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Monday, July 8, 2013
NTSB: 10 killed in Alaska plane crash
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) ? Authorities say an air taxi has crashed at the Soldotna Airport in Alaska, killing all 10 people on board.
National Transportation Safety Board investigator Clint Johnson says the pilot and nine passengers were killed in the crash at the airport late Sunday morning.
Meagan Peters of Alaska State Troopers says the fixed-wing aircraft was fully engulfed in flames before firefighters could get to the plane. The victims have not yet been identified.
The accident happened around 11:20 a.m. Johnson said initial reports had the accident happening as the plane took off.
The NTSB identified the aircraft in a release Sunday as a de Havilland Otter Air Taxi. The NTSB is sending a team to investigate the crash.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ntsb-10-killed-alaska-plane-crash-025834130.html
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Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Meet A Volunteer: Amalie ? National Domestic Violence Hotline
Here at The Hotline, much of the work we do is made possible by the dedication and effort of our volunteers. We met up with Hotline volunteer Amalie, one of our many advocates on the receiving end of the calls, to talk with her about her experience working here.
How did you become interested in advocating for victims and survivors of domestic violence?
I?ve volunteered for the past 5-6 years. I worked for a citizen review board that monitored children that had been in foster care or in homes with domestic violence ? so I had seen a lot of domestic violence before in families. I knew that this was an area I wanted to pursue further.
How did you feel when you answered your first call?
I was really nervous ? nervous that I wasn?t going to be able to provide the right tone, and that I was going to seem like I was nervous talking to them. I was worried that I wasn?t going to have the knowledge to give them all of the resources that they needed.
My first call turned out fine. Once you just start talking to a caller, you realize that you can find common ground, and that you?re not in completely different places. It wasn?t as overwhelming as I thought it would be.
What aspects of your job satisfy you the most?
So many! After every phone call, I know that even if the caller doesn?t use the resources I?ve given them, at least they?ve made the phone call, which is a positive first step. Hopefully after the call they know that there?s hope for change.
I like taking the time to speak with the callers ? for callers to receive any kind of validation can be huge. I am not there to fix the callers problems or tell them what?s the right path. I can only try my hardest to provide the callers with safe resources and avenues to do this, so they can gain back the quality of life and respect they deserve. If I can help the caller with this in any small way, I have been rewarded in an invaluable way.
You receive calls from family and friends who might be concerned about a loved one. What would you say to someone who?s frustrated and wondering, ?Why won?t they just leave??
It?s just not that easy. The person in the relationship can be scared. They can feel very confused. They can feel at fault. There was a reason initially that they got into that relationship or fell in love with that person.
I try to explain that they should consider giving their loved one support and space to process their feelings. The victim is already being controlled and overwhelmed by their abuser. Telling them what they should do or trying to do it for them only pushes the victim deeper into their isolation. By giving them non-judgmental support and an environment that feels safe they can be empowered to make the necessary changes through their own actions and self-discovery.
Do you receive any calls from abusers?
Yes. Regardless if the caller is an abuser, I still keep an unbiased tone. The fact that they?re calling is a positive step. Most callers that identify as abusers are seeking help. Whether that?s court appointed or they?ve seen behaviors in themselves that they want to change, I try to be supportive of that and try to find them resources in their area.
What are some common myths about domestic violence that you see regularly?
One myth is that it?s easy to leave and the women who stay are just weak. It?s so much more complicated then that. It?s a web. A victim needs to be slowly able to crawl out of it, and catch their footing. There are just so many different dynamics.
The one that really gets to me is this: the victim must have done something to initially start the abuse. WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?! No one should EVER justify any form of abuse in relationships. It is never okay and never the victims fault. The abuser is making a distinct choice to react to their emotions in a certain way. They could have just as easily taken a long run or left the relationship.
What message do you have for someone who is recently out of an abusive relationship?
I get phone calls from people who have been out of their abusive relationship for 15 years and they?re just calling now to seek counseling. The fact that they?re reaching out now for support is huge.
There?s a lot of trauma after leaving an abusive relationship. Whether you?re a family or friend of someone who has gone through an abusive relationship, or the survivor yourself, there are support groups out there. You do not have to endure the journey alone. It?ll take time ? it?s a process.
The healing process is unpredicatable, so don?t be disheartened if some days are harder than others. Be okay with the fact that it?s not going to be easy. And allow yourself that space to acknowledge and be be aware of what you need. And it?ll be hard. If you feel sad, and feel defeated on some levels ? be okay with that, and you can move on from there. By leaving your abuser you have won the biggest battle. ? One foot in front of the other.
Final thoughts about your experience at The Hotline?
Volunteering here has been a really beautiful thing for me. Every time I come in here, I?m learning something myself based on how I react to different calls and the feelings I?m left with after the phone calls. These callers re-ground me constantly and I am constantly blown away the incredible strength within these women and men. I am grateful for what they?ve taught me.
This entry was posted on Monday, April 1st, 2013 am30 9:00 am
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Source: http://www.thehotline.org/2013/04/meet-a-volunteer-amalie/
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Monday, April 1, 2013
Windows 8 still used less than Vista despite slowly gaining traction in 2013
As per usual, Google put out various, elaborate April Fools Day jokes, which only reminded everyone how much time and money the tech company has to spend on projects that aren't core products like, ahem, Google Reader.?For those too busy to follow along, The Next Web has a running list of the myriad pranks. And while some of the antics, like the pirate treasure map,?are harmless and cute, others hit too close to home.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/windows-8-still-used-less-vista-despite-slowly-213444500.html
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PFT: Pack, Rodgers not that far apart
Getty ImagesAs more and more teams picking in the top 10 pick up veteran quarterbacks, it?s impossible to know which teams are consciously getting out of the quarterback market at the top of the draft, and which teams are trying to mask their interest in a player like Geno Smith.
The Bills are believed to still be in the first-round quarterback fray, and it?s possible the Cardinals, Eagles, Raiders and even the Browns have been trying to throw other teams off the scent by lining up their fallback options pre-emptively.
For the Raiders, drafting Smith likely will mean keeping Flynn, since $2 million of his $5.25 million salary for 2013 is fully guaranteed.? It?s possible, then, that the Raiders also would keep Terrelle Pryor, given that he?ll earn only $595,000 in base salary for the coming season.
