Haiti food crisis

People are queuing for hours for much-needed food delivered by ActionAid, and with over a million people still homeless and living on handouts in Haiti's capital alone, ActionAid are providing a vital lifeline.

This video was provided by ActionAid, which has been running child sponsorship programmes in Haiti for over 10 years, building better lives for children and their families.

ActionAid is providing immediate relief and support to people affected by the earthquake and is committed to restoring lives and livelihoods in the long term.

Source : http://blogs.yourdiscovery.com/discovery-news/2010/02/haiti-food-crisis.html#more#

Mining Mars? Where's the Ore?

By Larry O'Hanlon

Future Mars prospectors will likely find mineral riches in some unusual settings, say planetary scientists studying the different ways valuable metals might have been concentrated on the red planet.

On Earth, surface waters, ground waters and even chemicals left by living things play major roles in leaching, concentrating and depositing valuable metals and minerals like iron, gold, silver, nickel, copper and many more.

But on Mars there are no oceans or surface waters; no microorganisms either. What's more, the planet is so cold that even groundwater is frozen as permafrost and functions as little more than another mineral in the ground.

So where does a starving miner look on Mars for usable quantities of ore?

Try the volcanoes and impact craters, says planetary scientist Michael West of Australian National University in Canberra and the Mars Institute.

West is the lead author of a paper summing up what can and can't say about usable ores on Mars, which will appear in the March issue of the journal Planetary and Space Science. Among one of West's conclusions: Mars is no place to get rich.

"If you are going to Mars you are not going to see large scale mining deposits that you'll be shipping back to Earth," West told Discovery News. "But it could be good for settlement activities."

The vast volcanic landscapes of Mars, for instance, are analogous to what geologists call the "Large Igneous Provinces" (LIPs) of Earth. These are areas where lots of lava poured out over the surface -- as in, for example, Siberia, India and many parts of western North America.

Elements that are extracted from Earth's LIPs include nickel, copper, titanium, iron, platinum, palladium and chromium.

Mars' large volcanoes mountains themselves might also prove fruitful, says SETI planetary scientist Adrian Brown.

"We never know what we're going to find around the volcanic edifices," said Brown. "But they are covered with dust" and not ideal places to land rovers for exploration. So it might be a while before we ever find out.

Other potential mineral hot spots are the abundant large impact craters on Mars, said West. One reason is that craters offer up exposed rocks to prospect, which saves a lot of digging.

They are also places where there was a lot of heat which sometimes lasted for hundreds of thousands of years after the impact. That means any water frozen in the ground was turned to liquid and even steam, which can leach minerals and elements from local rocks and then deposit them in more concentrated forms in cracks (called veins of ore) and in hydrothermal vents.

On Earth vein ores rich in copper, zinc, lead and gold are found in the Sudbury impact structure in Canada. Other impact-related ores in the United States and Sweden have yielded silver, lead, zinc and barium, West said.

It's also important to remember that because of Mars' different history, some minerals found on Earth simply will not exist on Mars, said West's co-author Jonathan Clarke of Australian Center for Astrobiology at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

"Mars has a different crust than Earth, and very different atmosphere" and so its minerals are going to be no less different.

