Clipmarks | celestialdancer's clips

Gobi Desert Horses Re-classified From Extinct in the Wild to Critically Endangered

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 06:13:45 GMT

clipped by: celestialdancer
clipper's remarks: More reading at the source...

Clip Source: ecoworldly.com

The Przewalski’s horse of Mongolia’s Gobi desert–considered the world’s only remaining, “true” wild horse–has had its share of existential challenges over the centuries. Once considered “extinct in the wild”, due primarily to habitat loss, the horse’s status has been upgraded recently to “critically endangered”, based upon criteria set by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (UICN) in Switzerland.

The “upgrade” requires that at least fifty mature individuals be “free-living” in the wild for a minimum of five years.

There have been previous attempts to reintroduce the horse

to the Central Asian steppe country from China’s zoos (going back to 1985), but these were considered unsuccessful.

Now, after assessments of two horse projects–one at Hustai

National Park

and the other at Takhin Tal

ecologists and wildlife conservationist are confident enough in the animals’ chances for long-term survival to make the official announcement

Has Dark Matter Finally Been Detected On Earth?

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:28:10 GMT

clipped by: countryboylife

Clip Source: www.popsci.com

Dark Matter Lens This map shows the distribution of dark matter that created the gravitational lens observed by the Hubble telescope during the COSMOS survey. coutesy of Richard Massey and NASA

Today's rumors started to spread after the blog Resonaances reported an embargoed physics paper due for publication in next week's issue of the journal Nature. Physics papers rarely appear in that journal, except to announce a new discovery. And with a paper coming out of the CDMS experiment, the natural inference is that the article will announce the discovery of dark matter.

The CDMS Facility: Searching for dark matter in Minnesota's deepest iron mine

the paper remains under wraps until next week. However, any physics paper in Nature is certain to cover some very important science. So, check back next week to find out of if we've finally found evidence of dark matter, or if the CDMS researchers have something totally unexpected up their sleeves.

Tags: physics, dark matter

Copenhagen climate summit in disarray after 'Danish text' leak

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:14:55 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

The UN Copenhagen climate talks are in disarray today after developing countries reacted furiously to leaked documents that show world leaders will next week be asked to sign an agreement that hands more power to rich countries and sidelines the UN's role in all future climate change negotiations.

The document is also being interpreted by developing countries as setting unequal limits on per capita carbon emissions for developed and developing countries in 2050; meaning that people in rich countries would be permitted to emit nearly twice as much under the proposals.

The so-called Danish text, a secret draft agreement worked on by a group of individuals known as "the circle of commitment" – but understood to include the UK, US and Denmark – has only been shown to a handful of countries since it was finalised this week.

The draft hands effective control of climate change finance to the World Bank

Tags: climate change, climate, environment, copenhagen

Cliff Golfing

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:17:03 GMT

clipped by: celestialdancer

Clip Source: www.failgif.com

Pictured: Mythical white stag found in the forests of Gloucestershire

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:26:43 GMT

clipped by: ofcapri
clipper's remarks: I was camped in a shelter and was really fortunate. It just strolled right in front of me and calmly wandered around.

'He is a beautiful creature and it's really nice to be able to show people who perhaps can't make it into woodland what beautiful animals roam out there.

'I was lucky to be able to get some footage of it as well as the battery on my camera was running out.

'I wasn't sure I'd actually got it until I got home.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1233644/Pictured-Mythical-white-stag-forests-Gloucestershire.html#ixzz0YxDfqdQe

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1233644/Pictured-Mythical-white-stag-forests-Gloucestershire.html#ixzz0YxDfqdQe

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Pictured: Mythical white stag found in the forests of Gloucestershire

White stags have long been associated with mythology and legend, an elusive yet magnificent beast.

King Arthur was left frustrated by his attempts to capture one, as were the Kings and Queens of Narnia, who chased the creature through the woods and found themselves tumbling out of a wardrobe.

But photographer Ken Grindle has managed to get a little bit closer, taking this picture of the animal in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire.