Still, even with the third overall pick going to a quarterback, the entire depth chart would take up considerably less cap room than Carson Palmer?s $13 million base salary would have consumed.? It?s possible, then, that the Raiders will enter the season with Flynn, Pryor, and a first-round rookie.
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Streams stressed by pharmaceutical pollution
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 1-Apr-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Lori Quillen
quillenl@caryinstitute.org
845-677-7600 x121
Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies
Antihistamines alter sensitive and essential habitat
Millbrook, NY Pharmaceuticals commonly found in the environment are disrupting streams, with unknown impacts on aquatic life and water quality. So reports a new Ecological Applications paper, which highlights the ecological cost of pharmaceutical waste and the need for more research into environmental impacts.
Lead author Dr. Emma Rosi-Marshall, a scientist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, comments: "Pharmaceutical pollution is now detected in waters throughout the world. Causes include aging infrastructure, sewage overflows, and agricultural runoff. Even when waste water makes it to sewage treatment facilities, they aren't equipped to remove pharmaceuticals. As a result, our streams and rivers are exposed to a cocktail of synthetic compounds, from stimulants and antibiotics to analgesics and antihistamines."
With colleagues from Indiana University and Loyola University Chicago, Rosi-Marshall looked at how six common pharmaceuticals influenced similar-sized streams in New York, Maryland, and Indiana. Caffeine, the antibiotic ciprofloxacin, the antidiabetic metformin, two antihistimines used to treat heartburn (cimetidine and ranitidine), and one antihistamine used to treat allergies (diphenhydramine) were investigated, both alone and in combinations, using pharmaceutical-diffusing substrates.
Rosi-Marshall explains, "We focused on the response of biofilms which most people know as the slippery coating on stream rocks because they're vital to stream health. They might not look like much to the naked eye, but biofilms are complex communities composed of algae, fungi, and bacteria all living and working together. In streams, biofilms contribute to water quality by recycling nutrients and organic matter. They're also a major food source for invertebrates that, in turn, feed larger animals like fish."
Healthy streams are slippery streams. And it turns out that antihistamines dry more than our noses. The most striking result of the study was diphenhydramine's effects on algal production and microbial respiration. Exposure caused biofilms to experience up to a 99% decrease in photosynthesis, as well as significant drops in respiration. Diphenhydramine also caused a change in the bacterial species present in the biofilms, including an increase in a bacterial group known to degrade toxic compounds and a reduction in a group that digests compounds produced by plants and algae.
Results suggest that this antihistamine is disrupting the ecology of these sensitive biofilm communities. Rosi-Marshall notes, "We know that diphenhydramine is commonly found in the environment. And its effect on biofilms could have repercussions for animals in stream food webs, like insects and fish. We need additional studies looking at the concentrations that cause ecosystem disruption, and how they react with other stressors, such as excess nutrients."
The other pharmaceuticals investigated also had a measurable effect on biofilm respiration, both alone and in combinations. More work is needed to understand how drug mixtures, which most natural streams experience, impact freshwater systems.
Society's dependence on pharmaceuticals is not likely to wane. Nor is its need for clean, fresh water. This study adds another piece of evidence to the case calling for innovations in the way we manage waste water. Currently, only a fraction of the world's waste water is treated, and the infrastructure in many developed nations is aging.
###
Contributors: EMMA J. ROSI-MARSHALL (Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies), DUSTIN KINCAID (Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies), HEATHER BECHTOLD (Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies), TODD V. ROYER (School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University), MIGUEL ROJAS (Department of Biology, Loyola University Chicago), and JOHN J. KELLY (Department of Biology, Loyola University Chicago).
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 1-Apr-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Lori Quillen
quillenl@caryinstitute.org
845-677-7600 x121
Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies
Antihistamines alter sensitive and essential habitat
Millbrook, NY Pharmaceuticals commonly found in the environment are disrupting streams, with unknown impacts on aquatic life and water quality. So reports a new Ecological Applications paper, which highlights the ecological cost of pharmaceutical waste and the need for more research into environmental impacts.
Lead author Dr. Emma Rosi-Marshall, a scientist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, comments: "Pharmaceutical pollution is now detected in waters throughout the world. Causes include aging infrastructure, sewage overflows, and agricultural runoff. Even when waste water makes it to sewage treatment facilities, they aren't equipped to remove pharmaceuticals. As a result, our streams and rivers are exposed to a cocktail of synthetic compounds, from stimulants and antibiotics to analgesics and antihistamines."
With colleagues from Indiana University and Loyola University Chicago, Rosi-Marshall looked at how six common pharmaceuticals influenced similar-sized streams in New York, Maryland, and Indiana. Caffeine, the antibiotic ciprofloxacin, the antidiabetic metformin, two antihistimines used to treat heartburn (cimetidine and ranitidine), and one antihistamine used to treat allergies (diphenhydramine) were investigated, both alone and in combinations, using pharmaceutical-diffusing substrates.
Rosi-Marshall explains, "We focused on the response of biofilms which most people know as the slippery coating on stream rocks because they're vital to stream health. They might not look like much to the naked eye, but biofilms are complex communities composed of algae, fungi, and bacteria all living and working together. In streams, biofilms contribute to water quality by recycling nutrients and organic matter. They're also a major food source for invertebrates that, in turn, feed larger animals like fish."
Healthy streams are slippery streams. And it turns out that antihistamines dry more than our noses. The most striking result of the study was diphenhydramine's effects on algal production and microbial respiration. Exposure caused biofilms to experience up to a 99% decrease in photosynthesis, as well as significant drops in respiration. Diphenhydramine also caused a change in the bacterial species present in the biofilms, including an increase in a bacterial group known to degrade toxic compounds and a reduction in a group that digests compounds produced by plants and algae.
Results suggest that this antihistamine is disrupting the ecology of these sensitive biofilm communities. Rosi-Marshall notes, "We know that diphenhydramine is commonly found in the environment. And its effect on biofilms could have repercussions for animals in stream food webs, like insects and fish. We need additional studies looking at the concentrations that cause ecosystem disruption, and how they react with other stressors, such as excess nutrients."
The other pharmaceuticals investigated also had a measurable effect on biofilm respiration, both alone and in combinations. More work is needed to understand how drug mixtures, which most natural streams experience, impact freshwater systems.
