military will use this immediately," Coleman said.
   By positioning "stratellites" at an altitude more than a dozen miles high, the developers hope to minimize the effects of winds. There are still winds at 65,000 feet but the lower density of the atmosphere, combined with the shape of the "stratellite," should allow the motors to hold it in position, the developers believe.
   "I would call that being in calm waters," he said.
   Coleman would not release the development costs but offered a general comparison with satellite technology.
   "It's hugely and significantly lower cost than a satellite -- we're a satellite replacement technology -- and you could talk in the order of this being $20 (million), $30 million as opposed to $250 million," he said. "Operationally, costs are very low compared to a satellite that might be $30 (million) or $40 million a year."
   ------
   On the Net:
   http://www.globetel.net
   http://www.sanswire.com

Options

#25 of 26 Posted 4/13/05 4:52 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To Gerard <Sysop> [Msg # 194754.25 194754.1 ] (Unread)

   National Geo, IBM Trace Human Migration Via Genes

RTos 13/04/2005 00:03

Copyright 2005 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved.
The following news report may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of Reuters Ltd.

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Indigenous people around the world will be asked to supply a cheek swab to help geneticists answer the question of how humanity spread from Africa, the National Geographic Society and IBM said on Wednesday.
     They hope to sample 100,000 people or more and look for ancient clues buried in living DNA to calculate who came from where and when.
     And for $100, anyone who wants to can supply his or her own cheek swab for a personalized analysis and perhaps to contribute to the research.
     "We all came out of Africa, but how did we get to where we are today?" asked geneticist and anthropologist Spencer Wells.
     "What we are aiming for is the story of everybody."
     Experts in related fields such as population genetics, archeology, evolution science, linguistics and paleontology will help in the five-year project.
     Fossils provide some clues about where people settled as they evolved and moved from Africa to colonize every continent except Antarctica. But mysteries remain, for example, about how people first got to Australia 50,000 to 60,000 years ago, or when and from where the first humans arrived in the Americas.
     Linguistics and DNA provide many clues, but the so-called Genographic Project will aim to systematically look at all peoples on all continents.
     Teams in China, Russia, India, Lebanon, Brazil, South Africa, Paris, Britain and Australia have signed on to help.
     IBM will provide computers and technical equipment and the philanthropic Waitt Family Foundation, established by the founder of Gateway computers, will fund field research.
     Some groups may be hostile to the effort, Wells said in a telephone interview. "There has been a history of exploitation of indigenous groups around the world," he said.
     But, he added, experts on dealing with various groups will help sell the idea. "It's a question of explaining the science," he said.
     Geneticists will look at little changes in DNA code that have been used by experts to trace human history. Mitochondrial DNA, handed down virtually unchanged from mothers to their children, is one source that was used to calculate the so-called ancestral Eve, who would have lived in Africa about 180,000 years ago.
     Men have their own version, found in the Y chromosome, which is inherited with very little change from father to son. Tiny mistakes in the code that occur with each generation can be used as a kind of genetic clock to track backward.
     People who buy the mail-in swab kit are unlikely to add to the indigenous people's database, but can find out something about their own ancient ancestry and perhaps add to the effort, Wells said.

Options

#26 of 26 Posted 4/13/05 4:52 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To Gerard <Sysop> [Msg # 194754.26 194754.1 ] (Unread)