A species of shark rarely seen alive because its natural habitat is 600 meters or more under the sea was captured on film by staff at a Japanese marine park this week.
The Awashima Marine Park in Shizuoka, south of Tokyo, was alerted by a fisherman at a nearby port on Sunday that he had spotted an odd-looking eel-like creature with a mouthful of needle-sharp teeth.
Marine park staff caught the 1.6 meter long creature, which they identified as a female frilled shark, sometimes referred to as a “living fossil” because it is a primitive species that has changed little since prehistoric times.
The shark appeared to be in poor condition when park staff moved it to a seawater pool where they filmed it swimming and opening its jaws.
Signs of tension between the US and Britain over London’s plans to withdraw some of the 7,000 UK troops in southern Iraq from this spring emerged yesterday. Speaking on the day that the foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, said she remained confident that British troops would start to be withdrawn from Basra in the spring, the US ambassador in Baghdad, Zalmay Khalilzad, said he wanted Britain to keep its troops at its current level.[snip]
London has been eager to play down any conflict between the US decision to mount a 20,000-troop surge in Baghdad, including an attempt to wrest back control of the Shia-dominated Sadr City, and the British decision to start withdrawing from the Shia south. Britain is planning to announce phased troop withdrawals from the streets of Basra, with as many as 3,000 troops sent home, or retained at Basra airbase and on the border with Iran.
For decades, scientists have taken issue with “string theory”-a theory of the universe which contends that the fundamental forces and matter of nature can be reduced to tiny one-dimensional filaments called strings-because it does not make predictions that can be tested. But researchers have now developed an important test for this controversial “theory of everything.” The experiment would not prove string theory so much as indicate, if unexpected results are obtained, that the theory as currently formulated could not be correct.
Bird flu update: Bird flu is now spreading in cats in Indonesia that eat infected birds. Killing the cats is not an option, as rat populations would soar. And each infected cat is another opportunity for the virus to adapt to life in mammals (in 1918, pigs served this purpose before the virus spread to people). And all that Tamiflu the government is stockpiling? Resistant strains are already developing.
The Defense Department gave the Navy permission Tuesday to keep training with sonar for another two years, a move denounced by activists who say the sound waves can harm dolphins and other marine mammals. Navy officials had sought the two-year exemption from the Marine Mammal Protection Act, allowed under the 2004 National Defense Authorization Act, saying they needed time to study how sonar use at major underwater training ranges affects the environment. The environmental impact statements required by the Marine Mammal Protect Act will take about two years, Navy officials said. The ranges are off Hawaii, Southern California and the East Coast. [Kind of like those “scientific whale hunting studies”…]
The blast occurred shortly after two heavy mortar shells slammed into the heavily fortified Green Zone. The public address system inside the zone, where the U.S. Embassy is located, could be heard warning in English that people should take cover, “this is not a drill.”
Hundreds of people are suddenly discovering that they are not Canadians as new laws requiring travellers to have a passport to fly to the U.S. go into effect Tuesday, CBC’s investigative unit has learned.
“We are a nation of people who have been here from time immemorial. The Canadian passport says you declare yourself a Canadian citizen. There is nothing wrong with that, but Mohawks prefer to be Mohawks,” he said, adding that he only holds a passport issued by the Six Nations Confederacy.
Hundreds of Mennonites living in Canada are in danger of losing their Canadian citizenship because of a legal technicality in Latin America where almost 7,000 of their ancestors moved in the 1920s.
The European Union is urging Italy to apologize for allowing the United States to use Rome as a stopover base for the U.S. flight that took Maher Arar away to be tortured in the Middle East.
Europe’s aggressive stand is highlighted in a new report that further isolates the United States for its anti-terrorism policies. (…)
Losers & winners in the energy sweepstakes worldwide:
GulfNews/Reuters: Repsol and Shell near $4.3b LNG agreement in Iran. “Madrid: Spain’s Repsol and Royal Dutch Shell expect to sign a preliminary deal with Iran in coming days for a $4.3 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant and port terminal, a source close to the deal said on Tuesday.” The Bush Team scores again – in the wrong end zone.