Society's dependence on pharmaceuticals is not likely to wane. Nor is its need for clean, fresh water. This study adds another piece of evidence to the case calling for innovations in the way we manage waste water. Currently, only a fraction of the world's waste water is treated, and the infrastructure in many developed nations is aging.
###
Contributors: EMMA J. ROSI-MARSHALL (Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies), DUSTIN KINCAID (Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies), HEATHER BECHTOLD (Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies), TODD V. ROYER (School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University), MIGUEL ROJAS (Department of Biology, Loyola University Chicago), and JOHN J. KELLY (Department of Biology, Loyola University Chicago).
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/cioe-ssb032913.php
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Saturday, March 23, 2013
US Senate Votes in Support of Online Sales Tax - The Next Web
The US Senate has voted in favor of a proposal that could give states power to collect taxes on Internet purchases made from out-of-state retailers, the Associated Press reports.
The provision hasn?t become law just quite yet, but the vote reveals the strong level of support it has on the Hill. 75 senators were in favor of the proposal, while 24 said no. The bill had originally been held off in 2012, but its proponents reintroduced it for the 2013 legislative cycle.
We discussed the potential ramifications earlier this week, noting that the provision has attracted vocal opposition from a coalition of small business owners that believe they would be harmed if it came into effect.
Opponents have argued that an out-of-state sales tax would be against the Constitution, which hands the responsibility of interstate commerce to the Federal government. They have also claimed that enforcing such a tax would cause undue burden on business owners, which would have to keep extensive records on purchases in order to get their tax bills right.
Not all businesses are opposed to the provision, however. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), which you might recognize as the organizers of the annual CES event, issued a statement on Friday commending Congress for their decision:
?The amendment introduced by Sens. Enzi and Durbin clarifies the sales tax responsibility since brick-and-mortar retailers must collect owed sales tax, while Internet retailers do so only in limited circumstances. This was a no-brainer fix to give states the ability to collect this much needed, and legally due, source of revenue. The amendment puts the responsibility of collecting those taxes on Internet retailers, just as it now sits on their brick-and-mortar brethren,? said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the CEA.
Brian Bieron, Senior Director of Global Public Policy at eBay,?has also released a statement regarding the proposal:
?The intense lobbying and contentious debate on a simple non-binding budget amendment reveals that the undercurrent in the Senate is that the actual Internet Sales Tax bill is not ready for prime time.? The current bill would force small business owners who sell online to become tax collectors for every state across America, threatening them with audits and litigation by tax collectors from states that are thousands of miles away from where they live, work and create jobs.?
We?ll keep you updated as this proposal makes its way through Congress.
Image credit: iStockphoto
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Ohio marks 1913 flood centennial | The Bellevue Gazette
By KANTELE FRANKO
Asso?ci?ated?Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) ? State offi?cials are using the 100th anniver?sary of a dev?as?tat?ing and deadly flood to encour?age Ohioans to pre?pare for poten?tial high water emer?gen?cies by review?ing their response plans and insur?ance coverage.
On the heels of the state and national Flood Safety Aware?ness Week, Sat?ur?day marks the cen?ten?nial of the 1913 storms that rolled through the Mid?west and hung over the Ohio Val?ley for sev?eral days, cre?at?ing the state?s worst weather disaster.
Sev?eral days of rain flooded all of Ohio?s rivers and streams and more than 35,000 homes and left at least 400 peo?ple dead in the state, or per?haps 600 by some esti?mates. It washed away or dam?aged docks, bridges, rail?roads and trains, wreak?ing havoc from Cincin?nati to Portsmouth to Cleve?land and hin?der?ing efforts to get aid to dam?aged areas. Lev?ees broke, drench?ing var?i?ous cities and leav?ing parts of Day?ton and Colum?bus with 10?feet of water or?more.
?There?s noth?ing to pre?vent a storm like this from occur?ring again,? said Sarah Jami?son, a hydrol?o?gist with National Weather Ser?vice. ?Mother Nature has her own way of deal?ing with things, so it?s our role to try to be pre?pared and react appro?pri?ately to?that.?
The sys?tem, which led to sig?nif?i?cant flood?ing in more than a dozen states, from Illi?nois through Con?necti?cut, stands out not just because of how much rain fell but also because it encom?passed such a large geo?graphic area, said Jami?son, who stud?ied the flood and found many Ohioans know lit?tle about?it.
?It?s really fas?ci?nat?ing to think, ?How did the col?lec?tive mind?set really not remem?ber this event?? It?s an answer I don?t have,? said Jami?son, part of the Ohio Sil?ver Jack?ets, a group of local, state and fed?eral rep?re?sen?ta?tives focused on flood control.
In hard-hit south?west Ohio, the dis?as?ter spurred a regional pur?suit of solu?tions to area flood prob?lems and even?tu?ally led to the Miami Con?ser?vancy Dis?trict, which focuses on flood pro?tec?tion, water qual?ity and pro?mot?ing recre?ation along water?ways in the Great Miami River Water?shed. The area?s flood pro?tec?tion sys?tem was designed to pro?tect against flood?ing even more severe than what hap?pened in?1913.
Angela Manuszak, the district?s spe?cial projects coor?di?na?tor, calls it a tale of resilience and sac?ri?fice for the ben?e?fit of the larger com?mu?nity and says many fam?i?lies in the area have passed down sto?ries about the flood. She has one, too ? a tid?bit about how her grand?fa?ther helped with the cleanup as part of the Ohio National Guard out of Toledo and later kept in his home a ?very uncom?fort?able Vic?to?rian chair? sup?pos?edly taken from the floodwaters.
The dis?trict, his?tor?i?cal orga?ni?za?tions, libraries and other groups are com?mem?o?rat?ing the cen?ten?nial with a vari?ety of events, some hope?ful, oth?ers more somber. In Day?ton, an exhibit about the flood is being unveiled Sat?ur?day at Car?il?lon His?tor?i?cal?Park.
Mem?bers of the Sil?ver Jack?ets acknowl?edge the con?di?tions that led to the 1913 flood are rare but say it?s impor?tant to remem?ber the pos?si?bil?ity of sim?i?lar rain?fall still exists, albeit in an envi?ron?ment with greatly improved mea?sures to pre?vent flood?ing, pro?tect prop?erty and warn residents.
Some of those improve?ments began with the pub?lic out?cry over the 1913 flood, which started a larger-scale con?ver?sa?tion about flood mit?i?ga?tion, Jami?son?said.
