INCOMING CME: NOAA forecasters estimate a 25% chance of strong geomagnetic storms around the poles on April 8-9 when a CME delivers a glancing blow to Earth’s magnetic field. The cloud was propelled in our direction by a solar filament, which erupted on April 5th (movie). High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras.
from: spacewweather.com
A new study links a rise in Midwest earthquakes to oil and gas production.
NEW YORK — Oil and gas production may explain a sharp increase in small earthquakes in the nation’s midsection, a new study from the U.S. Geological Survey suggests.
The rate has jumped six-fold from the late 20th century through last year, the team reports, and the changes are “almost certainly man-made.”
ScienceDaily (Apr. 2, 2012) — The world’s most popular weed killer, Roundup®, can cause amphibians to change shape, according to research recently published in Ecological Applications
Rick Relyea, University of Pittsburgh professor of biological sciences in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and director of Pitt’s Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology, demonstrated that sublethal and environmentally relevant concentrations of Roundup® caused two species of amphibians to alter their morphology. According to Relyea, this is the first study to show that a herbicide can induce morphological changes in a vertebrate animal.
Relyea set up large outdoor water tanks that contained many of the components of natural wetlands. Some tanks contained caged predators, which emit chemicals that naturally induce changes in tadpole morphology (such as larger tails to better escape predators). After adding tadpoles to each tank, he exposed them to a range of Roundup® concentrations. After 3 weeks, the tadpoles were removed from the tanks.
“It was not surprising to see that the smell of predators in the water induced larger tadpole tails,” says Relyea. “That is a normal, adaptive response. What shocked us was that the Roundup® induced the same changes. Moreover, the combination of predators and Roundup® caused the tail changes to be twice as large.” Because tadpoles alter their body shape to match their environment, having a body shape that does not fit the environment can put the animals at a distinct disadvantage.
Predators cause tadpoles to change shape by altering the stress hormones of tadpoles, says Relyea. The similar shape changes when exposed to Roundup® suggest that Roundup® may interfere with the hormones of tadpoles and potentially many other animals.
“This discovery highlights the fact that pesticides, which are important for crop production and human health, can have unintended consequences for species that are not the pesticide’s target,” says Relyea. “Herbicides are not designed to affect animals, but we are learning that they can have a wide range of surprising effects by altering how hormones work in the bodies of animals. This is important because amphibians not only serve as a barometer of the ecosystem’s health, but also as an indicator of potential dangers to other species in the food chain, including humans.”
from: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120402144938.htm
Last update: April 2, 2012 at 8:33 pm by By Armand Vervaeck and James Daniell
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 6.3
UTC Time : Monday, April 02, 2012 at 17:36:43 UTC
Local time at epicenter : Monday, April 02, 2012 at 12:36:43 PM at epicenter
Depth (Hypocenter) : 12 km
Geo-location(s) :
27 km (17 miles) SSE (148°) from Ometepec, Guerrero, Mexico
Update 20:28 UTC : The authorities in Puebla, one of the major Mexican cities and approx. 250 km from the epicenter, have reported NO injures or damage. Good news which we expected at this distance.
Earthquake-report.com calls an area with a radius of about 35 km around the epicenter at high risk for additional damage (to the already damaged houses during the March 20 mainshock).
Update 19:44 UTC : USGS has increased his intensity mapping prediction. The new estimate mention 17,000 people having felt a severe MMI VIII shaking (damaging environment), 180,000 people a VII MMI very strong shaking.
The new values are bad news and will make this aftershock almost certain a damaging one.
Until now we have No details yet on damage and injuries. As said earlier it will take another 2 to 6 hours to have see first serious assessments of the epicenter area
Update 19:42 UTC : Intensity report in the most important cities in the greater epicenter area :
VII Cuajinicuilapa 9,000 people
VII San Juan Cacahuatepec 4,000 people
VII Ometepec 18,000 people
VII San Pedro Amuzgos 4,000 people
VI San Pedro Jicayan 4,000 people
VI Santiago Pinotepa Nacional 26,000 people
MMI VII : very strong shaking
MMI VI : strong shaking
Update 19:16 UTC : Mexican authorities are reporting the strongest shaking in the Costa Chica region. Until now, we have no reports of damage, but we are almost sure that they will appear in 4 to 8 hours.
