Clipmarks | Travels Clips

Does the Milky Way Influence Earth's Biodiversity Cycles? Research Says "Yes"

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:49:25 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: The boost in cosmic-ray exposure may have a direct effect on Earth's organisms, according to paleontologist Bruce Lieberman. The radiation would lead to higher rates of genetic mutations in organisms or interfere with their ability to repair DNA damage. In this way, the process could lead to new species while killing off others.

If future studies confirm the galaxy-biodiversity link, it would force scientists to broaden their ideas about what can influence life on Earth. "Maybe it's not just the climate and the tectonic events on Earth," Lieberman said. "Maybe we have to start thinking more about the extraterrestrial environment as well."

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

Horoscope enthusiasts will be happy to hear that a grand cosmic force does indeed seem to be responsible for controlling the direction of all life on Earth. However, this grand cosmic cycle has more to do with extinction than finding a tall, handsome stranger.

Research has revealed that the rise and fall of species on Earth seems to be driven by the undulating motions of our solar system as it travels through the Milky Way.

Some scientists believe that this cosmic force may offer the answer to some of the biggest questions in our Earth’s biological history—especially where evolution has fallen short.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley found that marine fossil records show that biodiversity increases and decreases based on a 62-million-year cycle.

Our own star moves toward and away from the Milky Way's center, and also up and down through the galactic plane. One complete up-and-down cycle takes 64 million years- suspiciously close to the Earth's biodiversity cycle.

Tags: astronomy, life cycles, evolution, biodiversity

Amelie Redux: Murphy the Gnome goes on world tour (on-site video)

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 03:18:03 GMT

clipped by: madame travels
clipper's remarks: A scene right out of Amelie. However, unlike Amelie's papa, I don't think Murphy's owner has been motivated to travel. Watch the video.

Clip Source: current.newsweek.com

Murphy the Gnome was abducted from a garden and taken on a world tour.

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Murphy the Gnome doesn't even have a passport, but he has traveled around the world. ITN's Rohit Kachroo has the story.

Supervoids and clusters reveal dark energy

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 03:16:09 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Clip Source: www.cosmosmagazine.com

SYDNEY: Astronomers say they have detected the clearest evidence yet for the mysterious dark energy that stretches and flattens out the universe.

Dark energy is a little understood type of energy that pervades space and tends to increase the rate of expansion of the universe.

The researchers looked for signs of it in the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMB) as mapped by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), which aims to map one-quarter of the universe. The CMB is made up of the relict microwaves left over when photons interacted with newly recombined atoms soon following the Big Bang.

While the CMB has remained relatively unchanged since the beginning of the universe, subtle variations can illuminate how radiation travels through regions of space.

The researchers looked at 50 of the largest superclusters and 50 of the largest voids and measured the strength of the microwave radiation travelling through these regions.

Tags: universe, astrophysics, dark energy, physics, science

Trace the world's most famous journeys on this online map

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 06:10:26 GMT

clipped by: madame travels

Clip Source: current.newsweek.com

Think of the most famous journeys—factual and fictional. Columbus's trip to the New World. Jack Kerouac's cross-country road trip. The whale-hunting ship in Moby Dick. Ameila Earhart's fateful flight. The Old Silk Road. The voyage described in Around the World in 80 Days.

Well, Good magazine has posted online an interactive map of the most famous jaunts.

Check it out.

Photo Essay: The Russians in Ossetia

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 18:35:04 GMT

clipped by: Monkey of Sux

Clip Source: www.time.com

The Russians in Ossetia

TIME photographer Yuri Kozyrev travels with Russian units in the separatist enclave

Clip Source: www.time.com

In Control
Russian soldiers rest on a tank in Tskhinvali, the capital of Ossetia.

Clip Source: www.time.com

Raise a Flag
Tskhinvali was the center of fierce fighting.

Clip Source: www.time.com

Tanks in the Street
Dead Georgian soldiers lie beside a road in Tskhinvali.

Clip Source: www.time.com

Field Hospital
Russian medical personnel treat a wounded Georgian soldier who was caught by Russian forces.

Clip Source: www.time.com

Muddy Path
An Ossetian volunteer crosses a road in Tskhinvali.

Clip Source: www.time.com

Casualties
Women mourn two girls and their father killed by Georgian artillery fire.

Clip Source: www.time.com

Soldiers
A Russian unit rests after fighting had ceased.

Clip Source: www.time.com

Wounded
South Ossetian volunteers lie on the floor of a hospital basement.

Clip Source: www.time.com

Remnants
Russian tanks pass a Georgian tank that was destroyed in the fighting.

Clip Source: www.time.com

Aftermath
Many residents waited out the four days of fighting in basement shelters.

Tags: sux

Out-of-This-World Hypothesis: Cosmic Forces Control Life on Earth

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 10:43:54 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Worth a read, if you enjoy info about what is happening in the Space around us.