That con?ver?sa?tion con?tin?ues as state offi?cials use the anniver?sary to bring up that?topic.
?Whether 100?years ago or today, flood?ing can be dev?as?tat?ing on a per?sonal and mate?r?ial level,? Depart?ment of Insur?ance Direc?tor and Lt. Gov. Mary Tay?lor said in a state?ment urg?ing Ohioans to re-evaluate whether they might need flood insur?ance, which is not part of tra?di?tional homeowner?s or renter?s insurance.
The annual cost of res?i?den?tial flood insur?ance poli?cies, which are pur?chased through pri?vate insur?ers but admin?is?tered by the government?s National Flood Insur?ance Pro?gram, can range from less than $200 to $500 or more depend?ing on the extent of the cov?er?age, up to $250,000. Such insur?ance is avail?able in com?mu?ni?ties that par?tic?i?pate in the pro?gram and meet cer?tain guide?lines, such as agree?ing to adopt mea?sures that reduce flood?ing?risks.
About 42,000 Ohio house?holds have insur?ance through the fed?eral pro?gram, accord?ing to gov?ern?ment data, and about 1,500 claims total?ing $29.6 mil?lion were closed in Ohio in the fis?cal year that ended Sept. 30. The mapped flood plain areas in Ohio include about 280,000 struc?tures, and about 10 per?cent of those are cov?ered by flood insur?ance, accord?ing to the government.
Source: http://thebellevuegazette.com/local-news/ohio-marks-1913-flood-centennial/
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Friday, March 22, 2013
Why Pope Francis is something of a surprise
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina - now Pope Francis - was not widely considered the top candidate heading into this week's conclave.
Pope Francis speaks from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, March 13. Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio who chose the name of Francis, is the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.
Luca Bruno/AP
EnlargeHabemas Papam, ?We have a pope.? And the name of the man to emerge on the balcony in Vatican City is Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina.
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The church leader that believing Roman Catholics call the ?successor? of the apostle Peter and ?the vicar of Christ? will go by the name of Pope Francis and is the first non-European pope in modern times, and the first from a developing country.
The much-awaited choice is something of a surprise, as the new pope was not foreshadowed prominently on the short lists of various experts, though the 76-year old was said to be the runner-up to retiring Pope Benedict in the 2005 conclave.
Cardinal Bergoglio, a Jesuit intellectual who reportedly eschews the ornate trappings of church power ? he travels by bus ? was elected in a swift five votes of a conclave of 115 cardinals, and immediately appeared to say the Lord?s Prayer to crowds on the Vatican plaza.
Like his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI who resigned last month, the first head of the Catholic church to do so in 600 years, Pope Francis is said to be theologically orthodox and socially conservative. He has opposed Argentina?s gay marriage laws, has been fiercely pro-family, and is also known as an advocate for the poor. In church terms, he is?seen as a master conciliator who will be adroit at healing many of the rifts and scandals over finances and pedophile priests that have dogged the Vatican in recent years.
The conclave appeared to steer away from popular choices like the cardinals of New York and Boston, Timothy Dolan and Sean O?Malley, as well as the local Italian favorite Angelo Scola.
He was elected by a conclave that overwhelmingly shares the conservative views of Benedict who has held sway as an enforcer of orthodoxy in the Vatican since 1982.
As John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter writes, ?Either John Paul II or Benedict XVI appointed each of the 117 cardinals who will cast a ballot, including 11 Americans, so there will be little ideological clash. No matter what happens, the church almost certainly won't reverse its bans on abortion, gay marriage or women priests.?
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Thursday, March 21, 2013
Oil firms, environmentalists OK new fracking rules
PITTSBURGH -- In an unlikely partnership between longtime adversaries, some of the nation's biggest energy companies and environmental groups have agreed on a voluntary set of standards for gas and oil fracking in the Northeast that appear to go further than existing state and federal pollution regulations.
The program announced Wednesday will work a lot like Underwriters Laboratories, which puts its UL seal of approval on electrical appliances that meet its standards. In this case, drilling and pipeline companies will be encouraged to submit to an independent review of their operations, and if they are found to be taking certain steps to protect the air and water, they will receive the blessing of the brand-new Pittsburgh-based Center for Sustainable Shale Development.
If the project succeeds, it could have far-reaching implications for both the industry and environmental groups. A nationwide boom in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has unleashed huge new energy reserves but also led to fears of pollution and climate change.
Shell Oil Vice President Paul Goodfellow said this is the first time the company and environmental groups have reached agreement to create an entire system for reducing the effects of shale drilling.
"This is something new," said Bruce Niemeyer, president of Chevron Appalachia. "This is a bit of a unique coming-together of a variety of different interests."
In addition to Shell and Chevron, the participants include the Environmental Defense Fund, the Clean Air Task Force, the Heinz Endowments, EQT Corp., Consol Energy and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, and the organizers hope to recruit others.
It may be part of a trend. Earlier this month a coalition of industry and environmental groups in Illinois announced that they worked together on drilling legislation now pending there. But the Pittsburgh project, which has been in the works for nearly two years, would be voluntary.
Power shift: Energy boom dawning in America
"We believe it does send a signal to the federal government and other states," said Armand Cohen, the director of the Boston-based Clean Air Task Force. "There's no reason why anyone should be operating at standards less than these."
The new standards include limits on emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and the flaring, or burning off, of unwanted gas; reductions in engine emissions; groundwater monitoring and protection; improved well designs; stricter wastewater disposal; the use of less toxic fracking fluids; and seismic monitoring before drilling begins.
The project will cover Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio ? where a frenzy of drilling is under way in the huge, gas-rich Marcellus and Utica Shale formations ? as well as New York and other states in the East that have put a hold on new drilling.
Interactive map:Where US energy is produced
Shell said it hopes to be one of the first companies to volunteer to have its operations in Appalachia go through the independent review. Chevron said it expects to apply for certification, too, when the process is ready to start later this year.
Mark Brownstein, an associate vice president with the Environmental Defense Fund, said many oil and gas companies claim to be leaders in protecting the environment, and "this can be one opportunity for them to demonstrate that leadership" by submitting to an audit.
"Anyone who claims to be placing a priority on good management practice" should be rushing to sign up, he said.