Update 18:38 UTC : Helicopters were dispatched 5 MINUTES after the earthquake. The only damage seen was a billboard that fall causing NO injuries. (we are confirming the very swift reaction of the authorities in DF)
Update : The Mexican seismological agency has increased his initial Magnitude to 6.0. Since the mainshock today, 2 aftershocks of resp. 4.6 and 4.7 have been listed (normal)
Update : Read also the many felt reports at the bottom of this page
Update 18:29 UTC : Last time, damage was only reported after several hours or even a couple of days in the epicenter area (one of the poorest areas in Mexico). Most houses are made from brick or in adobe in the greater epicenter area.
Update:
– Security secretary of Mexico City reports that there is NO damage.
– Communications are still working.
– Subway is still working.
Such reports are mostly based on the capital Mexico City or DF.
Update : Intermediate report from Carlos Robles : Servicio Sismologico Nacional is upgrading the earthquake to 6.0. Saldo blanco (no deaths) is reported. There aren’t reports of damage.
Update 18:23 UTC : There are NO Nuclear plants or Hydrodams in the greater epicenter area
Update : EMSC (Seismology Europe) reports now a magnitude of 6.1 at a depth of 10 km
Update 18:18 UTC : NO tsunami danger as the epicenter of the earthquake is below the Mexican mainland
Update : Evacuation were held at Mexico city.It was felt strong in some parts of Mexico city.In Coyoacan there are only reports of scared people. (source : Carlos Robles)
I Have Felt It map courtesy USGS – blue lighter, yellow strong shaking
Update : USGS predicts a very strong shaking for 3,000 people in the epicentral area. 164,000 people will have experienced a strong MMI VI shaking and 289,000 people a moderate shaking. As this earthquake is also felt in DF, the earthquake will have been noticed by millions of people.
Update : As this is an aftershock from the March 20 M 7.4 earthquake, these aftershocks, even at the current magnitude are very normal !
Update : The president of DF is flying by helicopter over DF areas to overview the situation. He reports that so far no serious damage can be seen from the air
Update : The Mexican media including the local seismological agency are not reachable because of too many connections
for more information and updates, go to: http://earthquake-report.com/2012/04/02/very-strong-dangerous-earthquake-aftershock-in-guerrero-mexico/
The small steam plume from Nevado del Ruiz, seen on March 27, 2012. Image from INGEOMINAS Colombia.
Some news brought to my attention by Eruptions reader Sherine merited a quick Saturday post. Thedeveloping volcanic crisis at Nevado del Ruiz in Colombia looks like it is continuing to escalate. INGEOMINAS, the Colombian geological survey, released a “special bulletin” this afternoon elevating the alert status at Nevado del Ruiz to Orange Level (II). This means that the signs of activity at the volcano suggest that an eruption is likely in the days to weeks timescale. Marta Calvache from INGEOMINASmentioed that over the past few days the volcano has experienced tremor related to “fluid motion” (likely magma), rock fracture earthquakes at the summit have been increasing in pulses and sulfur dioxide emissions continue to be high.
So far, INGEOMINAS thinks any potentially eruption will be smaller than the activity seen during Ruiz’slast eruptive period between 1985-1989. The major hazard from Ruiz is the lahars that can be generatedas ash and other volcanic material mix with melted snow and ice at the summit. There is also the potential for ash fall (especially hazardous for those with respiratory problems) on towns and cities in the area, including Manizalez and Pereira, both of which are less than 50 km from the volcano, and Bogotá, only ~120 km from Ruiz. If you live in the area around Ruiz, be sure to examine the INGEOMINAS volcanic hazard map to see the places with the highest probability of lahars and pyroclastic flows. Taking a look at the INGEOMINAS Azufrado webcam for Ruiz, a plume can be seen coming from the summit area (see below) while the webicorder shows the increasing seismicity as well. You can also get a glimpse of the volcano from an INGEOMINAS webcam in Manizalez.
