Louis Armstrong - What a Wonderful World

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A Virus That Can Cure Cancer

Canadian scientists have developed a virus that can attack cancerous tumours without harming the rest of a patient's body. Tested in 23 patients, results were positive leaving good perspectives in what is considered a major step in therapy treatments, in a near future.

The team, at Ottawa's Hospital Research Institute, hope the breakthrough could provide a new and effective weapon in the fight against the disease. more here

Endangered Species - Maui's Dolphins - Only 55 Left

The critically endangered Maui’s dolphins (Cephalorhynchus hectori maui), which can only be found off a small stretch of the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island, have reached to alarming population numbers.

According to scientists, the decreasing population of the rarest and smallest dolphin of the planet, dropped by half, on the last 7 years, and there are now only 55 individuals estimated, according to research released last March 13th, by the New Zeland Department of Conservation (DOC) more here.

Bright Green Auroras over Sweden

Photograph by Babak Tafreshi, TWAN

Bright green auroras shimmer over a small Sami village in northern Sweden.

The picture taken on March 16th shows a bubble-like picture created using an 8mm fisheye lens, allowing the photographer to capture an all-sky view of the northern lights in a single frame.

from here

Pretty Under World...In Pink

Endangered Species - Iberic Lynx

Iberien Lynx also known as tiger-cat is the most severely endangered cat species and there aren’t more than 140 in the wild. Yesterday, I came across in the net with a program, developed in Spain, where strong conservation measures are being held in order to increase the Iberien Lynx population avoiding extinction.

One of such efforts involved captive breeding, genetic and demographic management of the lynx population and although it may not be considered the best solution, soon we understand that this is the only way to avoid an immediate and complete extinction of the species. The program has presented increasing results since it begun in 2002. From the 2 first offsprings born in 2002, last year the number reached a stimulating number of 25 offsprings, almost 1/5 of the wild population alive.

Several international institutions collaborate with the programme, which is currently implemented through a “multirateral comission” that includes the central goverments of Spain and Portugal, together with other autonomous spanish goverments of Andalusia, Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha. Portugal, where rarely is seen a wild lynx, also developed its own breeding center in Silves acting at the same time on improving habitat for future reestablishment of lynx population.

The lynx territories have decreased to such an alarming point that they are now confined to scattered small aggregates (see distribution map). Man’s invation of wild habitats may be the main reason but surely it’s not the only one. Reduction of food sources is also a main concern and is certainly on the basis of the territorial fragmentation. As a top predator the Iberian lynx has a key role in controlling populations of rabbits (their favorite prey) and other small mammals but when these are lacking it is known that deer, mice, ducks, quail, lizards, etc. also make part of their food chain. Selecting habitats with Mediterranean characteristics, the rare Iberian lynx can be spoted on woods, dense thickets and bushes. Preferably used in mosaic structures with enclosed biotopes abrigo. In Portugal some where seen on the North East of Portugal, at the Serra da Malcata, located between the counties of Sabugal and Penamacor, integrating the mountainous system of Luso-Spanish Meseta.

It is essentially a night animal, an expert climber and by day it can move at about 7 km.The territories of males may overlap territories to one or more females.
Mating, uncommon, occurring between January and March and after a gestation period of between 63 and 74 days between 1 and 4 are born offspring.

© Pete Oxford

The Most Astonishing Fact on Universe

Congo - Mount Nyamulagira

Nov. 11th, 2011, an eruption from Mount Nyamulagira in eastern Congo sends lava high into the air.

Credits: AP Photo/Virunga National Park, Cai Tjeenk Willink

It's considered by some as Africa's most active volcano. It has erupted over 40 times since 1885. As well as eruptions from the summit, there have been numerous eruptions from the flanks of the volcano, creating new smaller volcanoes that have lasted only for a short time.

The picture refers the last great explosion, ocurred last November 2011 which was considered the biggest one on the last 100 years. With a 400-meter high column of lava, wildlife officials feared that the eruption may threaten the chimpanzees in the area putting at risk the fragil balance of rare wildlife.

Danger also shadows the surrounding area of the volcano every time an eruption occurs and rivers of lava flow into the southern sector of Virunga National Park, where there are settlements and villages which become threatened.  from here

Wild Flower Blooms After 30,000 Years On Ice

At first site, it looks just like any other plant.

But, it really isn't.

Actually, the news was brought to light last week. This solitary wild flower, with its small green leaves and just five white petals has reportedly been resurrected by a team of scientists who tapped a treasure trove of fruits and seeds, buried some 30,000 years ago by ground squirrels and preserved in the permafrost.

The squirrels’ burrows, 70 in all, were found on the banks of the lower Kolyma River in northeastern Siberia, 20–40 metres below the current surface of the tundra and surrounded by the bones of mammoths and other creatures. Some burrows contained hundreds of thousands of fruits and seeds, wonderfully preserved by the cold, dry environment.