The project will be overseen by a 12-member board consisting of four seats for environmentalists, four for industry and four for independent figures: former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill; Christine Todd Whitman, the former New Jersey governor and Environmental Protection Agency chief; Carnegie Mellon University President Jared Cohon; and Jane Long, former associate director at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
The center's proposed 2013 budget is $800,000, with the two sides expected to contribute equal amounts, said Andrew Place, the project's interim leader and director of energy and environmental policy at EQT, an Appalachian energy company.
Slideshow: Drilling down and out in Texas
Mark Frankel, an expert on ethics and law at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, said the idea sounds promising, but it remains to be seen if the new standards are a significant improvement over existing laws. He said there are also ethical and policy questions.
"What does it mean to have an independent board? Who's on it? How do they get on it?" he asked.
George Jugovic, president of the environmental group PennFuture, one of the participants, said the industry's involvement makes this different from past debates over fracking.
"Buy-in from them is huge. That provides leadership from within," Jugovic said. "It's very different from someone from the outside saying, 'You can do better.'"
? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Canon's tiny next-gen EOS Rebel spied, reportedly with modest specs to match
It's virtually an annual tradition for Canon to unveil new EOS Rebel DSLRs well before the summer hits, and we're very nearly due for the next installment. It shouldn't be a shock, then, that Digicam info claims to have both images and details of the EOS Kiss X7, which may be the smaller and lighter EOS-b. As you'd imagine, most of the differences versus the Rebel T4i appear to be more ergonomic than technical. While there's mention of a second-generation hybrid autofocusing system, the most conspicuous changes appear to center on a space-saving design that moves the AF assist light to the opposite side. The 18-megapixel sensor, DIGIC 5 processor, ISO 25,600 sensitivity ceiling, 9-point autofocusing coverage and 3-inch LCD all appear to be retreads -- the new model would be more to attract first-time owners than catch habitual upgraders. If the details are accurate, Canon would sell the Kiss X7 late in April for ¥79,000 ($828). There's no word on plans for the camera's US counterpart, but we wouldn't be surprised to see an American edition arrive around the same time.
Via: Canon Rumors
Source: Digicam info (translated)
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/19/canon-2013-era-eos-rebel-reportedly-spied/
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Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Awww?News Anchor Reads Her Own Proposal On Teleprompter (VIDEO)
Awww…News Anchor Reads Her Own Proposal On Teleprompter (VIDEO)
Jillian Pavlica, an anchor at FOX54 in Huntsville, Alabama, was surprised at work on Saturday night, when her boyfriend Vince proposed to her. Vince had hijacked the studio’s teleprompter with “breaking news” that the unsuspecting Pavlica read herself. Pavlica began reading the script on the teleprompter, stating, “We have some breaking news to report to ...
Awww…News Anchor Reads Her Own Proposal On Teleprompter (VIDEO) Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News
Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/03/awww-news-anchor-reads-her-own-proposal-on-teleprompter-video/
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Thinking of buying - Zillow Real Estate Advice
I would agree with Tim. ?In most cases I've worked with buyers to help them improve their credit and, eventually, get into the home of their dreams. ?Visit with a Loan officer. ?They can pull your credit and help you understand how to make the move and what kind of cash you will need. In many cases it it will be significantly less than you think.?
Source: http://www.zillow.com/advice-thread/Thinking-of-buying/483400/
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Monday, March 18, 2013
Belmont Club ? The Destruction of Writing
Here?s a message from the Consilium of Europa?? ?that?s what it?s actually called ? on the Cyprus crisis. ?Imagine for a moment that we are communications intelligence specialists tasked with forming some estimate of the people who composed it. We might begin by noting the message in its linguistic conventions is characteristic of what might be called EU-Speak.
EU-Speak?contains words rarely if ever encountered in ordinary English speech; words like ?progressivity?. ? It ?is larded with stock phrases that say in ten words what people normally convey in one. Why is it written this way?
Statement by the Eurogroup President on Cyprus
The Eurogroup held a teleconference this evening to?take stock of the situation in Cyprus.
I recall that the political agreement reached on 16?March on the cornerstones of the adjustment programme and the financing envelope for Cyprus reflects the consensus reached by the Cypriot government with the Eurogroup. The implementation of the reform measures included in the draft programme is the best guarantee for a more prosperous future for Cyprus and its citizens, through a viable financial sector, sound public finances and sustainable economic growth.
I reiterate that the stability levy on deposits is a one-off measure. This measure will -together with the international financial support -be used to restore the viability of the Cypriot banking system and hence, safeguard financial stability in Cyprus. In the absence of this measure, Cyprus would have faced scenarios that would have left deposit holders significantly worse off.
The Eurogroup continues to be of the view that small l depositors should be treated differently from large depositors and reaffirms the importance of fully guaranteeing deposits below EUR 100.000. The Cypriot authorities will introduce more progressivity in the one-off levy compared to what was agreed on 16 March, provided that it continues yielding the targeted reduction of the financing envelope and, hence, not impact the overall amount of financial assistance up to EUR 10bn.
The Eurogroup takes note of the authorities? decision to declare a temporary bank holiday in Cyprus on 19-20 March 2013 to safeguard the stability of the financial sector, and urges a swift decision by the Cypriot authorities and parliament to rapidly implement the agreed measures.
The euro area Member States stand ready to assist Cyprus in its reform efforts on the basis of the agreed adjustment programme.
EU-speak is a subdialect of a language one might call International Bureaucratese. Every UN document is written in IB. For example, there is the 2012 Global Partnership in Develpment Report, Making Rhetoric a Reality, a title curious in itself. But its contents are?almost impossible to comprehend. A random paragraph from the report illustrates this:
The waning of support for the global partnership for development may be understandable in the context of a protracted economic and financial crisis. But the global partnership for development should be seen as a positive-sum game?. There is positive feedback when the economies of development partner countries achieve robust growth and become dynamic markets for world trade and investment. Unsustainable pressures on the Earth?s natural limits are a further reason why the global partnership should be seen as an opportunity to yield positive-sum outcomes. Massive investments are needed for climate change mitigation and adaptation and other dimensions of environmental protection with global ramifications. Such investment will come about only through col lective action?nationally, of course, but also, and foremost, internationally. The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) committed itself in this regard to strengthening international cooperation to address challenges related to sustainable development for all. The international community cannot afford not to honour those commitments. But how credible can that agenda be if we have not delivered on previous commitments to achieve the MDGs? It will be credible only if the promises made are indeed fulfilled and rhetoric becomes reality.