Source : http://news.discovery.com/space/mars-prospecting-ores-gold.html

Nasa rides 'bucking bronco' to Mars

By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC News Advertisement How to put a science lab on Mars It weighs almost a tonne, has cost more than $2bn and, in 2013, it will be lowered on to the surface of Mars with a landing system that has never been tried before. The Mars Science Laboratory will "revolutionise investigations in science on other planets", says Doug McCuistion, director of Nasa's Mars exploration programme. It will, he says, lay the foundations for future missions that will eventually bring pieces of the Red Planet back home to Earth. "The ability to put a metric tonne on the surface... gives us the capability to undertake sample collection," says Dr McCuistion. "To collect and launch samples back into orbit will require that size of a vehicle." But it has been a rather bumpy road to revolution. It behoves us to plan our steps on Mars carefully Adrian Brown, Seti Institute The project has been struggling with technical challenges for several years, but Jim Green, the director of Nasa's planetary science division, recently announced to the planetary science subcommittee that the project had finally turned the corner. Adrian Brown, a planetary scientist from the Seti Institute in California, has been watching the project's progress closely. He says that MSL managers have been riding a "bucking bronco" since it was first proposed. The first official cost estimate for MSL's budget was set out in 2003. It was to be a "lander to carry out sophisticated surface observations and to validate sample return technologies". It would be a "medium cost" project. So stated a document published by the National Research Council (NRC), which said that projects in this medium price bracket would come in at under $650m (£412m). MSL is described as "Mini Cooper-sized" But, at this point, the extent of the technology aboard MSL had been sketched out in only the most general terms. NRC's estimate was very modest. In 2006, the US Congress approved a figure of $1.63bn for the mission. This was the estimate from Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), whose engineers would build the mobile laboratory, as well as an audacious "sky crane" system to land it safely on Mars. The most recent estimate for the total cost is just under $2.4bn (£1.5bn). This discrepancy led some scientists to criticise JPL for poor management. And many feel that the project is bigger than it needs to be. Dr Brown points out that we could have learned more about Mars by "going to a variety of landing sites with smaller robots but more accurate landing systems, so we could get on to challenging terrains". "MSL is a fantastically capable vehicle, and should provide some great science," he says. "But it behoves us to plan our steps on Mars carefully and deliver on the public expectations of a cool and exciting, but well planned, robotic exploration of the planet." Dr McCuistion argues that the budget "has not slipped dramatically" and stresses that MSL will indeed be worth it. "This is completely the next step," he says. "We're essentially taking a small chemistry lab and compressing it into a rover." Launch delay The technical problems that plagued MSL - also known as "Curiosity" rover - eventually led Nasa, in 2008, to postpone the launch date by two years to 2011 - a delay estimated to have cost $200m. Dr Brown says that the decision to make the rover so large turned it into something that JPL's engineers could not accomplish before the 2009 initial launch date. Nasa plans to launch MSL to the Red Planet in 2011 The problems were mainly in two areas, says Dr McCuistion. "The first was the avionics," he explains. "They were brand new… and much more challenging to build than expected. "The other thing was the actuators. These are motors, each with a transmission built into one integral unit." The sheer size and weight of MSL made these motors extremely complicated. In the largest of the rover's 50 actuators, there are up to 600 parts. "They're designed to operate at very low voltage but create very high torque levels - to be able to move this 900kg rover, and they have to operate over an extreme range of temperatures," says Dr McCuistion. The motors will drive the "Mini Cooper-sized rover" as well as move robotic arms that will reach out and grab samples from the surface of Mars for analysis by its on-board scientific instruments. Putting these huge technical challenges aside, there was one nasty shock for Nasa that contributed to the delay. The agency unwittingly used a "bad batch" of titanium to build more than 1,000 parts on MSL. Nasa purchased what it believed was military grade titanium from California-based Western Titanium. "Someone [at that company] made a mistake," says Dr Green. "They certified that the titanium they were selling us, and that we were using, had a certain capability. It didn't." This has meant painstaking verification of all of the titanium parts - to check they have the structural strength to withstand the launch. "We're not quite done with that," says Dr Green. "But it doesn't look like it will be a show-stopper." Back on track With the budget settling down and the technical problems being gradually ticked off the list, Nasa now has to decide where to land its precious roving laboratory. The planetary sciences advisory panel has looked at more than 50 possible landing sites and whittled those down to four finalists. The ultimate aim is to set MSL down safely (and softly), close to an area that looks scientifically interesting. We're looking at habitat potential - indicators of life rather than life itself Doug McCuistion, Nasa "All four of the finalists are very high science merit and it's unclear which one will emerge as the winner," says John Grant, a scientist from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, and a member of the advisory panel. "The single objective of MSL is habitability," he says. "That entails looking at geologic environments that may not only have been habitable but where signals associated with that habitability have been preserved." Dr Grant avoids using what he calls the "four letter word". MSL, he says, is not a life detection mission. Doug McCuistion says: "We're looking at habitat potential - indicators of life rather than life itself." Three orbiters currently keeping a close eye on Mars from space, have pointed Nasa to the most scientifically enticing sites. Where will MSL land? Enlarge Image "We have seen clays on the surface from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), which is extremely exciting," says Dr McCuistion. "That shows us long periods of water." MRO's camera can also identify potential dangers - showing the scientists boulders as small as 1m across that might damage the valuable rover. Nasa scientists want to find an area where the geology could have preserved signals of life. They hope to set down on a flat landscape within reach of rocky minerals, such as sulphates and phyllosilicates, which, at least on Earth, are associated with the preservation of fossils. The team will make its final landing site recommendation to Nasa early in 2011. Gently does it And how do you go about guiding and landing a tonne of scientific equipment on to the surface of a planet more than 55 million kilometres away? For this, JPL's engineers have come up with a new system - the sky crane. "You can think of it as a rocket-powered helicopter that will hover and then lower MSL to the surface on a harness called a bridle," says Doug McCuistion. "It lands on its wheels and as soon as it puts its mast up, it's ready to go." Once this system has safely delivered MSL to Mars' surface, it will be used for other large rovers and platforms for sample return missions that Nasa plans to embark upon after 2020. MSL's parachute was tested in the world's largest wind tunnel But this mission remains the sky crane's first and only test. "The only place you can test it end-to-end is on Mars, so it carries a certain risk," says Dr McCuistion. "Setting down MSL is definitely the most nerve-wracking part. It's hard to hold your breath for six minutes." If all goes well, Nasa says the stage will be set for the next big step forward - bringing samples back from Mars. This is something that Nasa and the European Space Agency (Esa) were planning to work on collaboratively. This mission's creeping budget, however, brought the two agencies together early to work on an orbiter set for launch in 2016. It's only one rover and it's only going to be looking at one spot on Mars Adrian Brown, Seti Institute This has meant a reprieve for the orbiter. "We had [made the decision to go] from a lander, because of MSL's budget needs, to a small orbiter mission," explains Dr McCuistion. "That did dramatically limit the science we could do in 2016. But partnership with Esa allowed us to go back to a full-sized orbiter, with full science complement and telecommunications capability. "It came at a very advantageous time." But Dr Brown says this Nasa-Esa mission has only come about because of "the unexpected growth of MSL" and that, without the motivation of another lander project, JPL might struggle to keep its engineers interested. "It will be an exciting mission to look for methane in the atmosphere," he says. "Missing the opportunity to put a rover on the surface in 2016 and 2018 will seriously strain Nasa's ability to keep rover engineers at JPL on staff and ready for the Mars sample return mission around 2020." Shrinking back Dr Brown warns that Nasa could be putting all of its eggs in one very expensive basket. "MSL is only one rover," he says, "and it's only going to be looking at one spot on Mars. It has meant that the Mars programme will be shrunk in the latter half of this decade." Alan Stern, formerly associate administrator for Nasa's science mission directorate, has gone much further. In a 2008 article in the New York Times, he likened Nasa missions' inflated costs to a "cancer overtaking our space agency". He also said that he was admonished by Nasa executives when he attempted to curtail the cost increases associated with science missions, including MSL. These confrontations eventually led to his resignation in early 2008. A scale model of MSL dwarfs the previous two generations of Nasa Mars rover "The costs of badly run Nasa projects are paid for with cutbacks or delays in Nasa projects that didn't go over budget," he wrote. "Hence the guilty are rewarded and the innocent are punished." But Dr McCuistion remains bullish about the budget and very positive about the science and engineering value of MSL. He tells BBC News: "It has not taken money away from anything else. When we had to move the launch date, I had to pay for that with my 2016 budget. "MSL is the most capable system ever put on the surface of another planet," he continues. "It eclipses the Viking landers in its ability to do chemical analysis on the surface of Mars. "It's also guided entry, so we will be able to access areas of the planet we never have before." Dr Brown stresses that, should MSL succeed, it will indeed be a "great outcome". "It will give us the capability to land all the components of a Mars sample return mission, hopefully around 2020," he says. "But, to keep us on that path, JPL must openly review its overhead, planning and costs procedures, so that Mars sample return can become a reality." The Mast Camera (Mastcam) will take images and video footage of the terrain Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) will allow MSL to examine samples Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) will take colour video during the rover's descent Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) will measure chemical elements in rocks and soils by exposing material to alpha particles and X-rays Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) will fire a laser and analyze the composition of the materials it vaporises Chemistry & Mineralogy X-Ray Diffraction/X-Ray Fluorescence Instrument (CheMin) will measure the abundances of various minerals Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite will search for organic compounds that are associated with life Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) will prepare for future human exploration, measuring high-energy radiation on the planet's surface Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) will look for neutrons escaping from the planet's surface. If liquid or frozen water happens to be present, hydrogen atoms slow the neutrons down Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) will monitor the weather on Mars

