How
a Humongous Garbage Patch in the Pacific Breeds New Bugs
from the Christian Science Monitor
The great Pacific garbage patch is giving sea striders a place to
breed out on the open ocean, changing the natural environment there,
new research suggests.
The great Pacific garbage patch, known to scientists as the North
Pacific Subtropial Gyre, is a large patch of mulched up plastic and
other garbage, often said to be the size of Texas, floating in the
Pacific Ocean.
“This paper shows a dramatic increase in plastic over a relatively
short time period and the effect it’s having on a common North
Pacific Gyre invertebrate,” study researcher Miriam Goldstein,
graduate student at the University of California San Diego, said in a
statement. “We’re seeing changes in this marine insect that can be
directly attributed to the plastic.”
http://ow.ly/aOUns
“nine billion dollars ($9,000,000.00)” —
‘Beyond
Performance Management’ critiques management
tools - latimes.com (Build 20120215223356) -
“When tools do not work or appear not to the
usual tendency is to blame the tools themselves.
In fact, say the authors, the problem is one of
unrealistic expectations. Managers expect many
tools to solve all their problems. Or they pay
lip service to the concept but do not push the
program all the way through, or they only apply
it to part of the company. Sometimes the problem
lies not in our ignorance but in deliberate
managerial intransigence. For instance, open book
management, which relies on transparency
throughout the organization and widespread
sharing of knowledge by leaders with
subordinates, is one of those concepts that looks
good in theory. In practice, however, very few
companies do this. Why? Because, say the authors,
most leaders cannot shake off their
command-and-control mentality. Despite
protestations of greater empowerment and
democracy, “do what you are told and don’t ask
questions” remains the dominant ethos in many workplaces. ”
Is
Agriculture Sucking Fresh Water Dry?
from ScienceNOW Daily News
The average American uses enough water each year to fill an
Olympic-sized swimming pool, and global agriculture consumes a
whopping 92% of all fresh water used annually.
Those are the conclusions of the most comprehensive analysis to date
of global water use, which also finds that one-fifth of humankind’s
water consumption flows across international borders as “virtual
water”—the water needed to produce a commodity, such as meat or
electronics, if the ultimate consumers were to make it themselves
rather than outsource its growth or manufacture.
The new study “is the most comprehensive and finest-resolution
analysis to date,” says Sandra Postel, director of the Global Water
Policy Project, which is based in Los Lunas, New Mexico.
*******************************************************************
“Science in the News” is produced daily by Sigma Xi as a service for
its members and the public. It highlights science and technology news
stories appearing in the mainstream media. The accompanying Web links
provide access to the full text of the articles on the Web sites of
the individual media outlets from which they are taken. For more
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Kusko_UG: Wow, the newly-renamed Donlin Gold is going ALL OUT with
the PR cash lately. Throwing sponsor money EVERYWHERE. Can $$$ >
logic and science?
State human rights commission workers need Internet and email access, audit finds -
A legislative audit concluded that the Alaska State Commission on
Human Rights is not investigating complaints in a timely manner and
that there are other shortcomings in the operation, one of whi…
“Alaskan salmon ranches and interception fisheries are damaging B.C.’s wild salmon populations, according to three Canadian conservation groups. Raincoast Conservation Foundation, SkeenaWild Conservation Trust and Watershed Watch Salmon Society said Wednesday they plan to challenge the eco-certification awarded to the Alaskan salmon fishery by the Marine Stewardship Council.” — B.C.’s wild salmon threatened by Alaskan practices - conservation groups
“There is a final context for this act in which we are all responsible, all guilty. A 19-year-old Marine has a very hard time reconciling the fact that it’s okay to waterboard a live Taliban fighter but not okay to urinate on a dead one. When the war on terror started, the Marines in that video were probably 9 or 10 years old. As children they heard adults — and political leaders — talk about our enemies in the most inhuman terms. The Internet and the news media are filled with self-important men and women referring to our enemies as animals that deserve little legal or moral consideration. We have sent enemy fighters to countries like Syria and Libya to be tortured by the very regimes that we have recently condemned for engaging in war crimes and torture. They have been tortured into confessing their crimes and then locked up indefinitely without trial because their confessions — achieved through torture — will not stand up in court. For the past 10 years, American children have absorbed these moral contradictions, and now they are fighting our wars. The video doesn’t surprise me, but it makes me incredibly sad — not just for them, but also for us. We may prosecute these men for desecrating the dead while maintaining that it is okay to torture the living.” — We’re all guilty of dehumanizing the enemy - The Washington Post
“The paradise the 49 permanent residents have inherited is a flawed one. Governor George Grey’s attempt to turn Kawau into a miniature Garden of Eden in the 19th century has created an out-of-balance ecosystem. Wallabies have chewed away most of the undergrowth, and imported pine trees dominate Kawau’s forest. A small population of kiwi survive, and weka are plentiful, but the many dogs, cats, rats and wallabies on the island mean it is not the Eden that Grey envisaged.” —
Flaws in Grey’s Garden of Eden - National - NZ Herald News
The problem with transforming habitats.
Rapid
Rise in Arctic Methane Shocks Scientists
from the New Zealand Herald
Dramatic and unprecedented plumes of methane—a greenhouse gas 20
times more potent than carbon dioxide—have been seen bubbling to the
surface of the Arctic Ocean by scientists undertaking an extensive
survey of the region.
The scale and volume of the methane release has astonished the head
of the Russian research team who has been surveying the seabed of the
East Siberian Arctic Shelf off northern Russia for nearly 20 years.
In an exclusive interview with the Independent, Dr. Igor Semiletov,
of the Far Eastern branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said
that he had never before witnessed the scale and force of the methane
being released from beneath the Arctic seabed.
*******************************************************************
“Science in the News” is produced daily by Sigma Xi as a service for
its members and the public. It highlights science and technology news
stories appearing in the mainstream media. The accompanying Web links
provide access to the full text of the articles on the Web sites of
the individual media outlets from which they are taken. For more
about the service, visit
American
Scientist Online
If you experience any problems with the URLs (page not found, page
expired, etc.), we suggest you proceed to the
Science
in the News section of American Scientist Online, which mirrors the
daily e-mail update.»>