Say what?
Although slightly different from EU-speak, IB has the same signature: the same obscure word usage and the infestation of stock phrases almost devoid of actual meaning.
As comm analysts we could take the approach that it is comprehensible to those who know the language. But there is a more interesting possibility. ?It deliberately contains little, if any, meaning at all.
Readers may remember Alan Sokal, a physics professor at New York University. ?In 1996, Sokal submitted an article to Social Text, an academic journal of postmodern cultural studies? with the express intention of demonstrating that a submission in intentional gibberish would be greeted with rave reviews.
The article ?Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity?, published in the Social Text Spring/Summer 1996 ?Science Wars? issue, proposed that quantum gravity is a social and linguistic construct. At that time, the journal did not practice academic peer review and did not submit the article for outside expert review by a physicist. On its date of publication (May 1996), Sokal revealed in Lingua Franca that the article was a hoax, identifying it as ?a pastiche of Left-wing cant, fawning references, grandiose quotations, and outright nonsense . . . structured around the silliest quotations [by postmodernist academics] he could find about mathematics and physics?
He sent them random text and to his surprise it was well received. Sokal was roundly criticized for being ?dishonest?. But he had singularly demonstrated that nobody actually knew what the hoax article said. In fact it said nothing. ?But amazingly, every reader pretended to his own idea what it said so that if you had asked 100 people to summarize it, one might have received 100 completely different answers in earnest.
Sokal?s experiment illuminates both EU-speak and International Bureaucratese. Perhaps for all their length and verbosity, these languages are designed to communicate the minimum possible information. What it can say will often be contradictory, ambiguous or plain nonsense. Yet this the language in which the transnational elite prefers to communicate. Why?
Because linguistic poverty is a feature, not a bug.
One is tempted to dismiss EU-speak as ?a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.? But suppose its real purpose is to mean anything you want it to mean on any occasion. To act as a ?linguistic blank canvas whose complete absence of inherent meaning makes it possible to lie with impunity, since one can alter the meaning of declarations and twist it into any shape required.
Perhaps the two greatest commentators on the corruption of language were George Orwell and Jesus Christ. Orwell?s theory of Newspeak is well known. But Christ had something interesting to say too about lies. He said in the famous John 8 passage, that lies were the ?native language of the devil.?
Jesus said to them ? ?why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil ? for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!?
Orwell?s concept is remarkably similar. His fictional Newspeak ?is actually designed to make it ?impossible to understand exactly what the statement means, since all concepts and words that can be used to argue against Big Brother would be eradicated from the language.?
By impoverishing language, Orwell argued, it would be possible to ?prevent thinking?. Orwell?s conclusion is remarkably identical to Christ?s own zinger in John 8. If you could think aright, ?then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.?
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Source: http://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2013/03/18/the-destruction-of-writing/
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More parents say they won't vaccinate daughters against HPV, researchers find
Public release date: 18-Mar-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Robert Nellis
newsbureau@mayo.edu
507-284-5005
Mayo Clinic
Parents increasingly concerned about potential side effects, study shows
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- A rising percentage of parents say they won't have their teen daughters vaccinated to protect against the human papilloma virus, even though physicians are increasingly recommending adolescent vaccinations, a study by Mayo Clinic and others shows. More than 2 in 5 parents surveyed believe the HPV vaccine is unnecessary, and a growing number worry about potential side effects, researchers found. The findings are published in the new issue of the journal Pediatrics.
In all, researchers looked at three vaccines routinely recommended for U.S. teens: a vaccine to protect against the sexually transmitted HPV; Tdap, for tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis; and the meningococcal conjugate vaccine, or MCV4 vaccine. While the up-to-date immunization rates rose for all three vaccines, the proportion of girls fully immunized against HPV (three doses over six months) was substantially lower than the proportion for the other two vaccines.
Five years ago, 40 percent of parents surveyed said they wouldn't vaccinate their girls against HPV. In 2009, that rose to 41 percent, and in 2010, to 44 percent.
"That's the opposite direction that rate should be going," says senior researcher Robert Jacobson, M.D., a pediatrician with the Mayo Clinic Children's Center.
Parents concerned about HPV vaccine safety rose from 5 percent in 2008 to 16 percent in 2010, while less than 1 percent worried about the safety of the Tdap and MCV4 vaccines, the study found.
During the same years, more and more studies showed how safe and effective the HPV vaccine is in this age group, says Dr. Jacobson, who has taken part in the safety review committees for two such studies. The vaccine prevents cervical cancer and other genital cancers by preventing the HPV infections that lead to those cancers, he says.
Researchers analyzed vaccination data for teens ages 13 to 17 in the 2008-10 National Immunization Survey of Teens. They found that as of 2010, 8 of 10 teens had the Tdap vaccine and roughly 63 percent had the MCV4 vaccine. Only about one-third of girls were immunized against HPV.
The HPV vaccination rate did rise; it was only 16 percent in 2008. But at the same time, more parents reported that they did not intend to have their daughters vaccinated for HPV. Among the reasons they gave: the vaccine was not recommended; lack of knowledge; it is unnecessary; the vaccine is inappropriate for the child's age; worry about safety/side effects; and the child isn't sexually active.
According to parents surveyed, more clinicians are recommending the HPV vaccine, but still, they are advising it only about half the time. The facts show the vaccine is necessary, Dr. Jacobson says.
"HPV causes essentially 100 percent of cervical cancer and 50 percent of all Americans get infected at least once with HPV. It's a silent infection. You cannot tell when you've been exposed or when you have it," he says. "While most HPV infections clear, a percentage linger and start the process of cancerous changes. The HPV vaccine is an anti-cancer vaccine."
Dr. Jacobson says the vaccine is more effective in younger adolescents than older teens. Mayo Clinic routinely starts the series at age 9.
"The vaccine works better the younger the child is, and it doesn't work after the child is grown up and is exposed to the virus, so our message should be: 'Give this vaccine now to your child while your child is young and responsive to it,'" says Dr. Jacobson, medical director of the Employee and Community Health Immunization Program at Mayo Clinic.
###
Study co-authors include Paul Darden, M.D., David Thompson, Ph.D., Jessica Hale, and Monique Naifeh, M.D., M.P.H., University of Oklahoma; and James Roberts, M.D., M.P.H., and Charlene Pope, Medical University of South Carolina.