Curler's game show win helps bring family to Olympics

By Steve Almasy, CNN

Chris Plys says he is happy he can experience his first Olympics with his father and other family members

Vancouver, British Columbia (CNN) -- Chris Plys is like most 22-year-olds. He loves to use Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, loves his iPhone, loves listening to all types of music, loves hanging out with his buddies at night shooting pool.

And he loves his folks. That's why when he made the U.S. Olympic curling team, it was especially important to find a way to make sure his parents could come see him at the games, even if he might not play. It is his first Olympics, and he wanted them to share it with him.

Every dollar helps, and it's not like curlers are pulling down seven figures. So when Plys found out about a reality game show on the E! network called "Bank of Hollywood," he was all about getting some cash for his parents. On the show, contestants ask a panel of four celebrity judges to donate money for their causes.

A friend helped him put together a video. They sent it in to the show's producers, and he got the call. Well, he got a bunch of calls, one a week, until the "You made the final cut" one came in.

He didn't tell his parents about the show. They only found out when a TV crew came to shoot a background video at their home.

"I kind of wanted to have a surprise to give them," he said Tuesday in between curling matches at the Vancouver Olympic Center. "They were super happy [when he was awarded $6,500 by the judges]. They have been through a lot these last few years with the whole thing with my dad's health."

Plys father, Patrick, was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2007, and Chris immediately thought about not playing. But Patrick assured his son he would be fine.

"You can either be scared to death, or you can take every part of your being and your spirituality and fight as hard as you can" Patrick Plys told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis in January. "We as a family had a great support network around us with our church community and our friends, and we were going to fight."

