Gansu: Majestic Danxia Landform after rain

Travelers are enjoying the spectacular Danxia Landform scenery in Zhangye, northwest China, on September 8. Zhangye Danxia Landform Park is located on the border of Nijiaying Village and Baiyin Village in Gansu Province, northwest China, having an area of 510 square kilometers. [Photo: Xinhuanet]

I found this awesome image at Absolute China Tours.

‘Most Threatened’ Tribe Sees No Relief from Illegal Loggers | LiveScience

“A deadline to remove illegal loggers and settlers from the lands of one of the most threatened tribes on Earth appears poised to pass without action in Brazil.

The Awá, a tribe of about 450, have won multiple legal battles granting them the rights to their territory, which are also guaranteed in the Brazilian constitution. But enforcement of those rights has been lacking, with reports of illegal logging camps operating only 3 miles (5 kilometers) from one Awá settlement.

“It’s a complete joke, really,” said Sarah Shenker, a Brazilian campaigner for Survival International, a group that advocates for the rights of indigenous people.

A judge, in a declaration published in March 2012, ordered the eviction of illegal loggers, settlers and ranchers from Awá land within a year. Even with the March 31 deadline approaching, no one has been removed.”

Read more @ ‘Most Threatened’ Tribe Sees No Relief from Illegal Loggers | LiveScience.

Dolphins Have Their Own Names For Each Other | Care2 Causes

These findings, along with the newfound realization that dolphins have names for each other, offer further evidence for why, as some scientists argue, they should be considered “non-human persons,” in the spirit of the Declaration of Rights for Cetaceans, drafted by a group in Helsinski, Finland.

It also makes one wonder, what do many captive dolphins think about having names like “Flipper” given to them — what if we called them by their names instead and attempted to learn their forms of communication?

via Dolphins Have Their Own Names For Each Other | Care2 Causes.

Last Week In ‘The Universe’ – Feb. 11-17, 2013

The Universe normally does an overview of ‘space news’ each month. But after the events of last week, we thought it would be a good idea to re-cap!

This is a selection of breaking news stories, all covered by The Universe, from February 11-17, 2013.

-CJ

Meteor explodes over Russia – Image: AP (Nasha Gazeta Newspaper http://www.ng.kz/AP)

More Information: http://www.facebook.com/photo.phpfbid=475602839171560&set=a.433415610056950.106382.334816523250193&type=1&theater

http://www.facebook.com/photo.phpfbid=478978858829830&set=a.352867368107647.80532.352857924775258&type=1&relevant_count=1

2012 DA14 Flyby – Image: Dave Herald, Murrumbateman, Australia

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/Highlights/2012_DA14_nears

More Information: http://www.facebook.com/photo.phpfbid=475124325886078&set=a.433415610056950.106382.334816523250193&type=1&relevant_count=1

Landsat Data Continuity Mission Launch –

Image: United Launch Alliance

More Information: http://www.facebook.com/photo.phpfbid=473579899373854&set=a.371203752944803.89148.334816523250193&type=1&relevant_count=1

Hubble Images Interacting Galaxies:

Image: ESA/Hubble & NASA

More Information: http://www.facebook.com/photo.phpfbid=476314879100356&set=a.455520841179760.110988.334816523250193&type=1&relevant_count=1

Comet Lemmon

Image: Peter Ward, Barden Ridge Observatory

More Information:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.phpfbid=474856759246168&set=a.334832996581879.82450.334816523250193&type=1&relevant_count=1

This Week in Science | 3-10 Feb. 2013

Gold nugget forming bacteria: http://bit.ly/14C1QIK
Bionic eye: http://bit.ly/WTitKo
Sea urchins: http://bit.ly/WbLZNl
Mammal ancestor: http://bbc.in/YZKkie
Stem cells: http://bit.ly/Y3s94C
Earth like planets: http://hvrd.me/12iA29h

For more on what happened in the world of science this week, check out TWIST (This Week In Science and Technology), ScienceAlerts new series with Carin Bondar and Phil Plait: http://bit.ly/XzHago

via I fucking love science .

My Year Of Blogging – 2012

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 3,600 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 6 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

A Simple Fix for Farming – NYTimes.com

Image Credit: Rosie Gainsborough

IT’S becoming clear that we can grow all the food we need, and profitably, with far fewer chemicals. And I’m not talking about imposing some utopian vision of small organic farms on the world. Conventional agriculture can shed much of its chemical use — if it wants to.

This was hammered home once again in what may be the most important agricultural study this year, although it has been largely ignored by the media, two of the leading science journals and even one of the study’s sponsors, the often hapless Department of Agriculture.

The study was done on land owned by Iowa State University called the Marsden Farm. On 22 acres of it, beginning in 2003, researchers set up three plots: one replicated the typical Midwestern cycle of planting corn one year and then soybeans the next, along with its routine mix of chemicals. On another, they planted a three-year cycle that included oats; the third plot added a four-year cycle and alfalfa. The longer rotations also integrated the raising of livestock, whose manure was used as fertilizer.

The results were stunning: The longer rotations produced better yields of both corn and soy, reduced the need for nitrogen fertilizer and herbicides by up to 88 percent, reduced the amounts of toxins in groundwater 200-fold and didn’t reduce profits by a single cent.

In short, there was only upside — and no downside at all — associated with the longer rotations. There was an increase in labor costs, but remember that profits were stable. So this is a matter of paying people for their knowledge and smart work instead of paying chemical companies for poisons.

…

And though critics of this path can be predictably counted on to say it’s moving backward, the increased yields, markedly decreased input of chemicals, reduced energy costs and stable profits tell another story, one of serious progress.

via A Simple Fix for Farming – NYTimes.com.

Related articles

• Big, Smart and Green: A Revolutionary Vision for Modern Farming (wired.com)
• Africa Economy: Cheaper organic fertilizers key in Africa maize farming (nzweek.com)
• Documentary Investigates Our Current Food System and the Solutions to World Hunger (articles.mercola.com)

Effect of Zero Gravity on Cosmonauts Body | INFOgraphics | RIA Novosti

vi

via Effect of Zero Gravity on Cosmonauts Body | INFOgraphics | RIA Novosti

My country, my brethren, my religion

Orbital Objects, Satellites, Space Junk Information, Facts, News, Photos — National Geographic

 

About Orbital Objects

The skies above Earth are teeming with manmade objects large and small. The U.S. Space Surveillance Network uses radar to track more than 13,000 such items that are larger than four inches (ten centimeters). This celestial clutter includes everything from the International Space Station (ISS) and the Hubble Space Telescope to defunct satellites, rocket stages, or nuts and bolts left behind by astronauts. And there are millions of smaller, harder-to-track objects such as flecks of paint and bits of plastic.

…

Gravitational pull will ensure that anything we’ve ever put in orbit will eventually make its way back to Earth. And though thus far no one has ever been killed by reentering space debris, NASA estimates on average one piece returns to Earth each day.

NASA and other national space agencies have identified orbital debris as a serious problem and are currently devising plans to mitigate existing space junk and curb future debris.

Read more @ Orbital Objects, Satellites, Space Junk Information, Facts, News, Photos — National Geographic.

Related articles

• Let’s Destroy Space Junk! By Putting Tons of Metal Dust into Orbit? (blogs.discovermagazine.com)
• Simulations Will Help Keep Track of Remote Space Junk (wired.com)
• Space Junk: Ideas for Cleaning up Earth Orbit (universetoday.com)
• Space Junk Hazards Force International Response (space.com)