From: Sir Charles [chalz@earthlink.net] Sent: Monday, September 17, 2001 2:13 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Fw: Scientific American Weekly Review These two bits were in my weekly SciAm email. Felt they were a little relevant to this list: ** MEGATSUNAMI MAY DEVASTATE EASTERN U.S. COASTLINE When the Canary Islands' Cumbre Vieja volcano eventually erupts, it may well trigger a tsunami wave more massive than any in recorded his- tory. A new model suggests that this megatsunami would rouse water walls 50 meters high off the coast of Florida and in the Caribbean. http://sciam.rgc2.com/servlet/cc?lJpDUWEJoHsSFLHkmospgrDgLmE0EUXW ** SATELLITE DATA SHOW THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE IS GETTING GREENER Analysis of two decades of satellite data shows that, at least in the Northern Hemisphere, spring is indeed arriving earlier and fall, some- what later. The extended growing season may well stem from rising greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and resulting higher temperatures. http://sciam.rgc2.com/servlet/cc?lJpDUWEJoHsSFLHkmospgrDgLmE0EUXX *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Sir Charles [chalz@earthlink.net] Sent: Monday, September 17, 2001 2:07 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Cetation communication Dolphins have been noted to use sonic blips and bleeps to converse, in actions such as herding prey and what not - they definitely show tactics in hunting. It's also been noted that they use body language quite extensively - and not just giving you the flipper, but also in dance. There have been .. well, 'experiments', I guess you could call them, where dolphins have been noted using body language and sonic communication to improvise tricks in a pool - in fact, to create new tricks, movements, dances that had never been witnessed in said dolphins before. They definitely show on-demand improvisation. Hmm... I'm thinking of something from Douglas Adams.. I think it went something like: "Humans thought they were the dominant species on the planet because they could build cities and make war. Dolphins thought they were the dominant species on the planet for the exact same reasons." > I thought dolphins had a language. I can't remember where I heard it but I believe that scientists on the East coast of Scotland (either Aberdeen or Dundee) had been invesstigating it and had got about fifty words or so, but they thought that it was more than just a sonic language. > > This may all be garbage but I'm relatively certain I heard it somewhere. > > --- > Shanhat *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Sir Charles [chalz@earthlink.net] Sent: Monday, September 17, 2001 2:30 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Fw: Scientific American Weekly Review Okay, here are a few more articles I picked out. They're kind of old, some of them (since 7/24), but still, I think, relevant to this list. I know there's a bunch of stuff here, but I think it's interesting, and think that it pertains to this list and the science involved. ** THE SUBMERGED SUBWAY REEF New York City plans to sink 1,300 aging subway cars into the ocean, where, it is hoped, the cars will create artificial reefs. Despite some concerns from environmental groups, preparations are now under way to submerge the first cars in mid- to late August. http://sciam.rgc2.com/servlet/cc?lJpDUWEJoHsSFLHkmospgrDgLmE0EAB ** GM TOMATO PLANT DOESN'T SHRINK FROM SALTY WATER Each year millions of acres of once-farmable land are lost to salty irrigation water. Now scientists have developed a genetically modified tomato plant that flourishes in salty water, offering the first seeds of hope for salt-tolerant crops. http://sciam.rgc2.com/servlet/cc?lJpDUWEJoHsSFLHkmospgrDgLmE0EAC ** NEW MICROSCOPE CREATES IMAGES USING ANTIMATTER It may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but researchers have actually built a microscope that creates images using antimatter. Unsurpassed in its ability to detect defects in materials, the device may soon be used to study everything from corrosion to semiconductors. http://sciam.rgc2.com/servlet/cc?lJpDUWEJoHsSFLHkmospgrDgLmE0EBT ** SCIENTISTS GROW HEART CELLS FROM EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS While Americans debate the ethics of human embryonic stem cell research, scientists in Israel announced that they have coaxed heart cell precursors from the famously versatile cells. Once placed in an adult heart, the precursors would probably produce mature heart muscle cells. http://sciam.rgc2.com/servlet/cc?lJpDUWEJoHsSFLHkmospgrDgLmE0EBU ** ASTRONOMERS SPOT JUPITER-SIZE PLANET ORBITING A NEARBY STAR Scientists have discovered a planet the size of Jupiter circling a star in the Big Dipper. This, in combination with another planet known to orbit the nearby star, finally reveals a planetary system somewhat similar to our own solar system. http://sciam.rgc2.com/servlet/cc?lJpDUWEJoHsSFLHkmospgrDgLmE0EUTX ** GENETIC DIFFERENCE MAY MAKE HUMANS EASIER TO CLONE THAN SHEEP Having two working copies of a gene that prevents fetal overgrowth may make the cloning process less complicated in humans than in sheep, according to a new study. Other cloning experts, however, charge that the researchers have overinterpreted their results. http://sciam.rgc2.com/servlet/cc?lJpDUWEJoHsSFLHkmospgrDgLmE0EUTY ** KECK TELESCOPE REVEALS AN INCONSISTENT CONSTANT Constants in physics equations are usually, well, constant. But new observations of ancient light indicate that the so-called fine struc- ture constant is larger now than it was six billion years ago, suggest- ing that the physics governing our universe could be slowly changing. http://sciam.rgc2.com/servlet/cc?lJpDUWEJoHsSFLHkmospgrDgLmE0EUTZ ==================== ASK THE EXPERTS ================== Q: How do squid and octopuses change color? A: Ellen J. Prager, assistant dean of the University of Miami's Rosensteil School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, describes the physiology of color shifting and explains how certain squid produce light, too. http://sciam.rgc2.com/servlet/cc?lJpDUWEJoHsSFLHkmospgrDgLmE0EUTC ======================================================= ** WEARABLE LIQUID CRYSTAL SENSORS DETECT DANGEROUS CHEMICALS Researchers have developed wearable liquid crystal-based sensors that respond to parts-per-billion vapor concentrations of chemicals within seconds. Such sensors may one day warn people of hazards ranging from spoiled food to toxic nerve gas. http://sciam.rgc2.com/servlet/cc?lJpDUWEJoHsSFLHkmospgrDgLmE0EUUX ** RESEARCHERS FASHION THE FIRST SINGLE-MOLECULE CIRCUIT Engineers have taken a giant step toward shrinking computers, creating a working circuit within a single carbon nanotube. The researchers converted the tiny tube into a voltage inverter, or NOT gate, one of the three fundamental types of logic gates. http://sciam.rgc2.com/servlet/cc?lJpDUWEJoHsSFLHkmospgrDgLmE0EUWV *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message.