June 19, 2007
Editorial Observer, NY Times
Millions of Missing Birds, Vanishing in Plain Sight
By VERLYN KLINKENBORG
Last week, the Audubon Society released a new report describing the sharp and startling population decline of some of the most familiar and common birds in America: several kinds of sparrows, the Northern bobwhite, the Eastern meadowlark, the common grackle and the common tern. The average decline of the 20 species in the Audubon Society’s report is 68 percent.
Forty years ago, there were an estimated 31 million bobwhites. Now there are 5.5 million. Compared to the hundred-some condors presently in the wild, 5.5 million bobwhites sounds like a lot of birds. But what matters is the 25.5 million missing and the troubles that brought them down — and are all too likely to bring down the rest of them, too. So this is not extinction, but it is how things look before extinction happens.
The word “extinct” somehow brings to mind the birds that seem like special cases to us, the dodo or the great auk or the passenger pigeon. Most people would never have had a chance to see dodos and great auks on their remote islands before they were decimated in the 17th and 19th centuries. What is hard to remember about passenger pigeons isn’t merely their once enormous numbers. It’s the enormous numbers of humans to whom their comings and goings were a common sight and who supposed, erroneously, that such unending clouds of birds were indestructible. We recognize the extraordinary distinctness of the passenger pigeon now because we know its fate, killed off largely by humans. But we have moralized it thoroughly without ever really taking it to heart.
The question is whether we will see the distinctness of the field sparrow — its number is down from 18 million 40 years ago to 5.8 million — only when the last pair is being kept alive in a zoo somewhere. We love to finally care when the death watch is on. It makes us feel so very human.
Like you, I’ve been reading dire reports of declining species for many years now. They have the value of causing us to pay attention to species in trouble, and the sad fact is that the only species likely to endure are the ones we humans manage to pay attention to. There was a time when it was better, if you were a nonhuman species, to be ignored by humans because we trapped, shot or otherwise exploited all of the ones that got our attention. But in the past 40 years, we have killed all those millions of birds or, let us say, unintentionally caused a dramatic population loss, simply by going about business as usual.
Agriculture has intensified. So has development. Open space has been sharply reduced. We have simply pursued our livelihoods. We knew it was inimical to wolves and mountain lions. But we somehow trusted that all the innocent little birds were here to stay. What they actually need to survive, it turns out, is a landscape that is less intensely human.
The Audubon Society portrait of common bird species in decline is really a report on who humans are. Let me offer a proposition about Homo sapiens. We are the only species on earth capable of an ethical awareness of other species and, thus, the only species capable of happily ignoring that awareness. So far, our economic interests have proved to be completely incompatible with all but a very few forms of life. It’s not that we believe that other species don’t matter. It’s that, historically speaking, it hasn’t been worth believing one way or another. I don’t suppose that most Americans would actively kill a whippoorwill if they had the chance. Yet in the past 40 years its number has dropped by 1.6 million.
In our everyday economic behavior, we seem determined to discover whether we can live alone on earth. E.O. Wilson has argued eloquently and persuasively that we cannot, that who we are depends as much on the richness and diversity of the biological life around us as it does on any inherent quality in our genes. Environmentalists of every stripe argue that we must somehow begin to correlate our economic behavior — by which I mean every aspect of it: production, consumption, habitation — with the welfare of other species.
This is the premise of sustainability. But the very foundation of our economic interests is self-interest, and in the survival of other species we see way too little self to care.
The trouble with humans is that even the smallest changes in our behavior require an epiphany. And yet compared to the fixity of other species, the narrowness of their habitats, the strictness of their diets, the precision of the niches they occupy, we are flexibility itself.
We look around us, expecting the rest of the world’s occupants to adapt to the changes that we have caused, when, in fact, we have the right to expect adaptation only from ourselves.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Spain honours Bob Dylan with prestigious award
"Bob Dylan was awarded Spain's Prince of Asturias arts award, one of the country's most prestigious honours, Wednesday.
"He's a living legend of popular music," said Jose Llado Fernandez-Urrutia, president of the prize's panel of judges.
Dylan, 66, has been one of the most influential popular music artists in recent decades, and is regarded by many as a poet. His hits include "Blowin' in the Wind,'' "The Times They Are a-Changin','' "Like a Rolling Stone" and "All Along the Watchtower.''
"He's considered one of the most important figures of song, a form in which he combines, in a majestic way, the beauty of his poetry and ethical commitment," said the prize foundation in a statement.
