BBC News are reporting that a street in Windermere is causing motorists grief because for some unexplained reason car remote controls and similar devices will not work when they park there.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8505314.stm

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Monday, 8 February 2010
By Dan Collyns
BBC News, Lima

A colony of sea lions endemic to the Galapagos Islands have went 1,500km away, a Peru-based organisation which monitors the aquatic mammals has said.

The Organisation for Research and Conservation of Aquatic Animals says the sea lions have swum to northern Peru because of rising temperatures.

It says the temperature rise was caused by climate change.

Experts say it is the first time that Galapagos sea lions have set up a colony outside the islands.

The monitors say the water temperature in Piura, off the coast of northern Peru, has risen from 17C to 23C over the last 10 years.

The temperature is much closer to the sea temperature around the Galapagos Islands, which averages about 25C.

Now that the conditions of the sea around northern Peru are so similar to the Galapagos, they say, even more sea lions and other new marine species could start arriving.

Like so many native species in the Galapagos Islands, the sea lions are unique to the archipelago, located about 600 miles west of continental Ecuador.

Ever since the English naturalist, Charles Darwin, first visited the islands more than 150 years ago, they have become known as a living museum of evolution.

Now, thanks to global warming, that unique ecosystem could face unprecedented changes.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8503397.stm
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The chance of learning life on other worlds is greater than ever, according to Britain’s leading astronomer.

Lord Rees, the president of the Royal Society and Astronomer Royal, said such a discovery would be a moment which would change humanity.

It would change our view of ourselves and our place in the cosmos, he said.

His comments come as scientists gather in London for an international conference to discuss the prospect of learning extra-terrestrial life.

Scientists have been scanning the skies for radio broadcasts from intelligent life for 50 years, and so far they have only heard static.

But the chances of learning life now were better than ever, Lord Rees said.

He said: “Technology has advanced so that for the very first time we can really have the realistic hope of detecting planets no larger than the earth orbiting other stars.

“(We’ll be able to learn) whether they have continents and oceans, learning what type of atmosphere they have.

“Although it is a long shot to be able to learn more about any life of them, then it’s tremendous progress to be able to get some sort of image of another planet, rather like the earth orbiting another star.”

The recent deployment of space telescopes capable of detecting earth-like planets around distant stars now make it possible to focus the search.

“Were we to find life, even the simplest life, elsewhere that would clearly be one of the fantastic discoveries of the 21st Century.

“I suspect there could be life and intelligence out there in forms that we can’t conceive.

“And there could, of course, be forms of intelligence beyond human capacity, beyond as much as we are beyond a chimpanzee,” he added.

[via: news.bbc.co.uk]

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Friday, 22 January 2010

Five severely disabled turtles have arrived at a special sanctuary at Weymouth Sea Life Park in Dorset.

The Florida sea turtles, whose injuries range from paraplegia to shells hurt in collisions with boats, have all lost the ability to dive.

The BBC’s Phil Lavelle visited the park to see the turtles transferred to their new home.

He spoke to Richie Moretti from Florida Turtle Sanctuary who accompanied them on the 4,700-mile journey.

See video at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8473968.stm
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Sunday, 20 December 2009

An animal rights charity from East Sussex says it has made history by freeing the last dancing bear in India.

See video at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8423504.stm

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A Brazilian toddler has been found with some 40 needles inside him, which police say his stepfather inserted during a possible “black magic” ritual.

Police said Roberto Carlos Magalhaes had confessed to sticking the sewing needles into the two-year-ancient boy, and had been arrested.

Mr Magalhaes said his mistress had told him ritually to kill the child to take revenge on his wife.

Doctors are set to start operating on Thursday to remove some of the needles.

The toddler was taken to hospital in the north-eastern Bahia state by his mother, complaining of stomach pains and vomiting.

X-rays showed scores of sewing needles inside his neck, torso and legs. At least one had punctured a lung, another his liver.

Police said Mr Magalhaes had broken down and confessed after being arrested.

“He did that for revenge, to get back at his wife,” the police chief in the town of Ibotirama, Helder Fernandes Santana, was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.

“His mistress told him to kill the child through a macabre ritual,” Mr Santana said.

The boy’s mother told police she suspected the child had been the victim of a black magic ritual after she found suspicious objects in the home she shared with Mr Magalhaes – her husband of six months – and her six children.

Doctors said most of the needles would be removed, but not the ones inside organs as their removal could cause more hurt.

They said there were no signs of wounds on the boy.

Reports say the boy is in a serious condition, but that he has shown some improvement since being admitted to hospital on Sunday.

[via: news.bbc.co.uk]

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Monday, 14 December 2009

Special sites designed to safeguard the red squirrel population are to be established across Scotland.

Forestry Commission Scotland has announced that it will lead the work to plot the strongholds in the north of Scotland and Dumfries and Galloway.

They will be developed in areas free of grey squirrels, which are a threat to the red squirrels.

The 18 special sites will focus on ensuring food supplies for reds, and limiting food preferred by greys.

The red squirrel is one of the most endangered mammals in the UK, and the non-native grey squirrel is its main enemy.

The strongholds to protect the reds will be developed by Forestry Commission Scotland in association with landowners and managers, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Scottish government.

Each site will be at least 2000 hectares in size, which means around 100,000 hectares of the best forest sites in Scotland will be managed as refuges for red squirrels.

They will supplement the existing work to control the spread of greys and the squirrel pox virus they carry.

Welcoming the go, the Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham said:”Red squirrels are an vital and high-profile part of Scotland’s biodiversity so it is crucial that we do what we can to safeguard their long-term survival.”

The Head of Policy and Advice for Scottish Natural Heritage Ron McDonald said:”Grey squirrels have already displaced red squirrels from most of England and Wales, as well as Scotland’s central belt.

“Fortunately much of the north of Scotland and Dumfries and Galloway are still grey-free.

“But with sightings of greys becoming more frequent even in some of these areas, it’s essential that we act quickly to protect red squirrels and prevent the greys’ further migration.”

Forestry Commission Scotland will work with landowners and local communities to finalise stronghold maps and develop suitable management plans in all the proposed 18 locations.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8412532.stm

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Tuesday, 8 December 2009

Scientists from space agency Nasa are testing a mineral only found in one corner of Scotland to see if it can provide clues about life on Mars.

Macaulayite is only believed to exist at a quarry at the foot of Bennachie in Aberdeenshire.

Researchers reckon it could be the same mineral which gives the planet its red colour.

Samples have now been sent to a testing centre in California in an attempt to verify its presence.
Macaulayite was learned by researchers from Aberdeen’s Macaulay Institute in the late 1970s.

The mineral is formed in the presence of water so if it does occur on the surface of Mars it could provide proof the planet can sustain life.

It is formed from granite which has been weathered by tropical climates from before the last Ice Age.

The team which found it was led by mineralogist Jeff Wilson, who is now retired.

Dr Wilson told BBC Scotland: “It is exciting because this particular mineral contains water.

“It’s a very fine grain mineral and water is bound to the inner surfaces.

“There’s been a lot of speculation about the occurrence of water on Mars. We don’t know but it could be associated with this mineral.”

The US space agency Nasa is conducting tests on Macaulayite.

Dr Janice Bishop, a Mars specialist from the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence Institute, said: “All life forms as we know it require liquid water so if we can really find periods of time or places on the planet where there was standing water then the chance of life having formed increase greatly.”

Only limited data has been collected about the surface of Mars, through orbiters and probe landings.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east/8400025.stm

(Submitted by Dave McCann)

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