:: :: :: RIA Novosti: Russia to build four more nuclear reactors in India -1. “NEW DELHI, January 25 – Russia has agreed to build four more nuclear reactors for India’s Kudankulam nuclear power plant and other plants in addition to the two units already under construction, a bilateral agreement said Thursday.” Dear George, Vlad sez “Thank you!”
Oh boy…just when you thought it was safe to go out, eh:
US military unveils heat-ray gun
The gun uses a large dish mounted on a Humvee vehicle
The US military has given the first public display of what it says is a revolutionary heat-ray weapon to repel enemies or disperse hostile crowds.
Called the Active Denial System, it projects an invisible high energy beam that produces a sudden burning feeling.
Military officials, who say the gun is harmless, believe it could be used as a non-lethal way of making enemies surrender their weapons.
[…]
‘Blast from an oven’
The prototype weapon – called Silent Guardian – was demonstrated at the Moody Air Force Base in Georgia.
[…]
The beam has a reach of up to 500 metres (550 yards), much further than existing non-lethal weapons like rubber bullets.
It can penetrate clothes, suddenly heating up the skin of anyone in its path to 50C. [122ºF]
But it penetrates the skin only to a tiny depth – enough to cause discomfort but no lasting harm, according to the military.
A Reuters journalist who volunteered to be shot with the beam described the sensation as similar to a blast from a very hot oven – too painful to bear without diving for cover.
Crowd control
Military officials said the weapon was one of the key technologies of the future.
“Non-lethal weapons are important for the escalation of force, especially in the environments our forces are operating in,” said Marine Col Kirk Hymes, director of the development programme.
The weapon could potentially be used for dispersing hostile crowds…
these kinds of things have the potential to have a drastic impact and effect on demonstrations such as the United for Peace March scheduled for saturday.
found alive: NZ Herald
Click the link to see the picture…
Link
Signs of tension between the US and Britain over London’s plans to withdraw some of the 7,000 UK troops in southern Iraq from this spring emerged yesterday. Speaking on the day that the foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, said she remained confident that British troops would start to be withdrawn from Basra in the spring, the US ambassador in Baghdad, Zalmay Khalilzad, said he wanted Britain to keep its troops at its current level.[snip]
London has been eager to play down any conflict between the US decision to mount a 20,000-troop surge in Baghdad, including an attempt to wrest back control of the Shia-dominated Sadr City, and the British decision to start withdrawing from the Shia south. Britain is planning to announce phased troop withdrawals from the streets of Basra, with as many as 3,000 troops sent home, or retained at Basra airbase and on the border with Iran.
They’re either with us, or they’ve gotten smart.
For decades, scientists have taken issue with “string theory”-a theory of the universe which contends that the fundamental forces and matter of nature can be reduced to tiny one-dimensional filaments called strings-because it does not make predictions that can be tested. But researchers have now developed an important test for this controversial “theory of everything.” The experiment would not prove string theory so much as indicate, if unexpected results are obtained, that the theory as currently formulated could not be correct.
An astonishing collection of fossil animals from southern Australia has been found by scientists. The creatures date from about 400,000-800,000 years ago, and include 23 kangaroo species, eight of which are entirely new to science, as well as a complete specimen of Thylacoleo carnifex, an extinct marsupial lion.
Bird flu update: Bird flu is now spreading in cats in Indonesia that eat infected birds. Killing the cats is not an option, as rat populations would soar. And each infected cat is another opportunity for the virus to adapt to life in mammals (in 1918, pigs served this purpose before the virus spread to people). And all that Tamiflu the government is stockpiling? Resistant strains are already developing.
