A team of Ecuadoran and Italian researchers have discovered a unique species of pink land iguanas living on the Galapagos Islands, the scientist who wrote the report told AFP. "It is surprising to have made a find of this magnitude in the 21st century," said Washington Tapia, head of research at the Galapagos National Park. Researchers at first thought that the iguanas, which are pink with black spots, simply had skin pigmentation problems, Tapia said. The first pink iguanas were discovered in 1986, and after years of research scientists concluded that it was a unique species.
"It is surprising to have made a find of this magnitude in the 21st century," said Washington Tapia, head of research at the Galapagos National Park.
Researchers at first thought that the iguanas, which are pink with black spots, simply had skin pigmentation problems, Tapia said.
The first pink iguanas were discovered in 1986, and after years of research scientists concluded that it was a unique species.
and Given that in times of both overarching Positivismus in world affairs and underhanded Glad-handing in secret Malta;
We, the Lloyal Lurkers of Leftistan call your attention to news you probably missed:
The first pink iguanas were discovered in 1986, the same year the Pink Iquanas released their first post-punk hit. More importantly, it was the same year the only breeding pair of one horned cows was sacramentally removed from free-galloping captivity in the Gallopagos, by silent black helicopters with Maltese crosses in flourescent green. Notice the sychronicity?
We now return you to your ongoing depression. "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
Frosty weather continued to nip at Europe Thursday, with temperatures falling as low as minus 34.6 degrees Celsius in one part of Germany. An Arctic chill continued to frost Germany on Thursday, with nighttime temperatures of minus 34.6 degrees Celsius (minus 30.28 Fahrenheit) reported at Funtensee lake in Bavaria, according to the weather service Meteomedia.
Frosty weather continued to nip at Europe Thursday, with temperatures falling as low as minus 34.6 degrees Celsius in one part of Germany.
An Arctic chill continued to frost Germany on Thursday, with nighttime temperatures of minus 34.6 degrees Celsius (minus 30.28 Fahrenheit) reported at Funtensee lake in Bavaria, according to the weather service Meteomedia.
Knut the polar bear is finally in his natural habitat -- snow. The two-year old furball has been enjoying the freezing temperatures that have hit Berlin. For his fellow zoo animals like antelopes, however, it is a time to stay indoors. While much of Germany is grumbling and griping about this week's freezing temperatures, Knut the infamous polar bear has taken to the snow flurries and icy winter conditions like a duck to water. Berlin's most famous tenant has been frolicking in his enclosure enjoying the kind of snow and ice his fellow polar bears in the Arctic take for granted.
Knut the polar bear is finally in his natural habitat -- snow. The two-year old furball has been enjoying the freezing temperatures that have hit Berlin. For his fellow zoo animals like antelopes, however, it is a time to stay indoors.
While much of Germany is grumbling and griping about this week's freezing temperatures, Knut the infamous polar bear has taken to the snow flurries and icy winter conditions like a duck to water.
Berlin's most famous tenant has been frolicking in his enclosure enjoying the kind of snow and ice his fellow polar bears in the Arctic take for granted.
Facing a serious water shortage come summer.
A US airline has completed the first test flight of a plane partly powered by biofuel derived from algae. The 90-minute flight by a Continental Boeing 737-800 went better than expected, a spokesperson said. One of its engines was powered by a 50-50 blend of biofuel and normal aircraft fuel. Wednesday's test is the latest in a series of demonstration flights by the aviation industry, which hopes to be using biofuels within five years. The flight was the first by a US carrier to use an alternative fuel source, and the first in the world to use a twin-engine commercial aircraft (rather than a four-engine plane) to test a biofuel blend.
A US airline has completed the first test flight of a plane partly powered by biofuel derived from algae.
The 90-minute flight by a Continental Boeing 737-800 went better than expected, a spokesperson said.
One of its engines was powered by a 50-50 blend of biofuel and normal aircraft fuel.
Wednesday's test is the latest in a series of demonstration flights by the aviation industry, which hopes to be using biofuels within five years.
The flight was the first by a US carrier to use an alternative fuel source, and the first in the world to use a twin-engine commercial aircraft (rather than a four-engine plane) to test a biofuel blend.
