Clipmarks | Robbert's clips

Economist Poll: Strong Majority of Economists Favor Obama

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:15:37 GMT

clipped by: Robbert

Just how bad as the information tide turned against McCain on the economy? The conservative Economist magazine, in survey results published this week, finds that economists overwhelmingly name Obama as more qualified to handle the economy.

More Democrats than Republican economists replied to the survey, but even among Republicans, Mr Obama has the edge: 46% versus 23% say Obama has the better grasp of the subject. In terms of who is more likely to surround himself with qualified experts, 81% of all respondents say Obama; 71% among respondents who say they are unaffiliated with a party.

Drilling for Oil

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:31:35 GMT

clipped by: Robbert
clipper's remarks: A simple graph for those who think offshore drilling is the answer.

Clip Source: www.ecogeek.org

BBC: Camera spots rare clouded leopard

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 21:17:14 GMT

clipped by: Robbert

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Camera spots rare clouded leopard

Automatic cameras have captured images of a clouded leopard in Borneo's Sebangua National Park, an area where the cats have not been recorded before.

"The Bornean clouded leopard is a top priority for our programme," said Professor David Macdonald, director of Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, which is part of the Sebangau Felid Project.

Based on estimates of density and population range, the team says the clouded leopards number no more than 10,000 sexually mature adults.

The cat was first classified as a separate species in 2007 after genetic testing highlighted at least 40 differences from clouded leopards found on mainland Asia.

otorongo cub

Sat, 10 May 2008 01:18:03 GMT

clipped by: Robbert

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

A two-month-old black otorongo cub takes the air at the Huachipa zoo in the Peruvian capital, Lima.

Tourism crash threatens big cats

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:48:24 GMT

clipped by: Robbert

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Big cats living in Kenya's Maasai Mara game reserve are being threatened by a collapse in revenues from wildlife tourism, it has been claimed.

The Mara Conservancy says tourists have stayed away since the violence which followed last year's disputed election.

William Deed, from the Mara Conservancy, told the BBC that it was facing a shortfall of $50,000 (£25,000) per month.

But now the fund has been suspended, some Maasai have threatened to resume hunting the lions and leopards which kill their cows, goats and sheep.

"It may be only a matter of time until rangers won't be so lucky in stopping cattle owners from taking their own measures to protect cattle," he added.

Poachers were already profiting from the situation, said Mr Deed: groups of men had been seen using torches to hunt Thomson Gazelles at night.

Last month, the rangers have caught five poachers

For now, he explained, the organisation was operating only on small donations from individuals across the world.

Device 'spins silk like spiders'

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:41:36 GMT

clipped by: Robbert

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

A device that partially mimics the process by which spiders produce fine, yet super-strong, silks has been built.

A simple method for manufacturing strands of artificial gossamer has long been coveted as - weight for weight - it is five times stronger than steel.

However, according to Professor Fritz Vollrath of the University of Oxford, none were of a particularly high quality.

"We are finding certain wild silks which are stronger when you unravel them than natural spider silks," said Dr David Knight, a colleague of Professor Vollrath and chief scientific officer at Oxford Biomaterials.

The firm exploits silks for medical applications such as sheaths to help nerve regrowth.

"Genetic engineering is completely out for producing high-strength polymers - it's just much too expensive," he told BBC News.

Dull jobs really do numb the mind

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:35:57 GMT

clipped by: Robbert

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Boring jobs turn our mind to autopilot, say scientists - and it means we can seriously mess up some simple tasks.

Monotonous duties switch our brain to "rest mode", whether we like it or not, the researchers report in Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences.

They found mistakes can be predicted up to 30 seconds before we make them, by patterns in our brain activity.

The team hopes to design an early-warning brain monitor for pilots and others in "critical situations".

The scientists say the device would be particularly suitable for monotonous jobs where focus is hard to maintain - such as passport and immigration control.

"To our surprise, up to 30 seconds before the mistake we could detect a distinct shift in activity,"

"We can assume that the tendency to economise task performance leads to an inappropriate reduction of effort, thus causing errors."

Mistakes can be predicted by patterns of brain activity

Headsets could be designed to offer "early warning" of mistakes

Brain reacts to fairness as it does to money and chocolate

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:32:23 GMT

clipped by: Robbert

Clip Source: www.physorg.com

The human brain responds to being treated fairly the same way it responds to winning money and eating chocolate, UCLA scientists report. Being treated fairly turns on the brain's reward circuitry.

"We may be hard-wired to treat fairness as a reward," said study co-author Matthew D. Lieberman, UCLA associate professor of psychology and a founder of social cognitive neuroscience.

"Fairness is activating the same part of the brain that responds to food in rats," she said. This is consistent with the notion that being treated fairly satisfies a basic need, she added.

"The brain's reward regions were more active when people were given a $5 offer out of $10 than when they received a $5 offer out of $23," Lieberman said. "We call this finding the 'sunny side of fairness' because it shows the rewarding experience of being treated fairly."

When people accepted the insulting offers, they tended to turn on a region of the prefrontal cortex that is associated with emotion regulation

Virgin Media CEO attacks net neutrality

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 19:04:23 GMT

clipped by: Robbert
clipper's remarks: I think Virgin will lose a lot of customers over this.