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

The rise and fall of species on Earth might be driven in part by the undulating motions of our solar system as it travels through the disk of the Milky Way, scientists say.

Two years ago, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley found the marine fossil record shows that biodiversity-the number of different species alive on the planet-increases and decreases on a 62-million-year cycle. At least two of the Earth's great mass extinctions-the Permian extinction 250 million years ago and the Ordovician extinction about 450 million years ago-correspond with peaks of this cycle, which can't be explained by evolutionary theory.

Now, a team of researchers at the University of Kansas (KU) have come up with an out-of-this-world explanation. Their idea hinges upon the fact that, appearances aside, stars are not fixed in space. They move around, sometimes rushing headlong through galaxies, or approaching close enough to one another for brief cosmic trysts.

Tags: great, theory

Theistic Sanity

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 16:05:02 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: It's not often that I agree with religious leaders but when I do it deserves to be pointed out. The point that Benedict makes of refuting the claim that evolution promotes atheism is of course correct. Although many, particularly in the States, believe otherwise. Unfortunately, the persons that fall into this category are also people that are the least informed on the subject.

Clip Source: zanesvilletimesrecorder.com

Subsidized atheism

I marvel at writers who refer to "evolutionists and their precious little theory." After 150 years, the Theory of Evolution is one of the most broadly accepted theories in all of science. How can any so-called educated person characterize the teaching of biological evolution as taxpayer-subsidized atheism?

Read below what an ultraconservative Christian spiritual leader has to say about this so-called controversy.

Pope Benedict XVI, 24 July 2007

This antithesis is absurd because, on the one hand, there are so many scientific proofs in favour of evolution which appears to be a reality we can see and which enriches our knowledge of life and being as such.

Now consider the lack of credibility of anyone who calls evolution atheistic. I doubt any sane person of whatever religious persuasion would call the pope an atheist. Does accepting the scientific theory (fact) that the earth travels around the sun and not the other way around make a person an atheist?

Tags: creationism, evolution, religion, atheism

Reactivating Forgotten Languages: How to Catch Up

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 09:05:24 GMT

clipped by: madame travels
clipper's remarks:

Vis-Ed (www.vis-ed.com) compiles its sets of flashcards from word frequency lists and includes sample phrases for usage. I begin flashcards after three or four days in-country.

The sooner you decide to reactivate languages when needed, instead of maintaining them for an unspecified time in the future, the more leisure time you will have and the less diluted your language abilities will be when you need them.

Don't fear losing languages if you've attained real fluency. They're just in temporary storage with the covers pulled over them.

Clip Source: www.vagablogging.net

It is easier, and much more time-efficient, to catch up versus keep up.

I began reactivation just over a week ago and can already hold a decent conversation with the Japanese coffee store manager down the street

Days 1-7: Japanese films with English subtitles for at least two hours each evening for one week

Days 3+: 10-20 pages of dialogue-rich manga

for 30 minutes each morning and prior to bed

On the plane: Read a phrasebook in its entirety for active recall practice of common phrases (45 minutes of study alternated with 15 minutes of rest – this takes advantage of what is called the "primacy and recency effect"

Upon arrival: Continue with manga and grammar reference checks as needed, using an electronic dictionary to reactivate vocabulary from conversation that is familiar but not understood

Weeks 2-3: Thirty to sixty Vis-Ed flashcards daily. This seems like a lot, but most will have been covered in steps 1-3 – using active recall

Souvenir "authenticity" is a relative term

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 08:57:02 GMT

clipped by: madame travels
clipper's remarks:

"And all I got was this deconstructionist text", AP, April 23, 2003 (Jim Heintz)

Clip Source: www.vagablogging.net

"To academics and freelance philosophers who theorize about the difficulty of achieving authenticity in the postmodern world, the souvenir T-shirt is seen as the ultimate defilement. To wear one means you had the money to see the sights of the world, but not enough wit to do anything other than stare vacantly at them and then wander off in search of a cheeseburger. To them, I say, ''No way.'' In fact, a superficially simple T-shirt is a complex weave of symbols and implications. Travelers hanker for a genuine, unique ethnic experience, but that's increasingly elusive in a globalized world where you can get good Chinese food in Iceland and Icelandic food in Tbilisi, Georgia. A T-shirt, however, is inarguably authentic: Fat chance that an ''I [Heart] Slovenia'' T-shirt would have been purchased anywhere but that country. True, you could also purchase an equally authentic Slovenian peasant outfit, but you're unlikely to wear that to the supermarket back home."
--Jim Heintz,

DNA tests to study mummy fetuses in King Tut tomb

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:47:31 GMT

clipped by: madame travels

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Egyptian scientists are carrying out DNA tests on two mummified fetuses found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun to determine whether they are the young pharaoh's offspring

The two tiny female fetuses, between five to seven months in gestational age, were found in King Tut's tomb in Luxor when it was dissevered in 1922.