Webcam capture from March 31, 2012 showing a small plume from Nevado del Ruiz in Colombia.
from: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/03/nevado-del-ruiz-in-colombia-may-erupt-in-days-to-weeks/
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| Scientists can use light to switch on a neuron. CREDIT: iDesign, Shutterstock |
In the film Amèlie, the main character is a young eccentric woman who attempts to change the lives of those around her for the better. One day Amèlie finds an old rusty tin box of childhood mementos in her apartment, hidden by a boy decades earlier. After tracking down Bretodeau, the owner, she lures him to a phone booth where he discovers the box. Upon opening the box and seeing a few marbles, a sudden flash of vivid images come flooding into his mind. Next thing you know, Bretodeau is transported to a time when he was in the schoolyard scrambling to stuff his pockets with hundreds of marbles while a teacher is yelling at him to hurry up.
We have all experienced this: a seemingly insignificant trigger, a scent, a song, or an old photograph transports us to another time and place. Now a group of neuroscientists have investigated the fascinating question: Can a few neurons trigger a full memory?
In a new study, published in Nature, a group of researchers from MIT showed for the first time that it is possible to activate a memory on demand, by stimulating only a few neurons with light, using a technique known as optogenetics. Optogenetics is a powerful technology that enables researchers to control genetically modified neurons with a brief pulse of light.
To artificially turn on a memory, researchers first set out to identify the neurons that are activated when a mouse is making a new memory. To accomplish this, they focused on a part of the brain called the hippocampus, known for its role in learning and memory, especially for discriminating places. Then they inserted a gene that codes for a light-sensitive protein into hippocampal neurons, enabling them to use light to control the neurons.
With the light-sensitive proteins in place, the researchers gave the mouse a new memory. They put the animal in an environment where it received a mild foot shock, eliciting the normal fear behavior in mice: freezing in place. The mouse learned to associate a particular environment with the shock.
Next, the researchers attempted to answer the big question: Could they artificially activate the fear memory? They directed light on the hippocampus, activating a portion of the neurons involved in the memory, and the animals showed a clear freezing response. Stimulating the neurons appears to have triggered the entire memory.
The researchers performed several key tests to confirm that it was really the original memory recalled. They tested mice with the same light-sensitive protein but without the shock; they tested mice without the light-sensitive protein; and they tested mice in a different environment not associated with fear. None of these tests yielded the freezing response, reinforcing the conclusion that the pulse of light indeed activated the old fear memory.
In 2010, optogenetics was named the scientific Method of the Year by the journal Nature Methods. The technology was introduced in 2004 by a research group at Stanford University led by Karl Deisseroth, a collaborator on this research. The critical advantage that optogenetics provides over traditional neuroscience techniques, like electrical stimulation or chemical agents, is speed and precision. Electrical stimulation and chemicals can only be used to alter neural activity in nonspecific ways and without precise timing. Light stimulation enables control over a small subset of neurons on a millisecond time scale.
Over the last several years, optogenetics has provided powerful insights into the neural underpinnings of brain disorders like depression, Parkinson’s disease, anxiety, and schizophrenia. Now, in the context of memory research, this study shows that it is possible to artificially stimulate a few neurons to activate an old memory, controlling an animals’ behavior without any sensory input. This is significant because it provides a new approach to understand how complex memories are formed in the first place.
Lest ye worry about implanted memories and mind control, this technology is still a long way from reaching any human brains. Nevertheless, the first small steps towards the clinical application of optogenetics have already begun. A group at Brown University, for example, is working on a wireless optical electrode that can deliver light to neurons in the human brain. Who knows, someday, instead of new technology enabling us to erase memories á la Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, we may actually undergo memory enhancement therapy with a brief session under the lights.
