blivet radio
The Radio weblog of Hal Rager

Saturday, April 20, 2002

Striking Out. "We're not having much luck in the house hunting department..." [Erehwon Notebook] Mmm, house hunting... AAAIIIEEEE!! Run away! Run away! 12:33:29 AM    comment   trackback []

Top climate scientist ousted. "Robert Watson, one of the world's leading climate scientists, has been ousted from his job as chairman of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This followed the withdrawal of support by the US government, apparently at the behest of the oil company ExxonMobil, which had lobbied against him." [New Scientist] 12:29:53 AM    comment   trackback []

New Insect Order Discovered."So far, the members of the 31st insect order, dubbed Mantophasmatodea, fall into two genera and three species, making this the smallest insect order on record. But exactly how the new group relates to the other orders remains to be determined--a task that may become easier as additional members are identified. Incredibly, an expedition to western Namibia's Brandberg Mountain recently turned up living representatives of the Mantophasmatodea. "This discovery is comparable to finding a living mastodon or saber-tooth tiger," remarks Piotr Naskrecki of Conservation International, the organization that funded the fieldwork. "It tells us that there are places on Earth that act as protective pockets, preserving tiny glimpses of what life was like millions of years ago."" [Scientific American] 12:24:17 AM    comment   trackback []

New Report Explains Ice-Age Mystery. "University of California researchers have solved a longstanding mystery for scientists trying to understand how Earth's climate can quickly shift between cold and warm modes. The mystery revolves around the source of a rapid change in the geochemistry of oceanic carbon that occurred just as the last ice age ended, between 16,000 and 20,000 years ago. Based on analyses of carbon stored in tiny fossil seashells, the UC geologists suggest that the chemical change occurred because of dramatic shifts in ocean circulation. They have developed a timeline of events that can be linked to previously described changes recorded in the ocean, in Antarctic ice cores and on the continents. Climate-change experts say these changes reflect the types of events that could occur because of global warming related to human activities." [Science Daily] 12:18:22 AM    comment   trackback []