DNA samples from the fetuses "will be compared to each other, along with those of the mummy of King Tutankhamun," the head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass

The testing is part of a wider program to check the DNA of hundreds of mummies to determine their identities and family relations. Hawass said the program could help determine Tutankhamun's family lineage, which has long been a source of mystery among Egyptologists.

The council said that if the tiny mummies are unrelated to Tut, they may have been placed in his tomb to allow him to "live as a newborn in the afterlife."

Luang Prabang, Laos: The Land of a Million Elephants

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:29:09 GMT

clipped by: madame travels

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Strangers talk to one another here, people who'd never strike up a conversation when touring London or Rome. It's one of those clues that tell you this Mekong River town in northern Laos is an outpost. The atmosphere is part "Star Wars" bar, part "Casablanca." Backpackers descend from the surrounding mountains or step ashore off slow boats, clutching tattered Lonely Planet guides. Europeans, Australians, Thais and a few Americans wing in on prop planes. Members of ethnic hill tribes, particularly the Hmong, appear at sunset, spreading their wares along the street. And everywhere you turn there are Buddhist monks in blazing-orange robes.

A town of 26,000, Luang Prabang is shaped like a tongue, formed by the Nam Khan River as it curves to meet the Mekong.

Luang Prabang's architecture catapulted it onto the World Heritage list in 1995. The sublime mix of old Laotian wooden houses, half-timbered buildings, stalwart French structures and ancient Buddhist temples can be found nowhere else

We Are What We Eat part 3

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 00:32:50 GMT

clipped by: zalisan

Clip Source: topics.nytimes.com

Local Food

Unless you have been stuck in the processed-food aisles of your local grocery store for the last couple of years, you have probably noticed that local food is all the rage.

Union Square in Manhattan may offer one of the most popular farmers’ markets, but Des Moines isn’t far behind, and top restaurants and college campuses are now demanding local food on the plate.

The local food, or locavore, movement has so much momentum that some of the food glitterati have declared that such food is better than organic.

The distance that food travels from farm to plate is certainly important, he says, but so is how food is packaged, how it is grown, how it is processed and how it is transported to market.

Certainly, there are many reasons for eating local food — from supporting local farmers to a desire for fresher, potentially tastier food. The research in California, however, offers the prospect of a more nuanced debate on eating a low-carbon diet.

Toyota's new Winglet

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 22:42:21 GMT

clipped by: Imnclady
clipper's remarks: They want feedback, ok, first, "How proud are you of the Winglet? and "How much will it cost us ?"

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Toyota reveals Segway-type scooter

A model demonstrates Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp.'s new motorized ride 'Winglet' during a press conference in Tokyo Friday, Aug. 1, 2008. Toyota will start testing the stand-up-and-ride contraption, that travels at up to 6 kph (3.7 mph), later this year at a Japanese airport and resort complex and next year at a shopping mall to get feedback from people. No plans are set to sell the Winglet as a commercial product.

Tags: winglet, toyota, scooter, japanese

Irrigation Porn

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 03:34:33 GMT

clipped by: pocketfulofsunshine

Clip Source: deputy-dog.com

center pivot irrigation is basically a method of agricultural irrigation which results in a circular field of crops. a huge column of sprinklers, fixed to the ground at one end, slowly travels around in a circle whilst spraying the crops below. you can see the sprinkler arms, some of which can reach a kilometre in length, in the photo below.

it’s a fairly unremarkable sight, as you can see. however, as you gain some altitude these circular fields start to look more and more surreal and just unbelievably brilliant, especially in areas where these systems are commonplace and visible en masse from the sky. check these pictures out and make sure you follow the google maps links as some of these photos don’t do the areas justice. also, zoom in when looking at the libyan example - it’s part of the ‘great manmade river‘ project - and tell me what those hexagonal features are to the left of the crops…

Tags: agriculture

Wierd Science

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:58:46 GMT

clipped by: swampfoxz
clipper's remarks: Clothes that are dried outside DO smell better because of a process called photolysis. What happens is this: sunlight breaks down compounds in the laundry that cause odor, such as perspiration and body oils.

Clouds fly higher during the day than the night.

Dirty snow melts faster than clean.

Clip Source: phunkyou.com

Wierd Science

Every year about 98% of atoms in your body are replaced.

In Gulliver’s Travels Jonathan Swift described the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, giving their exact size and speeds of rotation. He did this more than 100 years before either moon was discovered.

Outside the USA, Ireland is the largest software producing country in the world.

Every human spent about half an hour as a single cell.
Plutonium - first weighed on August 20th, 1942, by University of Chicago scientists Glenn Seaborg and his colleagues - was the first man-made element.

Sound travels 15 times faster through steel than through the air.

Only one satellite has been ever been destroyed by a meteor: the European Space Agency’s Olympus in 1993.

Sterling silver is not pure silver. Because pure silver is too soft to be used in most tableware it is mixed with copper in the proportion of 92.5 percent silver to 7.5 percent copper.

Rain contains vitamin B12.

Tags: wierd science