No doubt, a major step to mankind on discovering flora back on the time of permafrost. from here

Sun Flares - Impact Predicted for Today

Yesterday I've posted about the enormous sun explosion which unleashed  one of the biggest flares ever seen during its current activity cycle.

An X5.4-class outburst strong enough to trigger a radio blackout. The resulting geomagnetic storm could affect electrical grids, communication links, satellite navigation systems and airline schedules over the next couple of days.

First impacts are scheduled to reach Earth today.

March 6th and the Massive Sun Eruptions

Last March 6th, 2012 there was a major sun eruption that caused a gigantic flare caught on tape.

This movie was captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in the 171 and 131 Angstrom wavelength. One of the most dramatic features is the way the entire surface of the sun seems to ripple with the force of the eruption. This movement comes from something called EIT waves -- because they were first discovered with the Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) on the Solar Heliospheric Observatory. Since SDO captures images every 12 seconds, it has been able to map the full evolution of these waves and confirm that they can travel across the full breadth of the sun. The waves move at over a million miles per hour, zipping from one side of the sun to the other in about an hour. The movie shows two distinct waves. The first seems to spread in all directions; the second is narrower, moving toward the southeast. Such waves are associated with, and perhaps trigger, fast coronal mass ejections, so it is likely that each one is connected to one of the two CMEs that erupted on March 6.

Scientists said that they had implications with electric sources on Earth, causing some energie break ups.
Caption: NASA/SDO

Big Apes - Gorilla Genome Decoded

 Male silverback Gorilla in SF zoo. Image: Wikipedia

Researchers announce today that they have completed the genome sequence for the gorilla – the last genus of the living great apes to have its genome decoded. While confirming that our closest relative is the chimpanzee, the team show that much of the human genome more closely resembles the gorilla than it does the chimpanzee genome.

"The gorilla genome is important because it sheds light on the time when our ancestors diverged from our closest evolutionary cousins. It also lets us explore the similarities and differences between our genes and those of gorilla, the largest living primate," says Aylwyn Scally, first author from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.  from here

Will Burrard-Lucas and His Beetle-Cam at the Masai-Mara Reserve

BeetleCam is Back Teaser from Will & Matt Burrard-Lucas on Vimeo.

In what concerns nature photographers I can tell you that CLOSE in never enough. So, conservation photographer Will Burrard-Lucas has created a high-tech solution that has helped get him amazing images that would otherwise be impossible - such as lions feasting, or Komodo dragons flicking their tongues at the lens. 

Most recently Burrard-Lucas has made modifications to their "BeetleCam" that provide photographers with even more flexibility for getting images, and these incredible photos of lions show off what is possible. Watch the movie. from here

Funny Owls

Credits : Nikon page

I've always wondered why owls turn their head upside down. 

Is it because they are focusing or trying to see better? Unquestionably they are really cute birds.

Dione - A Moon Full of Light Oxygen, Right Near Saturn

 This view highlights tectonic faults and craters on Saturn's moon, Dione, an icy world that has undoubtedly experienced geologic activity since its formation. 

Credit : Based on images taken from Cassini's spacecraft, taken on Dec. 24, 2005.

An Oxygen atmosphere was discovered far away, on the ringed planet's Saturn icy moon Dione.

But this will not be human's last escape once Dione's atmosphere is unbreathable with its 5 trillion times less dense air than we are used to at Earth's surface, scientists say.

Althought breathing would be impossible for humans,

Dione's atmosphere was detected by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which spotted an ultra-thin layer of oxygen ions so sparse that it is equivalent to conditions 300 miles (480 kilometers) above Earth.

"We now know that Dione, in addition to Saturn's rings and the moon Rhea, is a source of oxygen molecules. This shows that molecular oxygen is actually common in the Saturn system and reinforces that it can come from a process that doesn't involve life." scientists said last Friday.    from here

GJ 1214b - A Super Water Planet - 40 Light Years from Earth

Credit: NASA, ESA, and D. Aguilar (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)

GJ1214b, shown in this artist's view, is a super-Planet orbiting, every 38 hours, a red dwarf star, at a distance of 2 million kilometres, which makes it hot with an estimated temperature of 230 degrees Celsius.

Found in 2009, scientists said, last week, that new observations made with the Hubble Space Telescope showed that GJ 1214b is a water world enshrouded by a thick, steamy atmosphere, representing a new type of planet,  like nothing seen in the solar system or any other planetary system currently known.

Most of its mass is made of water. 

Located 40 light-years from our Planet, it's huge size is estimated in 2.7 times the Earth's diameter with as much as seven times Earth's weigh.  from here

Mars Swings into Opposition

It's called the "Mars Opposition"and the name means that Mars and the Sun are on, well, opposite sides of us. It happens only once every two years and two months, and last Saturday, March 3d was the big day.

Next week there's a promise of great time, if you have a backyard telescope.

Why don't you point it out to the Moon and Mars and swing it between the two?

 After last Saturday's March 3d, the day of the "Mars Opposition" I'm sure you'll have a clue about the all three well aligned. from here