"For this reason, his music and message have had an outstanding influence on several generations of young people.''
Dylan, born Robert Zimmerman in Duluth, Minn., was ranked No. 2 in Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time in 2004, second to the Beatles.
His most recent recording, Modern Times, on the Columbia Records label, entered the U.S. album charts at No. 1 one week after it was released in 2006.
"He pioneered the introduction of literature in popular music, bringing together for the first time European and Afro-American rhythms that were a decisive and revolutionary influence on later generations of musicians," the foundation said.
Eight Prince of Asturias awards are given annually in categories including arts, science, sports and humanities to Spaniards and foreigners alike.
They are announced during the year and presented each autumn in the northern Spanish city of Oviedo, capital of the Asturias region.
Last year's arts award was won by Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar."
"He's a living legend of popular music," said Jose Llado Fernandez-Urrutia, president of the prize's panel of judges.
Dylan, 66, has been one of the most influential popular music artists in recent decades, and is regarded by many as a poet. His hits include "Blowin' in the Wind,'' "The Times They Are a-Changin','' "Like a Rolling Stone" and "All Along the Watchtower.''
"He's considered one of the most important figures of song, a form in which he combines, in a majestic way, the beauty of his poetry and ethical commitment," said the prize foundation in a statement.
"For this reason, his music and message have had an outstanding influence on several generations of young people.''
Dylan, born Robert Zimmerman in Duluth, Minn., was ranked No. 2 in Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time in 2004, second to the Beatles.
His most recent recording, Modern Times, on the Columbia Records label, entered the U.S. album charts at No. 1 one week after it was released in 2006.
"He pioneered the introduction of literature in popular music, bringing together for the first time European and Afro-American rhythms that were a decisive and revolutionary influence on later generations of musicians," the foundation said.
Eight Prince of Asturias awards are given annually in categories including arts, science, sports and humanities to Spaniards and foreigners alike.
They are announced during the year and presented each autumn in the northern Spanish city of Oviedo, capital of the Asturias region.
Last year's arts award was won by Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar."
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Stowaway bees could spread deadly mite
Here we have another entry in the continuing story about the plight of honeybees in the world. This one even has a fountain pen connection (see the penultimate -- pun intended -- paragraph).
"Diseased honey bees could threaten billions of dollars worth of honey production and pollination if they breach Australia's border controls, beekeepers say.
The Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC) expresses its concerns in a submission to a Federal Government inquiry on the industry.
One of the diseases Australian beekeepers are particularly concerned about is caused by the mite Varroa destructor, which has been killing bees in New Zealand.
"It's a terrible thing," AHBIC executive director Stephen Ware said.
"It just sucks everything out of the bee and then it goes and reproduces in the [honeycomb]."
While there are strict quarantine rules for bees entering the country officially, illegal imports and accidental arrivals can pose a threat.
Dr Iain East of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) says quarantine authorities have so far destroyed 20 swarms of bees that arrived unannounced on ships.
Dr East coordinates the National Sentinel Hive Program, which is designed to help catch unchecked bees from entering Australia.
He says this involves placing 38 hives at 22 ports and airports around Australia to attract stowaway bees and these colonies can then checked for pests.
Apiarists nervous
But apiarists are nervous about how well the system works.
"It's too ad hoc," Mr Ware said.
"It needs to be better managed."
He says there needs to be a reassessment of whether there are enough hives in the right places.
He is also concerned the hives are not being properly checked.
CSIRO entomologist Dr Denis Anderson says the current sentinel hive program is serviced by volunteer beekeepers and state governments.
He says DAFF has proposed the program be more "fully funded" with support from state and territory governments and run by Animal Health Australia.
"We hope to have it [the new program] operating by 1 July 2008," he said.
Mr Ware says the Varroa mite is deadly to the European honey bee (Apis mellifera) and is costly to control in managed hives.
Feral honey bees
He says it also kills feral honey bees, whose hives can't be treated for the mite, adding that the horticulture industry relies on these bees to pollinate $3.8 billion worth of crops.
Mr Ware says New Zealand horticulturalists are paying beekeepers to put their managed hives on their properties to replace feral pollinators.
"The cost of pollinating crops tripled overnight," he said.
Dr Anderson says Australia is the only continent free of the Varroa mite.
But he says it is particularly vulnerable because of the country's strong dependence on feral bees for pollination.
While the sentinel hive program looks for pests in stowaway bees, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) tries to catch bees that enter by other means.