Before Chris would go on the road to a tournament, Patrick would write him a letter, and Chris would keep it in his pocket when he played.

When Chris led the U.S. team to the world junior championships in 2008, Patrick was unable to go to Sweden because of his treatment. Chris Plys said a friend helped set up a Web cam to broadcast the matches so his dad and others back home could see the results. Knowing his dad could watch was an inspiration.

"It motivates you because I felt like I was also playing for him," Chris Plys said. He still does.

Patrick was pronounced cancer-free a few months ago and is in Vancouver supporting his son.

Chris Plys' appearance on "Bank of Hollywood" helped more than just his family. It helped him get noticed by people who never watch curling.

Then again, it's pretty easy to notice the 6-foot-1, lithely built Plys. One member of the game show panel, singer Melody Thornton of the Pussycat Dolls, asked him on a date while another, Wilhelmina agency President Sean Patterson, said Plys should consider modeling.

Plys, though, is much more interested in a musical career. Back home, he plays gigs with his band. Asked to compare himself to a popular singer, Plys said his sound is like John Mayer. His look is, too.

Plys brought his guitar to the games, and the other night was pleased to tweet that he was on the penthouse suite of a building in the Athletes Village, strumming out some tunes. He said he might pen a song while he's here.

"I was plucking away last night, writing a few things down," he said. "I'm definitely going to try to have a song written by the end of the Games."

He's not opposed to making appearances in front of the camera, though. Since he has been here, he's taped segments for MTV and an NBC Olympics feature. It's all for curling, he says.

"It's starting to get a lot bigger because a lot of people are starting to see that I don't look like a typical curler, especially off the ice," he said. Then he laughed while recounting how people in the village have mistaken him constantly for a snowboarder because of the way he dresses and wears his hair.

Twitter also helps promote the sport -- "For me, it's blown up," he said -- so Plys tweets from his spot as an alternate during the matches.

The first day was a battle against nerves for the team, he said. The U.S. lost to Germany and Norway. As for him, he'll stay focused, he said, ready to help in any way he can. That is his nature, after all.

E-mail scams exploiting Haiti earthquake generosity

By Razia Iqbal
BBC News

Criminal gangs have been cashing in on the Haiti earthquake by seeking funds for bogus charities via millions of spam e-mails, a BBC investigation has learned.

The Haiti earthquake led to millions of pounds being raised to help people with next to nothing who, literally overnight, found they had even less.

But alongside genuine appeals and donations, something more sinister started to emerge.

Within days, scam e-mails began appearing on the internet. Some had what looked like logos from genuine charities.

One said it was from the British Red Cross, but was traced to a computer in Nigeria; another used the Unicef logo, but was nothing to do with them.

Our investigation focused on two e-mails. One was from a charity called Help the World, which is not registered with the Charity Commission.

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Razia Iqbal and the BBC team confront one of the fraudsters

There was a mobile number on the e-mail which we rang. A man responded and told us how the funds they were raising were being used.

He told us: "We are repairing the centre of the disaster in Haiti. We focus on the schools in Haiti. We have to let the children have their future back, you know without education there's no future."

None of this was true. Scam e-mails tend to list only mobile numbers, which a bona fide charity would steer clear of.

We checked with the Charity Commission, who have no record of Help the World.

However, unusually for such e-mails, there was a London address which we checked out. It turned out to be a jazz and blues bar.

A second group we investigated called itself the M E Foundation and was also not registered with the Charity Commission.

In the e-mails, a Mr David Isco Iker was said to be running the charity. I asked him how they were getting their donations and what they were using the money for.

He said: "We get mostly phone donations... mostly for food, medical supplies."

This was all also untrue. Unsolicited, the M E Foundation sent us photographs of the Haiti projects they said they were involved with.

One showed rows of white tents with a logo on each one. We discovered the camp belonged to the well established Cambridge-based charity, SOS Children.

Chief executive of SOS Children, Andrew Cates, told us the picture was one of theirs, cut and pasted from their website, and not from Haiti, but from the Pakistani earthquake a few years ago.

He said: "The problem is it's not just about exploiting a donor or a charity, really they're exploiting the victims. Because they're taking money people want to give to the victims of these natural disasters and they're stealing it.

"So I don't feel that they're robbing me, I feel that they're taking from the mouths of children we're trying to help and that is something which is very difficult not to get angry about."

HOW TO AVOID SCAMS Make sure emails are genuine. If you have any concerns about a request for donations that appears to come from a charity, contact the charity directly Ask for a charity collector's identification and the charity's name and registration number Check if a charity is on the public register of charities at www.charitycommission.gov.uk If you think you have been targeted, report it to the police or contact the Charity Commission If you want to donate to a particular charity online, visit the charity's website Source: Charity Commission

Research from the Office of Fair Trading shows that last year, around two million people were conned out of cash via scam e-mails of various kinds.