This article was first published on Scientific American. © 2012 ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved. Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs. VisitScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news.
frohttp://www.livescience.com/19413-mind-control-light.html:
M 5.9 2012/04/01 14:04 Depth 50.0 km JAPAN – Fukushima-ken Oki
JMA intensity max. 5- (earthquake-report.com considers 5+ as possibly damaging)
The intermediate depth of the epicenter was luckily weakening the impact
Magnitude data provided by JMA Japan
– Epicenter only 9 km (6 miles) NE (53°) from Iwaki, Honshu, Japan
– JMA 5- in Naraha-machi Kitada and Tomioka-machiMoto-oka
– JMA 4 in Koriyama-shi Kaisei*, Shirakawa-shi Shin-shirakawa*, Shirakawa-shi Higashi*, Shirakawa-shi Omotego*, Sukagawa-shi Iwase-shisho*,Nihommatsu-shi Yui*, Nihommatsu-shi Harimichi*, Kawamata-machi Gohyakuta*, Ten-ei-mura Shimomatsumoto*, Nakajima-mura Nametsu*, Ishikawa-machi , Shimoizumi*, Tamakawa-mura Otaka*, Hirata-mura Nagata*, Asakawa-machi Asakawa*, Furudono-machi Matsukawa*, Ono-machi Ono-niimachi*, Tamura-shi Funehikimachi, Tamura-shi Ogoemachi*, Tamura-shi Tokiwamachi*, Tamura-shi Miyakojimachi*, Tamura-shi Takinemachi*, Iwaki-shi Onahama, Iwaki-shi Taira-yotsunami*, Iwaki-shi Nishikimachi*, Iwaki-shi Taira-umemoto*, Soma-shi Nakamura*, Fukushima Hirono-machi Shimokitaba-oyachihara*, Fukushima Hirono-machi Shimokitaba-nawashirogae*, Kawauchi-mura Shimokawauchi, Kawauchi-mura Kamikawauchi-koyamadaira*, Kawauchi-mura Kamikawauchi-hayawata*, Katsurao-mura Ochiai-ochiai*, Shinchi-machi Yachigoya*, Iitate-mura Itamizawa*, Minami-soma-shi Haramachiku-takamicho *
– The earthquake occurred at 23:04 (11:04 PM) local time
– The earthquake was very well felt in Tokyo, although Tokyo was at a distance of 196 km from the epicenter
– The epicenter was following local JMA Japan a little in the Ocean, what surely has weakened the impact.
NO tsunami risk
– The damaged nuclear power plant of Fukushima has been hit by JMA 4 shaking (MMI V to VI), which is reasonable and should not lead to further damage
http://earthquake-report.com/2012/03/31/major-earthquakes-list-april-1-2012/
This week brings with it a lull in the storm. Take time to go within, to meditate, contemplate, create over what you have learned. What has changed in your life in the past three months? Change can be gradual, day to day, but when seen from a temporal perspective, you can get a sense of all that has happened. There is joy in some of the discoveries that you will be making this week,. some sorrow in others. Yet you will learn more of the people who are really there for you. Stay focused and know what is right for you within your deepest heart knowing. This is a week for realizing that everything is coming together as is right. There are more changes coming your way, some quite dramatic. This is a time for knowing your strength and your power. There are things that you must do, some of them you are aware of and have been putting off. The larger view that this week provides will give you the impetus and desire to move forward. Continue reading
from: http://www.wanttoknow.info/powerofnightmares
The Power of Nightmares
This highly revealing BBC documentary digs deep into the roots of the war on terror, only to find that much of the widespread fear in the post-9/11 world has been fabricated by those in power for their own interests. The intrepid BBC team presents highly informative interviews with experts and top officials in combating terrorism who raise serious questions about who is behind all of the fear-mongering. These experts and riveting footage also show how the media have been manipulated to support secret power agendas.
This eye-opening documentary shows that, especially after 9/11, fear has been used widely in the media to manipulate the public into giving up civil liberties and turning over power to elite groups with their own hidden agendas. The Power of Nightmares clearly demonstrates that the nightmare vision of a powerful, united terrorist organization waiting to strike our societies is largely an illusion. Wherever the BBC team looked for al-Qaeda, from the mountains of Afghanistan to the sleeper cells in America, they found that we are chasing a phantom enemy. For all citizens who care about the future of our world, this is a must-watch video.
