Geosciences Bulletin Board – 2 February 2015

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Physics applies to making snowmen….and the formation of glacial ice

Assessing rates of melting of Arctic Ice Cap …but it cannot “slide into the ocean”

As glacial ice melts on Iceland, isostatic adjustments occur and the crust is rebounding

Building gargantuan ships to transport fossil fuels across the ocean

Will “Bertha” ever start drilling the Alaskan Way Viaduct tunnel again? (video)

Qijianglongguokr – new long-necked Upper Jurassic sauropod discovered in China

Icebergs, as they melt, make sound signatures (video)

More STEM degrees being awarded….let’s hope the training has been rigorous

Planetary geology: Celebrating “Opportunity” having roved on Mars for 11 years

A better method of “measuring” sea level change

  • Slope lowers sea level in Europe:

Planetary geology: Asteroid that flew past Earth has its own moon

Nanno-fossils confirm that the Canary Islands formed similarly to the Hawaiian Islands

Evolution is misunderstood by the masses: five mistakes made by reported that do not help

Report calls for infrastructure cuts to allow increase for scientific oceanic research

“Whisper Valley” development near Austin, Texas, to be outfitted with geothermal + solar

Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Artexhibit in Kobe, Japan, commemorates 1995 Earthquake

Earthquakes in the Midlands in Great Britain

Planetary geology: a triple-impact crater on Mars

Crude oil conspiracy theories….reason for political interference

3-D view of the Greenland ice sheet reflects history

New USGS report traces fracking methods on almost a million wells from 1947 - 2010 (link to pdf)

Southern California water supply threatened by the next big earthquake

USGS: natural breakdown of petroleum can release arsenic into groundwater

First Spring tide of 2015 occurred on Jan 20….a primer on the tides

Retrospective on the 1946 Aleutian EQ and the deadly tsunami that hit the Hawaiian Islands

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Enviro-Sciences Bulletin Board – 2 February 2015– compiled by Elaine J. Hanford

Compilation of selected current news articles pertinent to the discipline:

Ebola

  • World’s largest Ebola treatment center being dismantled and incinerated:
  • Does Ebola produce immunity?

Outbreaks of measles continue across the country: foreign travelers and anti-vaccine movement

  • Diagnostic symptoms:
  • Opposing vaccinations:
  • Dr. responds:

Getting better understanding of pancreatic cancer…4th most common, but most deadly cancer

New study on the adaptability of pathogens: lessons to be learned from HIV

  • Manuscript:

Renewing the debate of federal natural disaster response policy

Peak food production has passed, “peak chicken” was 5 to 10 years ago, more hunger?

“Safe Food Act of 2015” introduced to Congress…transfers and consolidates responsibility in “Food Safety Administration”

Residents in Los Angeles area are told “black, stinky water” is OK to drink (videos)

Highly pathogenic avian flu H5N8

  • California:
  • Idaho:

Residents strongly oppose plan to release GM mosquitoes in Florida Keys…environmental concerns for bats and humans

Do vaccines promote evolution toward stronger pathogens?

World Bank president outlines new private-public pandemic preparedness plan

Weather Channel to film new documentary on Donner Party…but will there be enough snow?

Toxicology, the Precautionary Principle and experimental design (and scotch & pesticides)

Measuring phosphorus loss in runoff into Lake Erie that produces algal blooms

Politics and climate played role in collapse of pre-Columbian meso-American society

Transgenic crops….Bt….and increased pesticide use

Use of this group of anticholinergic medications (some OTC) linked to increased risk of dementia

Microbial activity in tropical soils can impact the carbon cycle

Obama lost 6 hours off his life from spending 3 days in India breathing most toxic air in the world

Brucellosis, bison and elk in Yosemite...using science to determine any real risk

  • But the government (IBMP) is still rounding up bison and planning to kill them

New “Urban Waters Project” intended to restore the San Antonio River Basin in Texas

  • basin-project

BTEX in flow-back waters prompts investigation and halts coal gas project

Perspective: A more open-minded view of the Dark Ages: science & culture (video)

MRSA is not only a medical condition….it also is a very personal story if it happens to you

USDA orders development of revision of animal welfare research strategy

Canine distemper is spread by many species and is affecting the lions of Serengeti National Park

Our homes can be a most unhealthy place: heavy metals, toxic chemicals, bacteria …

Obama, his magic pen, ANWR, Alyeska Pipeline, Congressional deals, environmentalists and….

WH to ask for increase in budget to fight antibiotic resistance…will see how much is spent

Corridors designed in Florida to help protect the endangered panthers

Bighorn sheep dying in Yellowstone and in Idaho and Oregon

Lessons learned from the ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite: personal accountability, accepting a challenge, awareness of the environment, among others

US Department of Interior approves new transmission line project connecting NM and AZ

Oregon to consider request for home brewers to make beer with treated wastewater

Physiology and breeding techniques in ag industry resulted in one bull fathering half a million

Evolution is misunderstood by the masses: five mistakes made by reported that do not help