Wednesday, June 18, 2003

Why Birds and Humans Flock Together Howard Bloom writes: For most of human history, the need to eke a living from the earth kept over 90% of the human population in the countryside. But once a small number could produce food for multitudes, a formerly repressed desire went hog-wild - our urge to cram together. Today, more than 75% of Europeans and North Americans have crowded into cities. In Belgium the figure tops 95%. This lust for company has hit the developing world even harder. In a measly two generations, Mexico's urban congregants have leaped from 25% to 70% of the population. Mexico City is now jammed with 27 million human beings, roughly three times the worldwide number of Hominids alive at even the lushest moment of the Paleolithic age. Many species of birds are as attracted to their equivalent of the big city as we are, and given the chance, will congregate in the largest clusters they can possibly form. Some bird flocks outdo the largest human municipalities by a factor of two - reaching 50 million or more. This sociable overcrowding seems to court extraordinary risk. The larger the flock, the larger the territory it must cover to feed itself, and the greater the chances of encountering a famine. So why do avians become hypnotized by the urge to join a crowd? (06/18/03) An Opportunity to learn from the Past Thom Hartmann writes: Many Americans are suggesting that the Patriot Act (and its proposed "improvements" in Patriot II) is totally new in the experience of America and may spell the end of both democracy and the Bill of Rights. History, however, shows another view, which offers us both warnings and hope. Although you won't learn much about it from reading the "Republican histories" of the Founders being published and promoted in the corporate media these days, the most notorious stain on the presidency of John Adams began in 1798 with the passage of a series of laws startlingly similar to the Patriot Act. It started when Benjamin Franklin Bache, grandson of Benjamin Franklin and editor of the Philadelphia newspaper the Aurora, began to speak out against the policies of then-President John Adams. Bache supported Vice President Thomas Jefferson's Democratic-Republican Party (today called the Democratic Party) when John Adams led the conservative Federalists (who today would be philosophically identical to GOP Republicans). Bache attacked Adams in an op-ed piece by calling the president "old, querulous, Bald, blind, crippled, Toothless Adams." (06/18/03) Selenium helps the Body fight Cancer BBC Health -- The mineral selenium may help protect some women from developing breast cancer, research has suggested. The element, which can be found in brazil nuts, liver and kidneys, may help the body defend itself. Scientists from the University of Illinois believe they may have worked out how selenium interacts with a natural body chemical to offer protection. This is not the first health claim to be made about selenium. Studies have suggested that it can reduce the likelihood of other types of cancer, and some have linked it to a lowered chance of heart disease. The latest study looked at tissue samples from more than 500 women who did not have breast cancer, and compared their genetic makeup with those in 79 breast cancer tissue samples. The scientists were looking for genes which are responsible for the production of an enzyme which the team believe has cancer-fighting properties. They found that different versions of these genes were more common in the breast cancer tissue samples. Their conclusion was that certain women - with a certain genetic makeup - might benefit from extra selenium in their diet to make sure their "cancer-fighting" enzyme worked properly. (06/18/03) A Two Edged Sword BBC Health -- A new class of antibiotics offers massive benefits to today's patients - but could place future generations in danger, say experts. Some scientists say that the principle behind a new crop of drugs currently under development will make it far tougher for bugs to become resistant to them. This is because they work in the same way as many of the methods which the body itself has always used to rid itself of bacterial infections. But other researchers say that it is quite possible that bacteria will acquire resistance - and when they do, this will make life far more difficult, as our own defence mechanisms will be rendered far less potent. Even minor cuts and grazes will take far longer to heal, they warn, and could even progress to far more serious bacterial infections. In addition, the researchers say, the body's inability to keep down other types of bacteria could lead to a surge in chronic illnesses such as heart disease and cystic fibrosis. The new family of drugs, called "Ramp" antimicrobials, are being developed in response to growing resistance to existing antibiotic drugs. There are fears that virtually all drugs could be rendered far less effective as microbes evolve to dodge their attacks. (06/18/03) Corporate Africa? BBC Politics -- A South African private company has said that it has plans to take over a string of national parks throughout Africa. Sub-Saharan countries said to benefit from the plan are Zambia, Malawi, Uganda, Kenya and Mozambique. The scheme, which is the brainchild of a Dutch multi-millionaire and nature conservationist, Paul van Vlissingen, has won the support of an extraordinary range of groups and individuals, including former South Africa president Nelson Mandela, the US State Department and even the World Bank. The plan came about after Paul van Vlissingen had a discussion with Mr Mandela in 1998.Mr Mandela told him that Africa had so many other priorities, including education, social services and treating HIV/Aids, that there were few resources left over to provide for the continent's wildlife. As a result, many game parks are being badly neglected, offering little to nature conservation or to the people of Africa. The Dutch tycoon, whose family runs the Makro chain of wholesalers, came up with an initiative designed to save Africa's ailing game reserves. Many, he argues, exist only on paper, with underpaid rangers looking after parks that have been hunted bare by poachers. (06/18/03) When Global Warming was Good BBC Science -- A comet collision with Earth around 55 million years ago may have kick-started a crucial early phase of mammal evolution. The impact could have triggered the greenhouse warming thought to have encouraged primitive mammals to disperse across the world and diversify into three important groups still with us today. These groups were the Artiodactyla, the Perissodactyla and the Primates - the mammalian order that includes humans. Modern Artiodactyls include sheep, pigs, camels and giraffes. Today's Perissodactyls include horses, tapirs, rhinos and zebras. This evolutionary branching event coincides with a clear boundary in the Earth's geological record dividing the Palaeocene and Eocene epochs. North American scientists have put forward their comet hypothesis after studying sediments drilled on the East Coast of the US. It is known from the composition of rocks and marine sediments laid down at the Palaeocene-Eocene boundary that global temperatures at the time rose by around 6 degrees Celsius in less than 1,000 years - an event known as the thermal maximum. This is thought to have warmed the cold, northern latitudes where most of the major early Eocene land corridors were located. The sudden warming made these northern climes habitable, allowing mammals to disperse across the land corridors into new continents. (06/18/03) More Protection for the Whales BBC Politics -- At the end of a rancorous first day, the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) here has declared itself squarely for conservation. The anti-whaling nations proclaimed a resounding victory, hailing a move away from the commission's traditional role of managing whaling. They believe it will make all the world's whales safer. But one whaling nation, Japan, said it might well leave the commission. The decision came with a vote, agreed by 25 votes to 20, with one abstention, in favour of the so-called Berlin Initiative. In practical terms, that will mean setting up an IWC conservation committee to tackle the many threats to cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises). (06/18/03) Summer Jobs Scarce CNN Economy -- For job-seekers, the summer months are not likely to bring wine and roses, according to a hiring forecast survey released Tuesday by Manpower Inc. Across industries, a net 11 percent of the 16,000 employers Manpower surveyed said they expect to increase their hiring activity in the third quarter. That's down from 13 percent in the second quarter, and well below the 19 percent in the third quarter last year. Simply put, this time last year "it was easier to find a job," said Manpower CEO Jeff Joerres. In fact, when seasonal variations are stripped out of the data, this is the weakest job forecast in 12 years, according to Manpower. (06/18/03) 6:34:19 AM

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