Clip Source: www.digitalspy.co.uk

Virgin Media CEO Neil Berkett has attacked the principle of net neutrality, whereby internet service providers do not interfere with or degrade the speed at which content is delivered from websites to consumers, branding it as "b****cks".

Berkett's cable operator ranks as the second largest internet service provider in the UK with approximately 3.6m customers.

In an interview with the Royal Television Society's Television magazine, Berkett said that "this net neutrality thing is a load of b****cks", and revealed that Virgin is already in talks with unnamed content providers about paying to have their content delivered faster than others.

Feeding into the debate between internet service providers and the BBC over iPlayer, Berkett even warned that public service broadcasters who choose not to pay for faster access to Virgin's subscriber base would end up in "bus lanes", effectively having their content delivered to consumers at a lower speed.

Amelia Earhart - Prenup

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:56:52 GMT

clipped by: Robbert
clipper's remarks: On our life together I want you to understand I shall not hold you to any medaevil code of faithfulness to me nor shall I consider myself bound to you similarly. If we can be honest I think the difficulties which arise may best be avoided should you or I become interested deeply (or in passing) in anyone else.

Clip Source: news.uns.purdue.edu

Tags: amelia earhart, polyamory

Amur leopard cub

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:04:28 GMT

clipped by: Robbert
clipper's remarks: I wonder if people will be able to see them 30 years from now; or whether future people will have to wonder about these beautiful animals, the way we wonder about the Thylacine.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

A 14-week-old Amur leopard cub explores its enclosure at Marwell Zoo, UK. The Panthera pardus orientalis is listed as critically endangered as a result of being hunted and habitat changes in eastern Asia.

Why are thousands of bats dying in New York?

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 19:36:07 GMT

clipped by: Robbert

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

Mysterious ‘white nose syndrome’ spreading at alarming rate

ROSENDALE, N.Y. - Bats in New York and Vermont are mysteriously dying off by the thousands, often with a white ring of fungus around their noses, and scientists in hazmat suits are crawling into dank caves to find out why.

"White nose syndrome," as the killer has been dubbed, is spreading at an alarming rate, with researchers calling it the gravest threat in memory to bats in the U.S.

"This is definitely unprecedented," said Lori Pruitt, an endangered-species biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Bloomington, Ind. "The hugest concern at this point is that we do not know what it is."

It is not even clear if the fungus around the bats' noses — something scientists say they have never seen before — is a cause or a symptom. It may be a sign the bats are too sick to groom themselves

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

Nor are there any known links between what is wiping out the bees and what is killing the bats.

Hicks whispered grimly:

These guys are toast

Writers' leaders hail strike deal

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 08:46:02 GMT

clipped by: Robbert

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Leaders of striking US film and TV writers have told their members they have reached a "tentative deal" which could end their three-month strike.

'We get paid'

"We had a very lively discussion. I'm happy with what happened," said Michael Winship, president of the WGA, East, after the meeting in New York.

"At the moment, I feel strongly it (the proposed deal) has a strong chance of going through."

However, he cautioned that the contract was not a "done deal" until it was ratified by members.

But many of the estimated 500 writers leaving the New York meeting gave a positive prognosis.

"There's a general feeling of tremendous success. I was delighted," said John Simmons, a TV writer. "We agreed that this looks pretty good... It bodes well for the future."

The two men said the time had come to end the strike, citing the "enormous personal toll on our members and countless others".

The full agreement has been published on trade journal Variety's website.

'Last wave' for wild golden frog

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 12:08:44 GMT

clipped by: Robbert

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

A BBC film crew has captured footage of a rare frog waving, wrestling and courting for the first time.

The Panamanian golden frog communicates with other frogs by semaphore in the form of gentle hand waves.

It has evolved the mechanism to signal to rivals and mates above the noise of mountain streams.

Shortly after filming for the BBC One series Life In Cold Blood, the frogs had to be rescued from the wild, due to the threat of chytrid fungus.

Hilary Jeffkins, senior producer of Life In Cold Blood, said the semaphoring behaviour of the Panamanian golden frog was very unusual.

"Normally, frogs would croak to get their message across but it's too noisy," she said. "An extra mechanism they've evolved is to wave to each other."

The population had all but disappeared because of a fungus that grows on the amphibians' skin and suffocates them.

The whole species is now extinct in Panama - this was one of the last remaining populations.

Peacekeepers 'deface ancient art'

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:34:50 GMT

clipped by: Robbert

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

UN peacekeepers in the disputed African territory of Western Sahara have vandalised ancient rock paintings, a UN official has told a UK newspaper.

The Times has published pictures of the paintings, some 6,000 years old, showing them defaced with spray paint.

Graffiti, including the spray-painting of UN personnel's names, can been seen at Lajuad, an important archaeological site, Mr Harston said.

"I was appalled. You'd think some of them would know better. These are officers, not squaddies," Mr Harston said.

"It is a tragedy that UN personnel tasked with resolving one of the world's longest running military and political conflicts are engaging in the wilful destruction of important archaeological sites that have much to teach us about the prehistory of a part of the world that is virtually unknown to the international research community," he writes on his Sand and Dust blog.