When imported bees enter quarantine they are allowed to lay eggs and are then killed to be examined for pests and disease.
Some of their progeny are also killed and examined.
Quarantine privatisation
Mr Ware says the bee industry is concerned that Australia's dedicated bee quarantine facility at Eastern Creek in Sydney will suffer from being privatised.
But AQIS says there are no plans to privatise operations.
A spokesperson says while the facility at Eastern Creek was sold to a private operator some years ago, it is still leased to AQIS, which will continue to run the quarantine program.
New facilities will be built before the lease expires in 2015, the spokesperson says.
AQIS says bees are sometimes imported illegally by post or with air passengers.
In one case, sniffer dogs found a passenger with six queen bees hidden in a fountain pen.
In the US, more than a quarter of honey bee colonies collapsed due to a mysterious "colony collapse disorder" and it is now importing live bees from Australia."
"Diseased honey bees could threaten billions of dollars worth of honey production and pollination if they breach Australia's border controls, beekeepers say.
The Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC) expresses its concerns in a submission to a Federal Government inquiry on the industry.
One of the diseases Australian beekeepers are particularly concerned about is caused by the mite Varroa destructor, which has been killing bees in New Zealand.
"It's a terrible thing," AHBIC executive director Stephen Ware said.
"It just sucks everything out of the bee and then it goes and reproduces in the [honeycomb]."
While there are strict quarantine rules for bees entering the country officially, illegal imports and accidental arrivals can pose a threat.
Dr Iain East of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) says quarantine authorities have so far destroyed 20 swarms of bees that arrived unannounced on ships.
Dr East coordinates the National Sentinel Hive Program, which is designed to help catch unchecked bees from entering Australia.
He says this involves placing 38 hives at 22 ports and airports around Australia to attract stowaway bees and these colonies can then checked for pests.
Apiarists nervous
But apiarists are nervous about how well the system works.
"It's too ad hoc," Mr Ware said.
"It needs to be better managed."
He says there needs to be a reassessment of whether there are enough hives in the right places.
He is also concerned the hives are not being properly checked.
CSIRO entomologist Dr Denis Anderson says the current sentinel hive program is serviced by volunteer beekeepers and state governments.
He says DAFF has proposed the program be more "fully funded" with support from state and territory governments and run by Animal Health Australia.
"We hope to have it [the new program] operating by 1 July 2008," he said.
Mr Ware says the Varroa mite is deadly to the European honey bee (Apis mellifera) and is costly to control in managed hives.
Feral honey bees
He says it also kills feral honey bees, whose hives can't be treated for the mite, adding that the horticulture industry relies on these bees to pollinate $3.8 billion worth of crops.
Mr Ware says New Zealand horticulturalists are paying beekeepers to put their managed hives on their properties to replace feral pollinators.
"The cost of pollinating crops tripled overnight," he said.
Dr Anderson says Australia is the only continent free of the Varroa mite.
But he says it is particularly vulnerable because of the country's strong dependence on feral bees for pollination.
While the sentinel hive program looks for pests in stowaway bees, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) tries to catch bees that enter by other means.
When imported bees enter quarantine they are allowed to lay eggs and are then killed to be examined for pests and disease.
Some of their progeny are also killed and examined.
Quarantine privatisation
Mr Ware says the bee industry is concerned that Australia's dedicated bee quarantine facility at Eastern Creek in Sydney will suffer from being privatised.
But AQIS says there are no plans to privatise operations.
A spokesperson says while the facility at Eastern Creek was sold to a private operator some years ago, it is still leased to AQIS, which will continue to run the quarantine program.
New facilities will be built before the lease expires in 2015, the spokesperson says.
AQIS says bees are sometimes imported illegally by post or with air passengers.
In one case, sniffer dogs found a passenger with six queen bees hidden in a fountain pen.
In the US, more than a quarter of honey bee colonies collapsed due to a mysterious "colony collapse disorder" and it is now importing live bees from Australia."
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Japanese Monks Endure With a Vow of Patience
"In Japan, Buddhist monks wear black. Dead people wear white.
For more than seven years, Genshin Fujinami dressed in white from head to toe while covering the backwoods trails of this sacred mountain in one of the world’s most grueling feats — a punishing quest that combined starvation, isolation and the equivalent of a lap around the Equator.
For 1,000 days, rising well before dawn, Fujinami embarked alone, rain or shine, on his journey, running or briskly walking more than 50 miles — the distance of almost two marathons — each day as the trial neared its climax. Along with his white robes, his only gear was a pair of straw sandals, a long straw hat, candles, a shovel, a length of rope and a short sword.