Satellite operator Eutelsat said Wednesday it was investigating the source of a mystery signal which temporarily jammed broadcasts by several television channels and AFP’s news services. Eutelsat, one of the world’s three main operators, would not say whether it believed the “unidentified interference” was deliberate or accidental. “We have noticed interference” to the signal since Tuesday afternoon, said a spokesman for the Paris-based company. [“Must have been sunspots, yeah, yeah, sunspots,” A CIA spokesperson said off the record…]
The Defense Department gave the Navy permission Tuesday to keep training with sonar for another two years, a move denounced by activists who say the sound waves can harm dolphins and other marine mammals. Navy officials had sought the two-year exemption from the Marine Mammal Protection Act, allowed under the 2004 National Defense Authorization Act, saying they needed time to study how sonar use at major underwater training ranges affects the environment. The environmental impact statements required by the Marine Mammal Protect Act will take about two years, Navy officials said. The ranges are off Hawaii, Southern California and the East Coast. [Kind of like those “scientific whale hunting studies”…]
Speaking of whaling, Two hundred tonnes (220 tons) of Icelandic whale meat have been stockpiled in Reykjavik since October 2006, evidence that hunting the animal served no purpose, environmental group Greenpeace said on Wednesday.
Haven’t had a “Climate Change Rant Du Jour” in a while, so why not? The reviews continue to say Bush blew it (but then, that’s neither news nor science) in his SOTU speech: “President misses chance on climate change” (Oakland Tribune), and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer points out that in a “Speech thin on climate, energy details”, President Bush devoted just one phrase in his 49-minute State of the Union address to heading off global climate change. [Is reckless endangerment of the planet grounds for impeachment? If not, WHY NOT?] And here’s the ultimate irony: The Bush administration’s new energy plan to reduce gasoline demand by 20 percent could have an unintended side effect – increasing greenhouse gas emissions, California environmental officials said Wednesday. [Critiquing the Bush “Energy Plan” is like shooting fish in a barrel – or shooting an old friend while bird hunting – no sport in it whatsoever…]
JUST IN: by AP IRAQ Green Zone?
Huge explosion rocks central Baghdad
The blast occurred shortly after two heavy mortar shells slammed into the heavily fortified Green Zone. The public address system inside the zone, where the U.S. Embassy is located, could be heard warning in English that people should take cover, “this is not a drill.”
With the increase numbers of Cdns filing for passports, some interesting stories are emerging …
Yesterday I read this AP story, Passport applicants find they’re not Canadian
And today this one via CBC, New passport requirement for U.S. air travel ‘irritates’ Mohawks
And this one as well, Mennonites may lose Canadian citizenship over 1920s glitch
From the globeandmail,
Where’s Rummy? What’s he up to? Try the revolving door.
A Thinkprogress find:
Rumfeld Remains Defense Department `Consultant,’ Opens `Transition Office’ Near Pentagon
Gaawd. He brought with him Stephen Cambone.
From Rollingstone’s wishing well:
Run Al, run (h/t: Huffpost)
Losers & winners in the energy sweepstakes worldwide:
GulfNews/Reuters: Repsol and Shell near $4.3b LNG agreement in Iran. “Madrid: Spain’s Repsol and Royal Dutch Shell expect to sign a preliminary deal with Iran in coming days for a $4.3 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant and port terminal, a source close to the deal said on Tuesday.” The Bush Team scores again – in the wrong end zone.
:: :: ::
RIA Novosti: Russia to build four more nuclear reactors in India -1. “NEW DELHI, January 25 – Russia has agreed to build four more nuclear reactors for India’s Kudankulam nuclear power plant and other plants in addition to the two units already under construction, a bilateral agreement said Thursday.” Dear George, Vlad sez “Thank you!”
Oh boy…just when you thought it was safe to go out, eh:
these kinds of things have the potential to have a drastic impact and effect on demonstrations such as the United for Peace March scheduled for saturday.
Hope this damn thing’s still in Georgia.
John McCain: The truth.