The study was supported by grant R40 MC 21522 through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Maternal and Child Health Research Program. Dr. Darden has consulted and advised Pfizer Inc. Dr Jacobson has served as principal investigator for two multicenter vaccine studies funded by Pfizer, one funded by Novartis, all at Mayo Clinic. He is on a safety review committee for one vaccine study and on a data and safety monitoring board for two other vaccine studies, all funded by Merck.
About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit http://www.mayoclinic.org.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 18-Mar-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Robert Nellis
newsbureau@mayo.edu
507-284-5005
Mayo Clinic
Parents increasingly concerned about potential side effects, study shows
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- A rising percentage of parents say they won't have their teen daughters vaccinated to protect against the human papilloma virus, even though physicians are increasingly recommending adolescent vaccinations, a study by Mayo Clinic and others shows. More than 2 in 5 parents surveyed believe the HPV vaccine is unnecessary, and a growing number worry about potential side effects, researchers found. The findings are published in the new issue of the journal Pediatrics.
In all, researchers looked at three vaccines routinely recommended for U.S. teens: a vaccine to protect against the sexually transmitted HPV; Tdap, for tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis; and the meningococcal conjugate vaccine, or MCV4 vaccine. While the up-to-date immunization rates rose for all three vaccines, the proportion of girls fully immunized against HPV (three doses over six months) was substantially lower than the proportion for the other two vaccines.
Five years ago, 40 percent of parents surveyed said they wouldn't vaccinate their girls against HPV. In 2009, that rose to 41 percent, and in 2010, to 44 percent.
"That's the opposite direction that rate should be going," says senior researcher Robert Jacobson, M.D., a pediatrician with the Mayo Clinic Children's Center.
Parents concerned about HPV vaccine safety rose from 5 percent in 2008 to 16 percent in 2010, while less than 1 percent worried about the safety of the Tdap and MCV4 vaccines, the study found.
During the same years, more and more studies showed how safe and effective the HPV vaccine is in this age group, says Dr. Jacobson, who has taken part in the safety review committees for two such studies. The vaccine prevents cervical cancer and other genital cancers by preventing the HPV infections that lead to those cancers, he says.
Researchers analyzed vaccination data for teens ages 13 to 17 in the 2008-10 National Immunization Survey of Teens. They found that as of 2010, 8 of 10 teens had the Tdap vaccine and roughly 63 percent had the MCV4 vaccine. Only about one-third of girls were immunized against HPV.
The HPV vaccination rate did rise; it was only 16 percent in 2008. But at the same time, more parents reported that they did not intend to have their daughters vaccinated for HPV. Among the reasons they gave: the vaccine was not recommended; lack of knowledge; it is unnecessary; the vaccine is inappropriate for the child's age; worry about safety/side effects; and the child isn't sexually active.
According to parents surveyed, more clinicians are recommending the HPV vaccine, but still, they are advising it only about half the time. The facts show the vaccine is necessary, Dr. Jacobson says.
"HPV causes essentially 100 percent of cervical cancer and 50 percent of all Americans get infected at least once with HPV. It's a silent infection. You cannot tell when you've been exposed or when you have it," he says. "While most HPV infections clear, a percentage linger and start the process of cancerous changes. The HPV vaccine is an anti-cancer vaccine."
Dr. Jacobson says the vaccine is more effective in younger adolescents than older teens. Mayo Clinic routinely starts the series at age 9.
"The vaccine works better the younger the child is, and it doesn't work after the child is grown up and is exposed to the virus, so our message should be: 'Give this vaccine now to your child while your child is young and responsive to it,'" says Dr. Jacobson, medical director of the Employee and Community Health Immunization Program at Mayo Clinic.
###
Study co-authors include Paul Darden, M.D., David Thompson, Ph.D., Jessica Hale, and Monique Naifeh, M.D., M.P.H., University of Oklahoma; and James Roberts, M.D., M.P.H., and Charlene Pope, Medical University of South Carolina.
The study was supported by grant R40 MC 21522 through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Maternal and Child Health Research Program. Dr. Darden has consulted and advised Pfizer Inc. Dr Jacobson has served as principal investigator for two multicenter vaccine studies funded by Pfizer, one funded by Novartis, all at Mayo Clinic. He is on a safety review committee for one vaccine study and on a data and safety monitoring board for two other vaccine studies, all funded by Merck.
About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit http://www.mayoclinic.org.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/mc-mps031513.php
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Sunday, March 17, 2013
Economics and Investing: - SurvivalBlog.com
This page contains a single entry by Jim Rawles published on March 17, 2013 12:14 AM.
Odds 'n Sods: was the previous entry in this blog.
Letter Re: Beginning Bee Keeping is the next entry in this blog.
Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.
Source: http://www.survivalblog.com/2013/03/economics-and-investing-1472.html
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Saturday, March 16, 2013
Gamers confront EA: 'SimCity' plays fine offline
The launch of the latest "SimCity" game from EA and Maxis was disastrous in several ways, but its always-online requirement was worst of all ? especially since EA's servers couldn't handle the load. Now a hacker has shown that the game works fine offline and the game's creators are scrambling to explain.
The reboot of "SimCity," which is the fifth in the popular city-management franchise, was controversial from the start. Its requirement of being always online seemed odd, since it is fundamentally a single-player game ? unlike, say, "World of Warcraft" or "Planetside 2," for which always-online makes sense.
But EA and Maxis explained that the servers were performing immense numbers of city-simulation calculations, such was the complexity of the game's new simulation engine. And features like neighboring cities' pollution and traffic problems spilling over into yours tied the online component to gameplay.
The crashes and inadequate server capacity that made for the rockiest launch since "Diablo III" have been addressed, but gamers began to be suspicious after a person claiming to work for Maxis told the gaming blog Rock, Paper, Shotgun that the always-online requirement was absolutely not critical to gameplay. Indeed, some gamers and critics had already noticed that the game would chug along just fine for a minute or two without an Internet connection.
One modder, going by the name UKAzzer, took it further: He managed to get the game into a mode meant for developers in which it wouldn't quit when no Internet connection was available. He played it offline for a good while with no problems at all, which flatly contradicts EA's characterization of the online component, and the company's assertion that it would take "a significant amount of engineering work" to make the game function offline.