But given the scale and nature of the Haiti tragedy, there is something quite different about this cyber crime.

Richard Hurley from Cifas, the UK's fraud prevention service, said: "They're very sophisticated and with that sophistication goes a large level of a very insidious nature which deliberately preys on your feelings for those innocent victims and your desire to help them.

"So it's making use of human suffering and the best in human nature at the same time simply for commercial profit."

The evidence against the M E Foundation was piling up. Their listed address in London turned out to be a newsagents which had been there for 20 years.

The newsagent said he was offended to learn that people were stealing money from others and using his address as a cover.

The other address listed for the M E Foundation was in Malaga, so we went there to try to talk to the people involved. We told our contact in Spain we would send our donation for the charity via courier.

The address given to us was in a run-down area of Malaga, and our courier waited for the contact. It all happened in a flash.

Our courier spoke to the man, in Spanish, very briefly. He clearly identified himself as the man I had spoken to.

However, as soon as the BBC team appeared with a camera and a microphone, he fled, shedding his coat, flip flops, and fake ID.

Taliban commander's capture called biggest since 9/11

Washington (CNN) -- The seizure of the Afghan Taliban's top military leader in Pakistan represents a turning point in the U.S.-led war against the militants, U.S. officials and analysts said.

The arrest of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar represents the most significant Taliban capture since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, a senior Obama administration official said Tuesday.

Baradar has been a close associate of Osama bin Laden's and is seen as the No. 2 figure in the Afghan Taliban, behind Mullah Muhammar Omar.

"If anyone would know where the senior leaders are of al Qaeda and the Taliban, then Baradar is someone who would be privy to that kind of information," said M.J. Gohel, executive director of the Asia-Pacific Foundation.

It's "major success for the CIA" and "a major blow for the Taliban," Gohel said.

The United States has tried to target Baradar for years, a senior U.S. official said.

The arrest also represents a "new level of cooperation" between Pakistani and American forces working to rout the Taliban, said U.S. Sen. John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and co-author of legislation designed to improve cooperation between Pakistan and the United States.

Described as a savvy and modern military leader, Baradar was arrested in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi several days ago, a senior Pakistani intelligence official said. The official asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Baradar is being held in joint custody and investigated by both the CIA and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency, another senior Pakistani source said.

Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman in Afghanistan, denied that Baradar had been captured. He said Baradar is continuing his operations and is in Afghanistan.

Another Afghan Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, also denied Baradar had been arrested. He said reports of his arrest are designed to demoralize the Afghan Taliban.

Despite confirmation of the arrest by Pakistani sources, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said he could not verify reports of the capture. He also denied reports the CIA and ISI conducted a secret raid that captured Baradar, saying the agencies share intelligence but that the CIA does not conduct raids on Pakistani soil.

Several raids in Karachi last week netted dozens of suspected Afghan militants, and intelligence agencies are in the process of verifying their identities, Malik said.

Baradar's arrest occurred as some 15,000 Afghan and NATO forces were battling the Taliban in the Marjah region of southern Afghanistan's Helmand province in the largest NATO offensive since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

It also comes weeks after the CIA ratcheted up its operations against the Taliban in apparent response to a December suicide attack that killed seven CIA officers in eastern Afghanistan.

And the arrest comes amid reports of major successes for the United States in its battle against the Taliban and associated militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, died recently after reports that a suspected U.S. drone strike targeted him in January, according to Taliban and Pakistani intelligence sources. The previous leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud, also died in a suspected U.S. drone strike.

CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen called Baradar's capture a "huge deal," saying he is "arguably more important than Mullah Omar from a military point of view, because Mullah Omar really is more of a religious figure than an operational commander of the Taliban."

"This guy also is the No. 2 political figure in the Taliban. The fact that he was discovered in Karachi is very significant. Karachi is the largest city in Pakistan. It's a long way from where the war is being fought," Bergen said Monday on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360°." The capture "indicates that the Pakistani intelligence services and CIA [are] cooperating very closely on a very high-value target."

A number of high-value targets, including Omar, have moved into Karachi from a region near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, where the Pakistani military and suspected U.S. drones have battled Taliban militants, a senior U.S. official said.

Bergen said the operation suggests the Pakistanis are willing to move not only against the Pakistani Taliban but also against the Afghan Taliban, which has its headquarters in Pakistan. Baradar also would have been in regular contact with Omar, Bergen added.

Robin Wright, a fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace, called the move a "huge catch in terms of understanding the organization," but she also said the "Taliban is in many ways a decentralized force, and it's not necessarily that he is going to be involved in knowing what every single unit on the ground is doing."

"The critical issue is how much will he talk and provide information on where other assets are, potentially where the Taliban in Pakistan are, and, of course, the United States would love to know where Osama bin Laden himself is," Wright said on "AC 360."

Wright also raised the issue of what will happen to Baradar when the interrogation concludes.