The White Stag was photographed by amateur photographer Ken Grindle near forests in Lydney, Gloucestershire

The majestic wild animal - long associated with mystery and good luck - was filmed by the wildlife enthusiast.

Butchered: The white stag that was decapitated in October 2007. Its existence was kept secret in a bid to deter poachers

'Ghostlike': A white stag among a group of young re d stags, spotted in the Scottish Highlands last year

Tags: wildlife

If We Had No Moon

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 11:40:06 GMT

clipped by: celestialdancer

Clip Source: topdocumentaryfilms.com

Without the moon, humans wouldn’t exist. Life, if it had started at all, would be in the earliest stages of evolution.

Days would last four hours, winds would blow at hurricane force and there would be a dense and toxic atmosphere resembling that of Venus.

Luckily, 50 million years after the formation of the solar system, our proto-planet was hit by a celestial body more than twice the size of Mars, which formed the moon.

In this one-hour special, viewers will learn what Earth was like before the moon and what Earth would be like if the moon disappeared.

[Video]

Genetic Diseases & Pedigree Dogs

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 11:33:03 GMT

clipped by: celestialdancer
clipper's remarks: Can't help wondering about how our obsession with genetic health solutions compare to natural selection and biodiversity?

I can't help but feel most of the time humans are particularly short-sighted seeing such a brief, brief, brief glimpse in the grander vaster scheme of things and hence make decisions, rules, laws based on this - with results that are life depleting rather than life enhancing (to ALL LIFE).

Clip Source: topdocumentaryfilms.com

Pedigree dogs are suffering from genetic diseases following years of inbreeding, an investigation has found. A BBC documentary says they are suffering acute problems because looks are emphasised over health when breeding dogs for shows. The programme shows spaniels with brains too big for their skulls and boxers suffering from epilepsy. The Kennel Club says it works tirelessly to improve the health of pedigree dogs.

Pedigree animals make up 75% of the seven million dogs in the UK and cost their owners over £10m in vets’ fees each week. The programme, Pedigree Dogs Exposed, says dogs suffering from genetic illness are not prevented from competing in dog shows and have gone on to win “best in breed”, despite their poor health. It says physical traits required by the Kennel Club’s breed standards, such as short faces, wrinkling, screw-tails and dwarfism, have inherent health problems.

Watch the full documentary now

The Four Winged Dinosaur - Opens Debates As To The Origina of Flight

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 11:24:25 GMT

clipped by: celestialdancer

Clip Source: topdocumentaryfilms.com

In 2002, the discovery of a beautiful and bizarre fossil astonished scientists and reignited the debate over the origin of flight. With four wings and superbly preserved feathers, the 130 million-year-old creature was like nothing paleontologists had ever seen before. In this program, NOVA travels to the Chinese stone quarry where the fossil was discovered (a famed fossil treasure trove) and teams up with the world’s leading figures in paleontology, biomechanics, aerodynamics, animation, and scientific reconstruction to perform an unorthodox experiment: a wind tunnel flight test of a scientific replica of the ancient oddity.

Dubbed Microraptor, the crow-sized fossil is one of the smallest dinosaurs ever found and one of the most controversial, challenging conventional theories and assumptions about the evolution of flight. But how did Microraptor use its wings?

Human Evolutionary Diversity & Ancient Volcanic Eruption In India

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 11:18:40 GMT

clipped by: celestialdancer
clipper's remarks: "In 1998, Stanley Ambrose, an anthropology professor at the University of Illinois, proposed in the Journal of Human Evolution that the effects of the Toba eruption and the Ice Age that followed could explain the apparent bottleneck in human populations that geneticists believe occurred between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago. The lack of genetic diversity among humans alive today suggests that during this time period humans came very close to becoming extinct..."

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

A massive volcanic eruption that occurred in the distant past killed off much of central India's forests and may have pushed humans to the brink of extinction, according to a new study that adds evidence to a controversial topic.

The Toba eruption, which took place on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia about 73,000 years ago, released an estimated 800 cubic kilometers of ash into the atmosphere that blanketed the skies and blocked out sunlight for six years. In the aftermath, global temperatures dropped by as much as 16 degrees centigrade (28 degrees Fahrenheit) and life on Earth plunged deeper into an ice age that lasted around 1,800 years.