View Free: All Three Parts of the BBC Documentary Power of Nightmares
Each episode is one hour. Part 3 is the most revealing. A 22-minute summary is also available.
For 22 minutes of the best excerpts from this three-hour documentary, click here
For a high quality version of part three of Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear, click here.
Click here to watch and read reviews of Power of Nightmares on archive.org.
Click here to watch all three episodes Power of Nightmares on Google Video.
For the downloaded copy of an excellent review of Power of Nightmares in the Los Angeles Times, click here.
For a full written transcript of each part of Power of Nightmares: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
For transcripts, audio and video downloads, and other excellent information on the series, click here.
To order all three parts of Power of Nightmares on one DVD, click here.
Another excellent, highly revealing BBC/Adam Curtis documentary, Century of the Self, delves into the history of mass propaganda and its power to shape public perception. Click here to purchase. Click here to watch it free.
Here is some information. Is it true? The research needs to be done:
September 14, 2011 RSS Feed Print
It’s our nature to sort, divide, and classify. We label ourselves to identify political leanings, religious beliefs, the food we enjoy, and the sports teams we cheer. The oil industry too has its own distinct labels which include the “Peak Oil” theorists, those who believe the world is fast depleting the finite supply of fossil fuel; and the pragmatists, those who recognize that engineering and technological advances in oil drilling and extraction continuously identify new reserves that make oil plentiful.
And there’s a third group you may not know. These people are deeply interested in oil and its origins, but their advocacy of “abiotic theory” has many dismissing them as heretics, frauds, or idealists. They hold that oil can be derived from hydrocarbons that existed eons ago in massive pools deep within the earth’s core. That source of hydrocarbons seeps up through the earth’s layers and slowly replenishes oil sources. In other words, it turns the fossil-fuel paradigm upside down.
[Read: How Much Oil is There?]
Perhaps the breakthrough for this theory came when Chris Cooper’s story appeared April 16, 1999, in The Wall Street Journal about an oil field called Eugene Island. Here’s an excerpt:
Production at the oil field, deep in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, was supposed to have declined years ago. And for a while, it behaved like any normal field: Following its 1973 discovery, Eugene Island 330’s output peaked at about 15,000 barrels a day. By 1989, production had slowed to about 4,000 barrels a day.
Then suddenly—some say almost inexplicably—Eugene Island’s fortunes reversed. The field, operated by PennzEnergy Co., is now producing 13,000 barrels a day, and probable reserves have rocketed to more than 400 million barrels from 60 million. Stranger still, scientists studying the field say the crude coming out of the pipe is of a geological age quite different from the oil that gushed 10 years ago.
According to Cooper,
Thomas Gold, a respected astronomer and professor emeritus at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, has held for years that oil is actually a renewable, primordial syrup continually manufactured by the Earth under ultrahot conditions and tremendous pressures. As this substance migrates toward the surface, it is attacked by bacteria, making it appear to have an organic origin dating back to the dinosaurs, he says.
All of which has led some scientists to a radical theory: Eugene Island is rapidly refilling itself, perhaps from some continuous source miles below the Earth’s surface. That, they say, raises the tantalizing possibility that oil may not be the limited resource it is assumed to be.
More recently, Forbes presented a similar discussion. In 2008 it reported a group of Russian and Ukrainian scientists say that oil and gas don’t come from fossils; they’re synthesized deep within the earth’s mantle by heat, pressure, and other purely chemical means, before gradually rising to the surface. Under the so-called abiotic theory of oil, finding all the energy we need is just a matter of looking beyond the traditional basins where fossils might have accumulated.
The idea that oil comes from fossils “is a myth” that needs changing according to petroleum engineer Vladimir Kutcherov, speaking at the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. “All kinds of rocks could have oil and gas deposits.”
Alexander Kitchka of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences estimates that 60 percent of the content of all oil is abiotic in origin and not from fossil fuels. He says companies should drill deeper to find it.
Is abiotic theory the real deal? Is Eugene Island “Exhibit A?” Look how long it’s taken for this conversation to reach a tipping point!
from: http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/on-energy/2011/09/14/abiotic-oil-a-theory-worth-exploring