"One of the big questions, of course, is, what are they going to do with him?" Wright asked. "They can't take him to Guantanamo Bay. Are the Pakistanis going to prosecute him?"

According to Interpol, Baradar was born in 1968 in Weetmak village in the Dehrwood District of Uruzgan province in southern Afghanistan.

Bergen said Baradar and Omar run the Quetta Shura, which operates in southern Afghanistan.

"In terms of the information about the southern Afghanistan operations of the Taliban, this guy is potentially a gold mine," Bergen said. "I suspect he's not being read his Miranda rights by these Pakistani people who are interrogating him."

Last year, a Newsweek profile of Baradar described a man "who portrays himself as a loyal lieutenant" of Omar, but a significant power.

"Baradar appoints and fires the Taliban's commanders and governors; presides over its top military council and central ruling Shura in Quetta, the city in southwestern Pakistan where most of the group's senior leaders are based; and issues the group's most important policy statements in his own name," the article said, citing many sources.

"It is key that he controls the Taliban's treasury --hundreds of millions of dollars in narcotics protection money, ransom payments, highway tolls, and 'charitable donations.' "

The New York Times, which first reported Baradar's arrest, said the man helped issue a Taliban "code of conduct."

That booklet, which CNN obtained last year, called for restrictions on suicide attacks aimed at avoiding the killing of civilians.

"Mujahedeen must be well behaved and treat the people properly, in order to get closer to the hearts of civilian Muslims," the code said.

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Kenya rounds up zebras for starving lions

Nairobi, Kenya (CNN) -- Kenyan wildlife officials are ferrying thousands of zebras and wildebeest to a park in the country's south to feed starving lions and hyenas, and prevent a conflict with humans.

The animals will be hauled from four locations to restock Amboseli National Park's population, which lost 80 percent of its herbivores in a recent drought, said Kentice Tikolo, spokeswoman for the Kenya Wildlife Service.

"It was the worst drought in 26 years," Tikolo said. "The Amboseli ecosystem was severely affected. ... Lots of herbivores died, carnivores don't have anything to feed on, and have been attacking neighboring livestock."

The imbalance has sparked a row with villagers who lost animals in the drought and have threatened to kill lions and hyenas preying on remaining livestock.

Should the zebras be brought in to help the lions?

"There are only 2,000 lions left nationwide, and we are concerned because the numbers are dropping," the spokeswoman said.

"Maasais are getting angry and threatening to spear them -- the human versus wildlife conflict is getting out of hand -- and our carnivores are already greatly endangered."

About 4,000 zebras and 3,000 wildebeest will be transferred to Amboseli. The zebras will go first. The wildebeest will follow, after calving season, Tikolo said. Once at Amboseli, they're expected to breed and sustain the lions over the long term.

Shipping the animals from Soysambu Conservancy in the Rift Valley and three other nearby locations will cost about $ 1.4 million, according to Tikolo.

The animals are herded into a funnel-shape enclosure using helicopters and loaded into trucks to Amboseli. From there, they are released into the wild, she said.

Tourism is the second-largest source of foreign exchange in the east African nation. About 20 percent of the income comes from tourism, with Amboseli as the second -highest earner, Tikolo said

Lions are among the big five -- the list of top wildlife tourist attractions in the nation. Others are elephants, leopards, rhinos and buffalo.

Source :http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/02/11/lions.kenya/index.html

Brand new American Chopper for you Motorcycle Fans

If you're a fan of motorbikes, you've probably seen our new American Chopper website by now. But if the website launch (just in time for the new series) has passed you by, you might want to check out our new exclusive content!

Watch American Chopper video clips and be sure to take a look at the exclusive Top 10 Fights, a collection of the Teutuls' most heated exchanges!

Catch up on shows you might have missed with the episode guide, and go grab your very own piece of American Chopper in the free downloads section.

Plus, you can have your say on the show in the new American Chopper forum.

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Florida panthers getting mauled by cars

Florida panthers (Puma concolor coryi) and cars do not get along so well. Last year, cars struck and killed a record number of the federally endangered cats. Wildlife officials confirmed the sixteenth Florida panther death for 2009 on December 30th. The previous year only ten were struck and killed by cars, and the previous record was set in 2007 with 15 killed. With only a hundred in the wild, every single individual matters.

In a press release, Florida director for Defenders of Wildlife, Laurie Macdonald, said “Unless we take actions to avoid such tragic losses to Florida’s native wildlife, records such as these will continue to be reached each year as more and more roads and developments are built. The toll that vehicle collisions are taking on the panther’s population is a serious obstacle to their recovery, and the roads and vehicles themselves are inhibiting the panther’s efforts to expand its range.”