Oh No! Not again!

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:45:25 GMT

clipped by: Kelika

Clip Source: www.darkroastedblend.com

Tags: ------------, image, today

Virtual vote gives you a voice at Copenhagen

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 13:18:16 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: http://www.showyourvote.org/vote?skin=mini Is a link to the Google site.

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

With three days until the United Nations climate summit kicks off in Copenhagen, internet giant Google has helped launch a new tool to give people a vote on the outcome of the crucial meeting.

The online virtual ballot box is able to collate global statistics on who wants what, and it is an innovation by a man who has made it his personal mission to act on climate change.

Every day Google innovationist Justin Baird pedals to work at the internet giant, where he is thinking big in his global campaign to act on climate change.

"My personal mission is to drive positive change through technology," he said.

"I am in a position where I can understand the issues surrounding climate change. And understanding the technology solution that can empower us to communicate collectively."

His brainchild is called "Show Your Vote". It allows people to register in a virtual ballot box that can be embedded into any website.

The focus of the campaign is to show world leaders in Copenhagen what the people want.

Tags: where, are, the, how to vote, handouts

Is A Lion In A Zoo Still A Wild Animal?

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 08:27:08 GMT

clipped by: celestialdancer

Clip Source: ecoworldly.com

The lion cub pictured above is named Gabriella and lives at an animal orphanage in Nairobi. The Pride of Kenya website reports she lives there because she was left parentless due to a human-lion conflict. (Presumably this explanation means her mother was killed by humans). The post about her goes on to say that her life expectancy in captivity is about 22 years.

In 20 years, according to one estimate, wild lions could be extinct in Kenya. So it is reasonable to wonder if she could be the last, or one of the few lions left in that country in two decades. If she still is alive then, and all the wild lions have been killed via poisonings and habitat loss, there will be no lions left in the wild there - but is a lion living in a cage that has been reared in captivity still a wild animal?

The current Kenyan lion population is estimated to be about 2,000, with 100 or so being killed every year.

Dams & Regional Weather Extremes

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 07:00:13 GMT

clipped by: celestialdancer

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

Large dams may cause shifting regional weather extremes.

It was nearly 75 years ago that scientists first speculated that large dams could vastly transform local climate. Weather results from the interaction of warm and cool air, and dams can hold vast reservoirs of water that can influence the heat and moisture of the air above them. Dams also can radically alter irrigation patterns in the surrounding land, impacting their climate patterns as well.

A number of recent studies and computer models suggest that dams can indeed boost rainfall by increasing atmospheric moisture.

Large dams apparently triggered more extreme rainfall in southern Africa, India, Central Asia and the western United States in particular when compared to other regions, with rainfall becoming more common and more extreme.

"For instance, what we might have thought of as a 50-year flood — big ones that only come every 50 years or so — might have now become 30- or 40-year floods," Hossain said

Polar Bear Cannibalism

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:32:28 GMT

clipped by: celestialdancer

Clip Source: ecoworldly.com

Shrinking sea ice may be to blame for recent polar bear cannibalism incidents in Canada. Eight cases of adult polar bears eating bear cubs and other bears near Churchill, Manitoba, have been reported. Four of the cases were reported to Environment Canada and four to Manitoba Conservation.

While adult male polar bears, Ursus maritimus, have been known to kill and cannibalize cubs, most cases occur in the spring when the male can impregnate the female. Due to the timing of the incidents, some believe hunger may be the reason for this year’s incidents.

By early November, the ice in Canada’s Hudson Bay is normally solid enough for polar bears. But with December rapidly approaching, the ice is just not solid enough.

Wolf Hunts

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:25:56 GMT

clipped by: celestialdancer

Clip Source: ecoworldly.com

For the first time in 45 years, a wolf hunt is expected to take place in Sweden. In October, the Swedish parliament made the decision to limit the wolf population to 210 animals and will issue hunting permits in areas where the wolves have reproduced in the past three years.