The rope and sword were not for survival — if for some reason he could not complete his daily trek, he was to use them to kill himself."
Read the full article below:
Link
For more than seven years, Genshin Fujinami dressed in white from head to toe while covering the backwoods trails of this sacred mountain in one of the world’s most grueling feats — a punishing quest that combined starvation, isolation and the equivalent of a lap around the Equator.
For 1,000 days, rising well before dawn, Fujinami embarked alone, rain or shine, on his journey, running or briskly walking more than 50 miles — the distance of almost two marathons — each day as the trial neared its climax. Along with his white robes, his only gear was a pair of straw sandals, a long straw hat, candles, a shovel, a length of rope and a short sword.
The rope and sword were not for survival — if for some reason he could not complete his daily trek, he was to use them to kill himself."
Read the full article below:
Link
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Chimps pass on gadget use like humans
"Chimpanzees readily learn and share techniques on how to fiddle with gadgets, new research shows, the best evidence yet that our closest living relatives pass on customs and culture just as humans do.
The new findings help shed light on the capabilities of last common ancestor of humans and chimps. And the research could also help develop better robots and artificial intelligences, the researchers say
In the wild, chimpanzee troops often are distinct from one another, possessing collections of up to 20 traditions or customary behaviors that altogether seem to form unique cultures. Such practices include various forms of tool use, including hammers and pestles; courtship rituals such as leaf-clipping, where leaves are clipped noisily with the teeth; social behaviors such as overhead hand-clasping during mutual grooming; and methods for eradicating parasites by either stabbing or squashing them.
While observing chimpanzees, evolutionary psychologist Antoine Spiteri at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland wanted to help settle the question of whether or not the apes learned such practices by watching others like humans do, as opposed to simply knowing how to perform such behaviors innately.
Spiteri and his colleagues investigated six groups of chimpanzees, each with eight to 11 apes, living in captivity in Bastrop, Texas. The researchers taught a lone chimpanzee from one group one technique for obtaining food from a complex gadget, such as stabbing food with a tool. They next taught one chimp from another group a different technique for extracting food from the same gadget, such as pushing it out down a ramp.
The extremely hot Texas weather made it hard for researchers to work, "and because participation by the chimpanzees in each of these studies has been completely voluntary, it sometimes means that we as experimenters have had to be extremely patient," Spiteri recalled. "Considering the insights we have gathered, it has been worth the sacrifice."
Over time, the researchers found each technique for tool use and food extraction spread within each group. In essence, these groups displayed their own unique culture and local traditions.
A number of these chimpanzee groups are next-door neighbors within eyeshot of each other, and researchers found traditions proved catching, with foraging practices spreading from one group to another, findings detailed in the June 19 issue of the journal Current Biology.
"The possibility that some primates may be able to learn from others has great implications on how we treat them and how we think about ourselves," Spiteri told LiveScience. "These results indicate to us that chimps have a capacity for cultural complexity, which was likely shared by our common ancestor going back around 5 million years ago."
This work is "particularly useful to robotic development and artificial intelligence," Spiteri added. 'Understanding how the mechanisms of imitation and social learning can help us develop artificial beings that can behave and evolve in the way that we do and ultimately it may help us create other brains.'"
The new findings help shed light on the capabilities of last common ancestor of humans and chimps. And the research could also help develop better robots and artificial intelligences, the researchers say
In the wild, chimpanzee troops often are distinct from one another, possessing collections of up to 20 traditions or customary behaviors that altogether seem to form unique cultures. Such practices include various forms of tool use, including hammers and pestles; courtship rituals such as leaf-clipping, where leaves are clipped noisily with the teeth; social behaviors such as overhead hand-clasping during mutual grooming; and methods for eradicating parasites by either stabbing or squashing them.
While observing chimpanzees, evolutionary psychologist Antoine Spiteri at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland wanted to help settle the question of whether or not the apes learned such practices by watching others like humans do, as opposed to simply knowing how to perform such behaviors innately.
Spiteri and his colleagues investigated six groups of chimpanzees, each with eight to 11 apes, living in captivity in Bastrop, Texas. The researchers taught a lone chimpanzee from one group one technique for obtaining food from a complex gadget, such as stabbing food with a tool. They next taught one chimp from another group a different technique for extracting food from the same gadget, such as pushing it out down a ramp.