Virtually all the dominant strain of flu in the United States this season is resistant to the leading antiviral drug Tamiflu, and scientists and health officials are trying to figure out why. The problem is not yet a public health crisis because this has been a below-average flu season so far, and because the Tamiflu-resistant strain, one of three circulating, is still susceptible to other drugs. But infectious disease specialists are worried nonetheless.Last winter, about 11 percent of the throat swabs from patients with the most common type of flu that were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for genetic typing showed a Tamiflu-resistant strain. This season, 99 percent do."It's quite shocking," said Dr. Kent A. Sepkowitz, director of infection control at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. "We've never lost an antimicrobial this fast. It blew me away.
Virtually all the dominant strain of flu in the United States this season is resistant to the leading antiviral drug Tamiflu, and scientists and health officials are trying to figure out why.
The problem is not yet a public health crisis because this has been a below-average flu season so far, and because the Tamiflu-resistant strain, one of three circulating, is still susceptible to other drugs. But infectious disease specialists are worried nonetheless.
Last winter, about 11 percent of the throat swabs from patients with the most common type of flu that were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for genetic typing showed a Tamiflu-resistant strain. This season, 99 percent do.
"It's quite shocking," said Dr. Kent A. Sepkowitz, director of infection control at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. "We've never lost an antimicrobial this fast. It blew me away.
Tamiflu was also supposed to be the 1st line of defense in the event of an outbreak of avian flu. The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman
There's been massive over-use of Tamiflu for the last few years, propelled by patients who see it as a miracle recovery drug - notably they tend have not utilised the vaccines for the strain that were provide.
Such widespread misuse was bound to lead to the quick development of a resistant strain.
What's not to like? Most economists teach a theoretical framework that has been shown to be fundamentally useless. -- James K. Galbraith
I posted this item as much because it appealed to my dark and twisted sense of... somethingorother ... as for its news value. The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman
HAVANA -- Sergio Morales's friends gently rib him about the dirt under his fingernails and the grease that fills every line in his 58-year-old hands. The grease has been there so long, they tell him, that it must predate Fidel Castro's revolution. But Mr. Morales has heard all the jokes, and not a single one makes him look up from his work. He just shifts his cigarette from one side of his mouth to the other as his fingers twist and caress the tools in front of him, granting new life to one of the few Harley-Davidson motorcycles that remain in Cuba. Like Mr. Morales, and possibly the gunk on his hands, they too predate the 1959 revolution.Mr. Morales is the last mechanic here making his living by fixing them the old-fashioned Cuban way, with homemade parts to preserve a nugget of Americana in the alleys of Havana. [...] Mr. Morales's personal bike is a 1950 Panhead, christened El Indio, which he bought in 1986 for $1,000 after selling his 1945 Flathead. The bike, which would easily fetch $10,000 in the United States today, still carries nearly all of its original parts. The wheels, though, are borrowed from a Skoda -- the Czech automobile. Mr. Morales even fitted the bike with a sidecar, lifting the chassis from a Soviet Ural sidecar and designing a homemade copy of a Harley body.
HAVANA -- Sergio Morales's friends gently rib him about the dirt under his fingernails and the grease that fills every line in his 58-year-old hands. The grease has been there so long, they tell him, that it must predate Fidel Castro's revolution.
But Mr. Morales has heard all the jokes, and not a single one makes him look up from his work.
He just shifts his cigarette from one side of his mouth to the other as his fingers twist and caress the tools in front of him, granting new life to one of the few Harley-Davidson motorcycles that remain in Cuba. Like Mr. Morales, and possibly the gunk on his hands, they too predate the 1959 revolution.
Mr. Morales is the last mechanic here making his living by fixing them the old-fashioned Cuban way, with homemade parts to preserve a nugget of Americana in the alleys of Havana.
[...]
Mr. Morales's personal bike is a 1950 Panhead, christened El Indio, which he bought in 1986 for $1,000 after selling his 1945 Flathead. The bike, which would easily fetch $10,000 in the United States today, still carries nearly all of its original parts. The wheels, though, are borrowed from a Skoda -- the Czech automobile. Mr. Morales even fitted the bike with a sidecar, lifting the chassis from a Soviet Ural sidecar and designing a homemade copy of a Harley body.