Still, the Florida panthers have started on the path toward recovery. In 1987, only 20 to 30 Florida panthers remained in the wild. This smaller and geographically isolated subspecies of the broader ranging mountain lion (also known as cougar, puma, panther, or catamount) may already suffer from inbreeding. Over the past couple of decades, conservation biologists have implemented some very successful measures to help the tawny cats recover, including building wildlife crossings that allow the panthers to cross busy roads without encountering traffic, and directional fencing that guides panthers away from busy roads. These measures have been taken on some roads but obviously not all, including the stretch where the sixteenth Florida panther of 2009 was killed.

Source : http://blogs.discovery.com/animal_news/2010/02/florida-panthers-getting-mauled-by-cars.html

American pikas denied federal protection

American pika were denied protection under the Endangered Species Act/ Credit National Park Service

They were poised to become the first species endangered due to climate change in the lower 48 states, but … they didn't. The Center for Biological Diversity had petitioned the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) to consider each of the subspecies of American pika (Ochotona princeps) as either threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (which I wrote about in June: pikas threatened on the mountaintops). But after reviewing the latest scientific information, FWS decided to deny protection for the pika, announcing their decision on Thursday, February 4th.

These cute rabbit relatives live primarily in and among alpine talus slopes (aka boulder fields) throughout the West, and research has shown that many populations have disappeared. Biologists recently failed to document pikas at many locales wher they lived in the 20th century.

A couple of years ago, I hiked up talus slopes in search of pikas in Glacier National Park with graduate student Lucas Moyer-Horner, who has studied pikas in the park for the past several years. I wrote about his research and the species' dilemma in “Silence of the Pikas” in the January issue of Bioscience. Despite the fact that many pikas live near the tiptops of mountains in cold and wind-swept regions, they are one of few species that do not hibernate in winter. Instead, they live off of haypiles they created during the summer months. Pikas live solitary lives, each defending its own territory. And they're highly sensitive to microclimate and can't tolerate increases in temperature within ther homes in the spaces between boulders, or interstices, during both warm months or cold snaps if there's not enough snow-pack to insulate their homes.

The FWS does not deny the importance of climate change for natural communities. When deciding to review the species, spokesperson Diane Katzenberger said, “The Service knows that climate change is real. It is the biggest conservation challenge of our time.” FWS used NOAA-led computer models to predict temperatures in typical pika habitat will likely rise 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit over the next century. Conservation groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity and Earthjustice were not happy with the decision to not list the pika. Some think that the decision is political, given that deciding to list the species due to the threat of global warming could have opened the floodgates to innumerable more petitions for species threatened by climate change.

Source: http://blogs.discovery.com/animal_news/2010/02/pikas-denied-federal-protection.html

Deadliest Catch' captain Phil Harris dies at age 53

Sad news this morning: Phil Harris, captain of the Cornelia Marie fishing boat featured on Deadliest Catch, has died in Alaska. He was 53.

Harris suffered a massive stroke on Jan. 29 while the Cornelia Marie was in port at St. Paul Island, Alaska. The boat captain was flown to Anchorage for surgery.

"It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to our dad - Captain Phil Harris. Dad has always been a fighter and continued to be until the end," sons Josh and Jake Harris said in a statement on the Cornelia Marie site. "For us and the crew, he was someone who never backed down."

In a statement the network said, "Discovery mourns the loss of dear friend and colleague Captain Phil Harris. He was more than someone on our television screen. Phil was a devoted father and loyal friend to all who knew him. We will miss his straightforward honesty, wicked sense of humor and enormous heart. We share our tremendous sadness over this loss with the millions of viewers who followed Phil's every move. We send our thoughts and prayers to Phil's sons Josh and Jake and the Cornelia Marie crew."

Source : http://content.usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2010/02/deadliest-catch-captain-phil-harris-dies-at-age-53/1

Saving the White Lion

Deep within the plains of South Africa resides the white lion striding majestically on its natural habitat the white color of the African lion is the genetic rarity once reviewed the sacred is now endangered of collapsed. The white lion is completely extinct in the wild they are only few hundred in the world all in the captivity. The African Lion like many carnivores goes to catastrophic declined from with in here on Africa 450000 to 20000 across the continent, and that is a terrifying collapse because the indicates that we could lose the African White Lions as a wild species; have to play our parts to conserve the African White Lions.

Video Available Here

Fewer than 50 Wild Tigers Left in China, Says Wildlife Conservation Society

Photo: World66, CC Wild tigers in China are on the Brink of Extinction Xie Yan, the China Country Program Director for the Wildlife Conservation Society, estimates that fewer than 50 South China Tigers are left in the wild, with about "10 still live in the southwestern province of Yunnan, some 15 in Tibet, and 20 or so in northwestern Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces." Even if take a step back and look at 12 Asian countries and Russia, it is estimated that only about 3,500 tigers are left in the wild, compared to around 100,000 at the beginning of the 20th century.