The extremely hot Texas weather made it hard for researchers to work, "and because participation by the chimpanzees in each of these studies has been completely voluntary, it sometimes means that we as experimenters have had to be extremely patient," Spiteri recalled. "Considering the insights we have gathered, it has been worth the sacrifice."
Over time, the researchers found each technique for tool use and food extraction spread within each group. In essence, these groups displayed their own unique culture and local traditions.
A number of these chimpanzee groups are next-door neighbors within eyeshot of each other, and researchers found traditions proved catching, with foraging practices spreading from one group to another, findings detailed in the June 19 issue of the journal Current Biology.
"The possibility that some primates may be able to learn from others has great implications on how we treat them and how we think about ourselves," Spiteri told LiveScience. "These results indicate to us that chimps have a capacity for cultural complexity, which was likely shared by our common ancestor going back around 5 million years ago."
This work is "particularly useful to robotic development and artificial intelligence," Spiteri added. 'Understanding how the mechanisms of imitation and social learning can help us develop artificial beings that can behave and evolve in the way that we do and ultimately it may help us create other brains.'"
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Enrique Iglesias Plays Ping Pong On New Hit
"The ping pong sample heard on Enrique Iglesias' new hit Do You Know (the Ping Pong Song) is actually the Latino pop hunk playing table tennis.
The Hero singer admits he grew up playing table tennis with his brother Julio Jr and was delighted when producers suggested his skills could be used in a song.
He says, "I grew up playing with my brother. We would imagine playing four (tennis) tournaments: Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open.
"After school, we would play every single day, just to see who would win."
Ironically, Iglesias is now dating tennis babe-turned-model Anna Kournikova."
The Hero singer admits he grew up playing table tennis with his brother Julio Jr and was delighted when producers suggested his skills could be used in a song.
He says, "I grew up playing with my brother. We would imagine playing four (tennis) tournaments: Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open.
"After school, we would play every single day, just to see who would win."
Ironically, Iglesias is now dating tennis babe-turned-model Anna Kournikova."
Chinese National TT team raps!
This is the why I've cut back on my table tennis. I really need to practice my Chinese rapping skills first.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Who killed the honeybees?
Here's an update on previous blog entries. This is not the last word, I'm sure.
"A round table of experts answer all our pressing questions about the sudden death of the nation's bees. What they have to say has a bigger sting than we ever expected.
The buzz about the alarming disappearance of bees has been all about people food. Honeybees pollinate one-third of the fruits, nuts and vegetables that end up in our homey kitchen baskets. If the tireless apian workers didn't fly from one flower to the next, depositing pollen grains so that fruit trees can bloom, America could well be asking where its next meal would come from. Last fall, the nation's beekeepers watched in horror as more than a quarter of their 2.4 million colonies collapsed, killing billions of nature's little fertilizers.
But as a Salon round table discussion with bee experts revealed, the mass exodus of bees to the great hive in the sky forebodes a bigger story. The faltering dance between honeybees and trees is symptomatic of industrial disease. As the scientists outlined some of the biological agents behind "colony collapse disorder," and dismissed the ones that are not -- sorry, friends, the Rapture is out -- they sketched a picture of how we are forever altering the planet's delicate web of life.
The scientists constituted a fascinating foursome, each with his own point of view."
You can read the entire article from Salon magazine by clicking the title above. You'll have to click through one online ad to do so.
"A round table of experts answer all our pressing questions about the sudden death of the nation's bees. What they have to say has a bigger sting than we ever expected.
The buzz about the alarming disappearance of bees has been all about people food. Honeybees pollinate one-third of the fruits, nuts and vegetables that end up in our homey kitchen baskets. If the tireless apian workers didn't fly from one flower to the next, depositing pollen grains so that fruit trees can bloom, America could well be asking where its next meal would come from. Last fall, the nation's beekeepers watched in horror as more than a quarter of their 2.4 million colonies collapsed, killing billions of nature's little fertilizers.
But as a Salon round table discussion with bee experts revealed, the mass exodus of bees to the great hive in the sky forebodes a bigger story. The faltering dance between honeybees and trees is symptomatic of industrial disease. As the scientists outlined some of the biological agents behind "colony collapse disorder," and dismissed the ones that are not -- sorry, friends, the Rapture is out -- they sketched a picture of how we are forever altering the planet's delicate web of life.
The scientists constituted a fascinating foursome, each with his own point of view."
You can read the entire article from Salon magazine by clicking the title above. You'll have to click through one online ad to do so.
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