Fighting Words: Google, Iran spar over Gulf’s name
The Media Line Staff Tehran, Iran David Rosenberg (The Medi – There is a new Gulf war underway, but be careful what you call it. Google unwittingly sparked the conflict last week when it dropped the name “Persian Gulf” from the body of water separating Iran from the Arabian Peninsula. It declined to call it the “Arabian Gulf” or simply “the Gulf,” either, perhaps making its 250,000 square kilometers 97,000 square miles) the biggest landmark on Google Maps to go nameless. Iran, the modern state of Persia, lost no time in launching an attack on Google. “Google['s] fabricating lies… will not have any outcome but for its users to lose trust in the data the company provides,” Bahman Dorri, Iran’s deputy minister of culture and Islamic guidance, told the Fars News Agency on Saturday. Google’s nameless decision is the latest in a controversy over the Gulf’s name that goes back to the 1960s and has ensnared everyone from the Asian Games, to the U.S. Navy to National Geographic magazine. On one side is Iran, which has adopted the Gulf’s Persian name as a symbol of national grandeur; on the other are the Arab Gulf countries, who fear Iran is staking a territorial claim. “The name of the Gulf has become a highly emotive controversy in the region, to an extent that can be difficult to understand,” Jane Kinninmont, senior research fellow at the Middle East and North Africa Program at London’s Chatham House, told The Media Line. Google’s decision came only days after Iran’s “National Day of the Persian Gulf,” which is marked April 30 to commemorate the 16th-century battle in which the Iranian Navy defeated the Portuguese. A spokesman for Google couldn’t immediately provide any comment on the decision or why it was taken now. The dispute has taken on an added dimension as the two sides spar over Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Saudi Arabia and most of the other Gulf Arab powers have sided with the West in seeking to rein in Tehran and have accused Iranian leaders of fomenting Shiite unrest in their Sunni-majority countries. Analysts are not sure whether Iran is, in fact, stirring up trouble in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. But Tehran has certainly engaged in symbolic warfare. Last month, its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, visited Abu Musa, an island whose sovereignty is disputed with the United Arab Emirates. Earlier in the year it staged naval exercises in the Strait of Hormuz, the channel that connects the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, two bodies of water whose names have not attracted any controversy. …
Biggest full moon of year will be this weekend
Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter Washington, D.C, United States (AHN) – This Saturday, the biggest full moon of the year will be visible, and astronomers are giddy at the prospect. The moon will be at its closest point to Earth Saturday at the same time it is full. Scientists call this phenomenon a lunar pedigree, or as it more familiarly known, a “Super Moon.” A Super Moon is nothing short of an awesome sight and, despite conspiracy theorists who love to create a stir and link this type of moon with myriad hurricanes, floods and other not-so-kind acts of Mother Nature, scientists refute any such occurrences as nothing more than coincidence. So, get out the telescopes and cameras for some spectacular, once a year, views of the moon. Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved
Time quicker than previously thought
The Media Line Staff Jerusalem, Israel Arieh O’Sullivan / The Me – What’s a few hundred million years when you’re talking about the formation of the 4.5- billion-year-old solar system? Quite a lot if you’re an astrophysicist it seems. Researchers from Israel, the U.S. and Japan are now saying that the nuclear clock used to measure the age of the solar system has been “ticking faster” than previously thought and that the Earth formed much more quickly than originally believed. “We determined that half life of the geological clock ticks faster,” Michael Paul, a professor of nuclear physics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told The Media Line. Paul and his team from the University of Notre Dame and the Argonne National Laboratory and two Japanese universities, reexamined samarium 146, one of the main isotopes used to chart the evolution of the solar system. They found that its half life was only 68 million years and not the 103 million as previously assumed. “The age of the solar system has not changed. But the time it took to form the Earth as it is at present with its mantel and crust and rocks and so on according to this new measurement is shorter than it was estimated before,” Paul said. The findings, published in the journal Science, have yet to be accepted by the astrophysicist community. Nor do the findings alter the age of the universe, which is generally believed to have been formed about 4.6 billion years ago. Measuring half lives of atomic nuclei was first developed in the mid 20th century. Radiocarbon dating was invented in Chicago in the 1940s and has been used to date artifacts by measuring the half life of Carbon 14, which is a few thousand years. But when it came to measuring things such as the history of the earth and solar system, chronometers with much longer lives were needed. This particular heavy element, samarium-146, was “live” in our sun and solar system when they were born and could be used as “mineral archives” for their slow pace of decay, or half life that could be measured in dozens of millions of years. “What we determined is that this time scale associated with its half life was shorter than what was estimated before,” Paul said. According to the research, everything in our solar system formed from star dust several billion years ago. The findings also are…
‘Titanic’ director reaches deepest depth of the oceasn
Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter Los Angeles, CA, United States (AHN) – James Cameron has become the first solo explorer to reach the deepest point of the ocean, some seven miles down. The legendary filmmaker attained the feat when his custom-built one-man submarine touched down in the western Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench at 7:52 a.m. local time Monday (5:52 p.m. Eastern time Sunday), according to a statement from the National Geographic Society, the sponsor of the scientific exploration Cameron, a Hollywood icon and Academy winner, radioed, “all systems okay” after hitting bottom at a depth of 35,756 feet. He directed films such as “Titanic” and “The Abyss.” According to the National Geographic Society, Cameron used an intermittent communication link to the mother ship, the Mermaid Sapphire, to tweet of his feat, “just arrived at the ocean’s deepest pt. Hitting bottom never felt so good. Can’t wait to share what I’m seeing w/you.” Cameron’s pictures and samples from “down under” will be used for research. Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved
Japanese scientists probe brains of killer honeybees
Linda Young – AHN News Writer Tokyo, Japan (AHN) – Researchers in Japan studying killer honeybees say they measured the insect’s brain activity in response to an invasion. Japanese honeybees mount a defense against the giant hornet when it invades their hive by forming a “bee ball” around the invader, which cooks and asphyxiates it. European honeybees do not exhibit this behavior and their hives are often destroyed, the researchers say. A team of researchers from the University of Tokyo led by Professor Takeo Kubo measured the brain activity of Japanese honeybees when they form this killer heat ball by simulating an invasion. Then they removed a few of the bees from the ball and measured the relative amount of a certain chemical throughout each of their brains The team published their findings in the open-access journal, PLoS One. “In the present study, we attempted to analyze the neural basis of this behavior by mapping the active brain regions of Japanese honeybee workers during the formation of a hot defensive bee ball,” Kubo wrote. Kubo said they found changes in the neurons in certain areas of the Japanese worker honeybee that were involoved in forming the hot defensive ball of bees. Moreover, the changes were restricted to only those areas of the brain. Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved
Solar storm approaching Earth puts power grids at risk
Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Power grids as well as radio and satellite communications may be disrupted in the coming days as a solar flare approaches Earth, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warns. The radiation storm has already caused blackouts in high-frequency radios used by airlines and emergency services, at the planet’s North and South Poles and other regions, according to a statement on the NOAA website. The agency “is evaluating the potential for a moderate to strong geomagnetic storm resulting from a significant explosion from the sun’s corona Tuesday evening,” NOAA said. “The so-called coronal mass ejection may reach Earth by early Thursday morning.” The storm is the largest of its kind in five years. While the storm may wreak havoc with cellphones, computers, communication systems and cause trouble for airlines, it is creating some of the most spectacular views of Northern Lights. Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved
Nepal wants help to double-check height of Everest
Anil Giri – AHN News Correspondent Kathmandu, Nepal (AHN) – The Nepali government is seeking technical and financial assistance from the international community to–once again–determine the height of Mt. Everest, considered the world’s tallest mountain. The plan to re-measure the mountain came after Nepal and China differed over just how tall it is. During a border-related dialogue, China said it had conducted a unilateral inspection of the mountain and found that the mountain’s rock height was 8,844.42 meters and 8,847.933 meters with snow deposit. The height of Mt Everest was described as 8,848.13 meters in the Nepal-China border treaty. A joint proposal being prepared by the Department of Survey (DoS) of Nepal will be submitted to the interested donor community to fund the 3-year-long project. “We need various kind of equipment, experts, manpower, technology and other logistic to complete this multi-year project. For this, we have developed a joint module to gauge the height by the help of donor community and interested scientists,” DoS Director General Krishna Raj BC told All Headlines News. It takes three years to measure Everest from sea level to the peak. Almost one year is required to measure the height down from sea level to Namche Bazzar to Everest Base Camp. In the second step, surveyors will find the exact height after analyzing the gathered data, then surveyors will measure the gravity of heights gradually, considered a very tough job because of minus-50 degree temperatures in the Everest region. After the first and second steps, GPS and other technology will be installed at Everest Base Camp and atop the peak where surveyors will collect data before determining the exact height of Everest. “We need hardware, software, experts, human resources like Sherpas and mountaineering those who can spend months in chilled temperature and other logistics that can work in frozen temperature,” said BC. “We do not have capacity of our own to carry out all these tasks. That is why we need others’ help.” “If the renowned scientific community joins hand with us, it would easy to get recognition from the international community. This is another reason why we are seeking international support,” he added. Mt. Everest was first measured by BL
World’s largest kidney transplant chain carried out in U.S.
Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter Joiley, IL, United States (AHN) – It all started with Rick Ruzzamenti, a 44-year-old from Riverside, California. On impulse, inspired after hearing a moving story while grocery from a woman he didn’t know, who gave one of her kidneys to a relative, he decided to donate a kidney to a complete stranger. He was resolute, even after his wife threatened to leave him. What followed was a domino chain of transplants that took place over four months, involved 60 patients and 30 kidneys at 17 hospitals across 11 states. It ended with Donald C. Terry Jr, from Joliet, Illinois, who was dying of renal failure and had no family either willing to or able to donate a kidney to him. Because Mr. Ruzzamenti was not a match for Mr. Terry, staff at the National Kidney Registry set up a series of connected transplant operations which connected people willing to donate with those in need of a kidney. The linked procedures, called Chain 124, were carried out between Aug. 15 and Dec. 20, 2011. All but one of the patients involved have now come forward to share their role in these record-breaking, history making and life-saving series of transplants. Those involved include husbands who donated to wives, children for a parent, a nephew for an uncle, a mother-in-law for her daughter’s son, and an ex-boyfriend for a former girlfriend. The kidneys traveled on commercial airlines all across the United States, from coast to coast, in specially iced cardboard boxes with GPS tracking devices attached. Since the recipients were not well enough to travel, the operations could not be done simultaneously. That meant that trust was placed in the hands of the donors, even as fears lingered that some might pull out. In the end, all of the donors kept their sides of the bargain. This heart-warming story has a storied and happy ending. But not all kidney patients have such as happily-ever-after ending. Currently, some 400,000 Americans with kidney failure undergo dialysis daily, and every year, 4,500 die while waiting for a transplant. Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved
World’s smallest chameleon found in Madagascar
Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter San Diego, CA, United States (AHN) – A chameleon small enough to sit on the tip of a human finger has been found in Madagascar by a research team from San Diego State University. The tiny animal, smaller than a fingernail, has been given the scientific name Brookesia micra. It is believed to be one of the smallest reptiles in the world, according to a report published in the Feb. 15 issue of the journal PLoS One . Adult males of the species grow to just over half-inch from nose to bottom, making them one of the smallest vertebrae ever found on Earth. From nose to tail, adults of both sexes grow to only 1 inch in length. The research team searched for the tiny lizards under the cover of darkness, using headlamps and flashlights to seek out the sleeping chameleons. All four species are active during the day, and at night they climb onto branches to sleep. Researchers noted that at least two of the newly discovered chameleon species are extremely threatened because of habitat loss and deforestation in Madagascar. Chameleons are a distinctive and highly specialized class of lizards. Uniquely adapted for climbing and visual hunting, some 160 species have been identified in regions across Africa, Portugal, Sri Lanka, Spain, Asia, Hawaii, and California. Chameleons, which can grow up to a foot long, are often kept as household pets. They can change colors to match their environment, and use their long, sticky tongues to catch prey. Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved
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