Photo: Wikipedia, CC Why Are the Tigers Gone? Habitat destruction and fragmentation is the main cause, along with the removal of most of the preys that tigers need to survive. But poaching is also problematic, with most of the demand coming from practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine and the illegal trade of pelts and bones. If we look farther back, we find that in 1959, "Mao Zedong, in the time of the Great Leap Forward, declared the tiger and other predators such as leopards and wolves to be pests and "enemies of the people"; as a result, several "anti-pest" campaigns started." (source) Captive Tigers Pretty much the only hope for the survival of tigers in China comes from the animals that are being bred in captivity. The Chinese authorities claim that: "There are close to 6,000 tigers that have been artifically bred and raised in China. These tigers can breed over 1,000 baby tigers every year." But this is not without problems. Experts warn it will be difficult for captive tigers to re-adapt to the wild, and genetic diversity needs to be maintained if the species is to have a chance at long-term survival (f.ex., if most individuals are bred from a small number of parents, they could be vulnerable to a genetic disease, potentially wiping out almost the whole population at once). But most importantly: It is pointless to release these tigers in the wild if we keep destroying their habitat and poaching them. These problems must be solved first. Take Action: Here's a petition sponsored by Care2 to tell China to better protect its tigers. Planet 100 recently had an episode that mentioned a pretty unusual scheme to protect tigers (about in the middle of the video):

See this video and all Planet 100 episodes in large screen at PlanetGreen.com "With tiger population at record lows, governments are resorting to extreme measures to help protect this endangered species, including Indonesia's radical plan to rent them out to millionaires. " Via Reuters More on Tigers Tiger Tops WWF's List of Ten Critically Endangered Species Tiger Conference Ends with Mixed Results Sundarbans' Tigers Further Pushed Towards Extinction by Rising Sea Levels

Posted at 05:47 PM in science & technology, travel & nature | Permalink
Source : http://blogs.yourdiscovery.com/treehugger/2010/02/fewer-than-50-wild-tigers-left-in-china-says-wildlife-conservation-society.html

Biggest Boeing's maiden flight

Boeing Co's biggest aeroplane - 747-8 freighter - has successfully completed its maiden flight, despite being a year later than planned.

The giant vehicle finished an approximately three-and-a-half-hour round trip from Everett's Paine Field this week.

The company said the take-off was watched by around 5,000 employees, suppliers, customers and other aeroplane admirers.

The new Boeing aeroplane is 250ft long - more than twice the length of the first flight by the Wright Brothers - and is about 18ft longer than the current 747-400 jumbo jet.

The freighter underwent taxi tests on Saturday and performed well, Boeing said.

Chief pilot Mark Feuerstein of the 747 said: "The aeroplane performed as expected and handled just like a 747-400."

Captain Tom Imrich also joined Mr Feuerstein in the flight.

Boeing's original 747 model is set to celebrate the 41st anniversary of its first flight on Tuesday.

The new vehicle's first flight around western Washington state kicked off a testing programme involving over 1,600 flight hours.

Copyright © Press Association 2010

Source: http://blogs.yourdiscovery.com/discovery-news/2010/02/biggest-boeings-maiden-flight.html

British-born astronaut blasts off

Space shuttle Endeavour - whose crew includes a North Yorkshire-born man - rocketed into orbit on what is likely to be the last night-time launch for the programme.

Dr Nicholas Patrick, originally from Saltburn-by-the-Sea, near Guisborough, was one of the six crew on-board the shuttle for the pre-dawn launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The sky was ignited with a brilliant flash seen for miles around. Thick, low clouds that had delayed a first launch attempt on Sunday returned, but then cleared away just in time.

There are just four more missions scheduled this year before the shuttles are retired.

Endeavour's destination, the International Space Station, was soaring over Romania at the time of lift-off. The shuttle is set to arrive at the station early on Wednesday.

Commander George Zamka and his crew will deliver and install Tranquility, a new room that will eventually house life-support equipment, exercise machines and a toilet, as well as a seven-windowed observation dome which has the biggest window ever sent into space, a circle 79 centimetres across. It will be the last major construction job at the space station. Both the new room and observation dome - together exceeding $400 million - were supplied by the European Space Agency.

Launch manager Mike Moses said he got "evil glares" in the control centre for making his team report to work on Super Bowl night. He noted that the shuttle's fuel tank was made in New Orleans. "They were at least happy with the results of the game," he said with a smile.

Monday morning's countdown ended up being uneventful, except for a last-minute run to the launch pad. Astronaut Stephen Robinson forgot the binder holding all his flight data files, and the emergency red team had to rush it out to him, just before he climbed aboard.

A quick look at the launch video showed a few pieces of foam insulation breaking off Endeavour's external fuel tank, but none appeared to strike the shuttle, officials said.

Copyright © Press Association 2010

Related links:

- Find out more about some of NASA's greatest achievements with our NASA 50th Anniversary website

- Watch Space videos

Source : http://blogs.yourdiscovery.com/discovery-news/2010/02/british-born-astronaut-blasts-off.html