The game still has to save and retrieve its data from EA's servers, but this could be done at the beginning and end of your play session rather than constantly. Even neighboring cities, ostensibly an online-only feature, worked well without a connection. UKAzzer posted his findings on the SimCity forums, but the post was deleted (for violating the terms of service, says EA); foreseeing this, he put a copy here.
So what are those servers for? Achievements, saves, friend lists, anti-cheating measures, and a few other things. But apparently nothing related to actually building and managing a city, which is what most gamers likely had in mind when purchasing "SimCity."
EA has addressed some of the gameplay issues raised by players (the latest update was described in a blog post Thursday), but has not responded specifically to the question of offline play except to dismiss it as a possibility.
UPDATE: Maxis General Manager Lucy Bradshaw addresses some of the online/offline questions in a blog post that went up shortly after this article went live.
Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.
Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/ingame/gamers-confront-ea-simcity-plays-fine-offline-1C8895843
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Do companies go too far to please their shareholders?
It's an idea that cuts against the grain: Companies would thrive more if they focused on their long-term good rather than delivering a great quarter to their shareholders, some analysts say.?
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange, March 15, 2013, as market indexes hover near record highs.
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
EnlargeWith stocks near record highs and Wall Street smiling again, here's a counterintuitive idea about the value of those shares: Investors suffer when a company focuses too much on pleasing them.
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By trying to boost their stock price in the short term, companies undercut their performance in the long term, says Lynn Stout, a Cornell Law School professor and author of "The Shareholder Value Myth: How Putting Shareholders First Harms Investors, Corporations, and the Public." They spin off divisions, buy back shares, and cut costs at the expense of research and development. It's like fishing with dynamite, she says: It gets quick results but spoils the pond.
Take Kraft. The longtime corporate icon unexpectedly split itself into two, creating Kraft Foods and Mondelez last year, in a move applauded by hedge funds and others who'd been clamoring for higher share values. But the two companies have stumbled along since with little change in their stock prices. They reported poor earnings in February.
In the face of a volatile?stock market and lackluster returns over the past 15 years, socially responsible investors say companies need to temper concern about shareholder value with attention to the environment as well as their workforce and community. In theory, this so-called triple-bottom-line approach should minimize the risks of unforeseen labor or environmental problems and boost profitability. The challenge is that in practice it's very hard for management to keep a long-term perspective ? and the results don't always show up in share prices.
Researcher describes new 5-million-year-old saber-toothed cat from Florida
Friday, March 15, 2013
A University of Florida researcher has described a new genus and species of extinct saber-toothed cat from Polk County, Fla., based on additional fossil acquisitions of the animal over the last 25 years.
The 5-million-year-old fossils belong to the same lineage as the famous Smilodon fatalis from the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, a large, carnivorous apex predator with elongated upper canine teeth. Previous research suggested the group of saber-toothed cats known as Smilodontini originated in the Old World and then migrated to North America, but the age of the new species indicates the group likely originated in North America. The study appeared online in the journal PLOS One Wednesday.
"Smilodon first shows up on the fossil record around 2.5 million years ago, but there haven't been a lot of good intermediate forms for understanding where it came from," said study co-author Richard Hulbert Jr., vertebrate paleontology collections manager at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus. "The new species shows that the most famous saber-toothed cat, Smilodon, had a New World origin and it and its ancestors lived in the southeastern U.S. for at least 5 million years before their extinction about 11,000 years ago. Compared to what we knew about these earlier saber-toothed cats 20 or 30 years ago, we now have a much better understanding of this group."
Hulbert helped uncover fossils of the new genus and species, Rhizosmilodon fiteae, from a phosphate mine during excavations in 1990. The species was named after Barbara Fite of Lutz, Fla., who in 2011 donated one of the critical specimens used for the new description and allowed UF scientists to make casts of two other partial jaws in her collection.
The donation was a major contribution to the research because the remarkably well-preserved lower jaw contains almost pristine examples of all three chewing teeth, Hulbert said. The genus name Rhizosmilodon, meaning "root of Smilodon," implies the animal could be a missing link and direct ancestor of Smilodon, which became extinct about 11,000 years ago.
The study's lead author, Steven Wallace, an associate professor in the department of geosciences and member of the Don Sundquist Center of Excellence in Paleontology at East Tennessee State University, used comparative analysis of saber-toothed cat anatomy to help determine the animal's taxonomy. The analysis was primarily based on structure of the animal's lower jaw and teeth, smaller than the Smilodon and about the size of a modern Florida panther.
"The taxonomy of this animal was controversial because when it was first published 20 years ago, they only had one partial, somewhat-decent lower jaw, and it was missing some of the critical features," Hulbert said. "We now have more complete specimens showing it has a mixture of primitive and advanced characters, and does not match any previously named saber-toothed cat genus or species."
Originally misidentified as a member of the genus Megantereon in the early 1980s, Rhizosmilodon is instead the sister taxon to Megantereon and Smilodon, and the oldest of the group. These three cats are in the same tribe -- meaning they are more closely related than a family or subfamily -- and are often called as saber-toothed cats because of their long canine teeth, Hulbert said.
"When people think of saber-toothed cats, they think of it as just one thing, as if the famous tar pit saber-toothed cat was the only species, when in fact, it was an almost worldwide radiation of cats that lasted over 10 million years and probably had a total of about 20 valid species," Hulbert said. "Counting the newly described animal, there are now six different species of saber-toothed cats known just from Florida."
Saber-toothed cat expert Julie Meachen, an instructor at Marshall University School of Medicine in Huntington, W. Va., said the study helps settle the debate about whether the tribe arose from the Eurasia before coming to North America.
"I think that this revision was well-needed," Meachen said. "The fact that it's one of the oldest lineages is really interesting because that means that this exciting group of saber-toothed cats really is a North American tribe -- it evolved and persisted in North America."
Since 1915, more than 60 new species of reptiles, birds and mammals have been named from Central Florida phosphate mines, located southeast of Tampa and south of Lakeland. Rhizosmilodon lived in a forested coastal habitat that was also home to rhinos, tapirs, three-toed horses, peccaries, llamas and deer. Its relatively small size probably allowed it to climb trees and safely hide captured prey from large carnivores, such as packs of wolf-sized hyena-dogs and an extinct type of bear larger than the modern grizzly.
###
University of Florida: http://www.ufl.edu
Thanks to University of Florida for this article.
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